The first hanging in Arizona’s Navajo County was going to be stylish. Sheriff F.J. Waltron (who doubled as a teacher and editor) sent out bordered...
An Engraved Invitation
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Articles
True West’s Ultimate Historic Travel Guide: Southern Prairie and Plains
The Southern Prairie and Plains region is a historically rich crossroads where America’s greatest Western trails originated and its biggest rivers...
A Lawman pays the Price
Early in 1901, Yuma (AZ) Constable H.H. Alexander was sent to serve papers on local farmer J.J. Burns. Instead, the lawman shot and killed Burns’...
Were all the Witnesses at the Spicer Hearing Sworn in?
Were all the witnesses at the Spicer Hearing sworn in? Tom Betts Anaheim, California Some 30 witnesses testified at the Spicer Hearing inquest into...
Western Events for December 2018
Western roundup of events where you can experience the Old West this December. Holiday Prescott Courthouse Christmas Parade & Lighting Prescott,...
The Massacres at Skeleton and Guadalupe Canyons
After Mexico increased taxes on alcohol and tobacco in the late 1870s, smuggling became big business. Mexican smugglers exchanged silver and gold...
The Rangers Ride In
In the 1880s, a vigilante group organized in San Saba, TX, to take on criminal elements. The so-called “Buzzard’s Water Hole” assembly soon got out...
More than Animal House
Despite 183 acting credits, two Emmy nominations and no signs of slowing down, the suave and funny actor Tim Matheson will be forever remembered as...
Taking the Law in their own Hands
The Anti-Horse Thief Association (AHTA) helped combat crime in many U.S. states and territories, mostly in the 19th Century. They were not a...
Hanging
A few years ago I received a question about the science of hanging and whether or not there was such a thing as a “traveling hangman.” The mythical...
Building your Western Library: Matthew P. Mayo
Matthew P. Mayo is the award-winning author of dozens of novels and nonfiction books about the West, including the recent multi-award-winning YA...
Which Outlaw Gang got away with the most Loot?
There is so much discrepancy in the dollar figures in these robberies. Authors disagree by tens of thousands of dollars on the amounts taken. I...