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...
What History Has Taught Me: Howard Terpning
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Articles
The Other Assassin
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
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
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?
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?
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
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
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...
Yellowstone Was Only the Beginning
July is the busiest month for Yellowstone National Park, where vacationers find a cool respite from the sizzling heat. The idea of setting aside...
The Missouri Smokescreen
St. Joseph, MO was in turmoil in the days after Jesse James was killed on April 3, 1882. Townspeople were shocked that the outlaw had been living...
Posse Catches Horseback Train Robbers in a Touring Car
Did you ever wonder what kind of traffic signals and traffic laws were in place in towns the early years of the horseless carriage? Traffic moved...
Seminole Scouts
These black scouts were descendants of runaways fleeing enslavement by whites. They sought refuge in Florida in the late 18th and early 19th...