Kriya Singh Via the Internet Frederick Jackson Turner, in his 1893 essay, “The Frontier in American History,” claimed the frontier ended in 1890 and that’s a good ballpark figure. Arizona historians claim the frontier closed in 1895 when the capital city of Phoenix was linked by rail to the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads, the two transcontinental mainlines. Arizona, because of its rugged terrain and proximity to the Mexican border, was the last refuge of the Old West, and lasted

September 2004
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- Paying the Rent
- Following Custer’s Guidon
- What is hanging around Keith Carradine’s neck in the June 2004 issue of True West?
- A friend claims some of the weapons used to assassinate Pancho Villa could have been obtained only from U.S. sources, thus there was a U.S. connection to his assassination. Is this true?
- In your opinion, when did the Old West come to an end?
- On a jeep tour in the Sonoran desert recently, our guide lectured on the jojoba plant, saying the beans are high in caffeine, which is why Native Americans chewed them for an energy boost and cowboys used them to make coffee. What do you think?
- Has an original copy of the official inquest into the O.K. Corral shooting survived? A book by Al Turner purports to include the complete testimonies of the participants, but I also read that the original findings were lost in one of Tombstone’s fires.