True West Magazine - Logo
August 2007

From the Blog

Features

rifepackin

Rifle Packin’ in the Old West

Phil Spangenberger
How the early railroaders fueled steam engines in the Old West.

Jerkwater Towns

Bob Boze Bell
rookierancher

The Rookie Rancher

Mark Boardman
cowboymounted

Cowboy Mounted Shooting

Phil Spangenberger

Western Books & Movies

Craig Johnson on Walt, Wyoming and the West.

Vote Longmire for Sheriff

Candy Moulton
movies_notlonesome

Not So Lonesome

Allen Barra
riseofcentennial

The Rise of the Centennial State: Colorado Territory, 1861-76

Linda Wommack
alexswan

Alex Swan and the Swan Companies

Chuck Lewis
passionprinciple

Passion and Principle

Richard H. Dillon
ravensprings

Raven Springs

William Garwood
totamealand

To Tame A Land

William Garwood
authorprofile

Writing the Wicked West

Candy Moulton
deadwoodthird

DEADWOOD: The complete Third Season

Henry Cabot Beck
whenthewest

When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion

Henry Cabot Beck

Gary Cooper MGM Movie Legends Collection

Henry Cabot Beck
waynecentury

WAYNE’S WORLD

Henry Cabot Beck
vengeancebrand

The Vengeance Brand

Phyllis Morreale-de la Garza
westerns

A Fistful of DVDs

Henry Cabot Beck
greathouses

The Great Houses of Chaco

Cynthia Green
lookofoldwest

The Look of the Old West

Linda Wommack
secretwarfortexas

The Secret War For Texas

Chuck Lewis
californiabadmen

California Badmen

Richard H. Dillon
yearthestarsfell

The Year the Stars Fell

Cynthia Green
courtingtrouble

Courting Trouble

Phyllis Morreale-de la Garza
Western writers share the books that most influenced their lives and craft.

Best Reads (And They Aren’t All Westerns)

TW Editors
authorprofile

A Ranger War & Billy the Kid

Candy Moulton
cherokeenation

The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War

Richard H. Dillon
peopleatwar

A People at War

Richard H. Dillon
seraphimfalls

Seraphim Falls

Henry Cabot Beck
agirlisagun

A Girl is a Gun

Henry Cabot Beck
onthewrongtrack

On the Wrong Track

William Garwood
huntdown

Hunt Down

Phyllis Morreale-de la Garza
westerns

Rio Bravo Still Sings

Henry Cabot Beck
storytellingin

Storytelling in Yellowstone

Linda Wommack
tiocowboy

Tìo Cowboy

Chuck Lewis
wildride

Wild Ride

Cynthia Green
completerdside

The Complete Roadside Guide to Nebraska

Linda Wommack
captinjabrooks

Captain J.A. Brooks, Texas Ranger

Chuck Lewis
whipsofthewest

Whips of the West

Cynthia Green
peopleofnightland

People of the Nightland

Phyllis Morreale-de la Garza
northfield

Northfield

William Garwood

More In This Issue

renegaderds

On Oklahoma’s Centennial Trail

Johnny D. Boggs
classicgunfight

The Battle of Big Dry Wash

Bob Boze Bell
preservation

Preservation: Saving the Sheriff

TW Editors
A new book tries to solve one of the greatest Old West mysteries.

Who Killed Col. Fountain?

Mark Boardman
Will it be forgotten 150 years from now?

Remembering Mountain Meadows

Johnny D. Boggs
One journalist's creation forever taints a gold mining boomtown.

The Bad Man from Bodie

Michael Piatt
music_aint_country

Music That Ain’t Country (Let Alone Western)

Johnny D. Boggs
oldwestsaviors

Fort Stanton’s Angel

Jana Bommersbach
whatsitlike

Virginia City, Montana

Henry Cabot Beck

I can’t locate a copy of Richard O’Connor’s Bat Masterson book, listed in the credits of the TV series starring Gene Barry. Is there another biography I can buy?

My SASS friends and I disagree. I say chinks were not worn by working cowboys in the 1890s. I believe they were show wear for riders during the late 1940s. Can you settle this?

True West calls the Tombstone battle the “Gunfight Behind the O.K. Corral,” while Earp historian Allen Barra calls it the “Street Fight in Tombstone.” How did people in the 19th century refer to it?

Most Hollywood movies end with the good guys winning and the bad guys in jail or dead. How true is that to the Old West?

collectingthewest

Rock Island’s Rare Rig

Meghan Saar
roadtrip

The Beecher’s Island Boys

Johnny D. Boggs

In the Old West, did men carrying six-shooters leave one chamber empty as a safety measure?

UPDATES: The Lone Bandit and Shalako

tragicend

A Tragic End to a Classic Cowgirl

Jana Bommersbach
renegade_rds

Civil War in the West

Johnny D. Boggs
preservation

Preservation: Song Of Praise

TW Editors
classicgunfights

Silver City Shoot-Out

Bob Boze Bell
American frontiersmen devised the best ways to carry a rifle.

Rifle Packin’ in the Old West

Phil Spangenberger
Chasing 'em from Wallace, Kansas, to Wray, Colorado.

The Beecher’s Island Boys

Johnny D. Boggs
whatsitlike

Cheyenne, Wyoming

TW Editors

Did Bat Masterson actually have to use a cane after being shot by Sgt. Melvin King in 1876, or is this just part of the legend?

Why do so many Westerns show bacon and beans as the campfire meal? And how did the characters cook the beans so fast?

What’s the difference between an Old West marshal and a sheriff?

Where is Wyatt Earp’s second “wife,” Mattie Blaylock, buried?

Did cowboys in the Old West really wear that much clothes, even on sunny days?

In 1969’s Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, are the characters Joe LeFors and Lord Baltimore based on real people?

collectingwest

Casa de Adobe

Meghan Saar
roadtrip

Mining Vs. Ranching

Johnny D. Boggs