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The Last Man Standing
At the end of the day—or at least when the shooting stopped—Ed Tewksbury was the man who survived Arizona Territory’s infamous Pleasant Valley War. But his life came at the expense of rival Tom...
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The Archer Gang
Left: Shoals, Indiana Courthouse, right: A newspaper story from the Cleveland, Ohio Leader, January 3 1886. There were an estimated 16 members of Indiana’s Archer Gang—almost all blood kin. And they...
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American Horse’s Embarrassing Mistake
The story is told of how the great Sioux leader American Horse made a painful mistake in battle. It was sometime in the 1860s, before he had become a chief. His tribe’s traditional enemies the Crows...
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The Saga of Pancho Villa Pt. I
A bright orange glow spread across the eastern New Mexico horizon on the morning of March 9th, 1916. The sleepy border town of Columbus was slowly coming to life. In the pre-dawn, the first group of...
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Pancho Villa Pt. II: The Rise to Power
The Mexican Revolution of 1910 gave Pancho Villa the opportunity to get involved in a cause and make his countrymen forget that he was a bandit. He and his band of outlaws joined the rebels in the...
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Bud Ballew: Lawman Gone Bad
Bud Ballew was a lawman around Ardmore, Oklahoma after the turn of the century. He had a string of killings to his credit and the reputation of a man not to be trifled with. He also had a drinking...
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Chunk Colbert’s Deadly Grudge
Chunk Colbert tried to take on the wrong man in Clay Allison. On January 7, 1874 the two men sat down for a friendly meal at the Clifton House in Colfax County, New Mexico. Chunk nursed a grudge;...
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Did Old West Gunmen Wear Armor?
Did Old West gunmen wear armor? Jeff Mock — Sandy, Utah. Two men come to mind. “Killin’” Jim Miller wore an iron plate sewn inside his black frock coat—even in the summer. His armor came in handy on...
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Marshal Tom “Bear River” Preferred Fists to Guns
Abilene, Kansas Marshal Tom “Bear River” Smith gained a reputation for using fists instead of guns. According to one story, he earned that rep. Sometime in 1870, a group of Texas cowboys disobeyed...
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A Cochise-led Apache Ambush
Cochise It was July 15, 1862, and Union Captain Thomas Roberts led a column of volunteers into Apache Pass in southeast Arizona. They were headed to New Mexico to fight Confederates. They were in for...
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Was Bill Tilghman Honest?
Was Bill Tilghman honest? Terrel Shields — Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Bill Tilghman was, at best, a flawed character. Zoe Tilghman’s biography of her husband is the source of most of the deputy U.S....
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Lawman Bill Cruger
Fort Griffin, Texas Bill Cruger was a tough lawman in Shackleford County, Texas (which included Fort Griffin) in the 1870s. He was originally hired as a deputy by Sheriff John Larn—and moved up to the...
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Locked And Loaded
With a new foreword by New Mexico historian Marc Simmons, the University of New Mexico Press has republished Jack Schaefer’s classic, Monte Walsh, which many believe was his best novel. Western history...
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The Soldiers’ West
Regular Army O!: Soldiering on the Western Frontier, 1865–1891 by Douglas C. McChristian. Douglas C. McChristian’s Regular Army O!: Soldiering on the Western Frontier, 1865–1891 (University of Oklahoma...
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Who Shot J.W.?
J.W. Jarrott led the “nesters” in filing homestead claims on a slice of no-man’s land in the South Plains of Llano Estacado at the turn of the 20th century. After his assassination, his wife, Mollie,...
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Cowboys and Conductors
Parades have always been popular in Williams, Arizona, including a well-attended celebration on Railroad Avenue in 1909. Founded in 1881, the city is named in honor of the famed mountain man Bill...
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John Selman Pt. III
John Selman About the same time John Selman shot and killed Bass Outlaw John Wesley Hardin rode into El Paso and hung up his shingle as a lawyer. The newly-minted lawyer was representing a cattle...
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The Real Frank James
Frank James sits with his mother, Zeralda Samuel, on the front porch of the James family farm in Kearney, Missouri, where he was raised. This photo appeared in Zerelda’s personal photo album, which...
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Pioneer Women in the West
Women pose on an overhanging Rock at Glacier Point in Yosemite, 1890’s. Back in the 1960s I used to perform the old folk song, “Waggoner’s Lad.” The first line went like this: “Hard luck is the fortune...
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Red Jack Almer
Red Jack Gang On August 10th, 1883 the Florence-Globe Stagecoach was robbed about two miles from the remote Riverside Station on the Gila River by the Red Jack Almer gang. The gang had pulled a number...
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