Articles Archive

The Searchers

by | Apr 15, 2019

A question came in recently from a True West reader about the premise of Alan Le May’s great novel, The Searchers, the story of a middle-aged Civil...

What History Has Taught Me: Howard Terpning

by Howard Terpning | Apr 12, 2019

As a kid I enjoyed building model airplanes. The best art training I ever got was being Haddon Sundbloom’s apprentice for a year and a half. The...

The Other Assassin

by Mark Boardman | Apr 12, 2019

Charlie Ford is the lesser known of the brothers who killed Jesse James—sibling Robert actually pulled the trigger. Charlie was the one with...

Anarchy on the Rails

by Stuart Rosebrook | Apr 11, 2019

In 2019, Jack Kelly’s The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age, and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America (St. Martin’s Press,...

The Fruits of their Labors

by Mark Boardman | Apr 11, 2019

Robert Ford hoped that killing Jesse James would bring fame and fortune. But Ford and brother Charlie were convicted of murder; Missouri Governor...

Did Ballistics Forensics Ever Come into Play in Solving Crimes in the Old West?

by | Apr 10, 2019

Did ballistics forensics ever come into play in solving crimes in the Old West? David Aufiere Columbia, Louisiana Ballistics science has been around...

Was Doc Holliday Really a Deadly Dentist?

by | Apr 10, 2019

More than one writer has called Doc a "deadly dentist" who killed several men during his turbulent life. Most likely Doc encouraged these stories...

The Diné Return to the Four Corners

by Johnny D. Boggs | Apr 9, 2019

Fort Sumner, New Mexico, has never been an easy place to live. Winters can be brutal. Summers are often blistering. The scenery’s spartan. Few...

Justice Frontier Style

by | Apr 9, 2019

Many frontier towns had no official judge and usually a man respected for his wisdom would be called upon arbitrate disputes between two parties. If...