The so-called Outlaw Trail was a 1,500-mile stretch of untamed country running Canada to New Mexico and Butch Cassidy knew the way like the back of...
Custer’s Last Strand
Custer’s Last Strand” made news around the nation after links of the controversial cavalry commander’s curly blond hair sold at the June 9 auction...
Winged Victory
She’s been referred to as the Goddess of Victory, Statue of Justice, and Madame de Vaunte but Arizonans prefer to call her Winged Victory because of...
Why Did Hopis Capture Eagles?
Why did Hopis capture eagles? Les Freeman Upper Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand The Hopis sacrificed eagles as part of an important tribal ceremony....
America’s Cowboys Get Their Due
First, thanks go to the Franciscan priests who established 21 missions along the California coast starting in 1769, bringing with them the first...
A Bad Man Goes Down
Bob Dozier was a successful farmer before—for whatever reason—he turned to crime in the Indian Territory. He delved into various and sundry...
The Fairbank Train Robbery
The railroad arrived in what became Fairbank in 1881. It was the closest rail link to the boom town of Tombstone which was at the time one of the...
Black Hills and Gold Dust
The Sioux considered the Black Hills to be sacred, the center of the earth and a place to speak to the Great Spirit. They had controlled the area...
A San Diego Civic Leader
Ned Bushyhead had a big impact on San Diego. The Cherokee left the reservation in 1850—he was 18—to go to the California gold fields. After moving...
Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound
Is there a Western novel, film or television show in which a character does not order a shot or bottle of whiskey, let alone throw, break or shoot a...
The Long and Rich History of In-din Humor
One of the best ways to understand a people is to know what makes them laugh. Laughter encompasses the limits of the soul. In humor life is...
The Cheyenne Go On Trial
In September 1878, Chief Dull Knife and his band of Northern Cheyenne left the reservation in the Indian Territory, headed for their ancestral lands...