When Frederick Wolferman launched his Kansas City, Missouri, grocery store in the 1880s, he likely didn’t imagine it would be around today. He began...
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Articles
Can You Tell me What Version of the Winchester ’73 Jimmy Stewart Used in the Movie of the Same Name?
Can you tell me what version of the Winchester ’73 Jimmy Stewart used in the movie of the same name? John Charles Vestavia, Alabama True West...
The Alamo Under Siege
For many baby boomers, the lasting image of the Alamo comes from the ’50s. The 1950s. Fess Parker is the title character in Davy Crockett: King of...
The Central Pacific’s Chinese Trail
Without the back-breaking labor of Chinese immigrants the pivotal event in the development of the nation—the laying of the last rail and placing of...
What Was the Availability of Eyeglasses Like in the Old West?
What was the availability of eyeglasses like in the Old West? Emily Downey Mission Viejo, California Corrective eyeglasses have been around for...
The Emperor Ruled San Francisco
Joshua Norton spent more than 30 years in San Francisco, from 1849 to 1880, and for most of them he was the self-proclaimed “Emperor” Norton. He...
Omaha is Still “All Aboard”
The first piece of track. The very first spike. It all began here, in Omaha, Nebraska. That’s where the Union Pacific began the race to Utah in...
Justice for a Journalist
James King of William (he gave himself the last part of that name to distinguish himself from other James Kings) was a crusading newspaper editor in...
So you Want to be a Cowboy
There’s been many a young man or woman who dreamed of climbing into a time machine and transporting themselves back to the days when the West was...
Saratoga, Wyoming
The name Fenimore Chatterton doesn’t ring many bells in Western history, but it does around Saratoga, Wyoming. The businessman and politician...
The Notorious Dutch Henry
Dutch Henry Borne (also spelled Born and Bourne) was one of the most prevalent and notorious livestock thieves in the West. It’s surprising he isn’t...
The Lens of History
Since the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, the entrepreneurial “Big Four” rail barons of the Central Pacific...