In its boom days in the early 1860s, Virginia City, Nevada, “royally roosted” midway up the steep slope of Mount Davidson, a boomtown visible from...
Virginia City, Nevada: Queen of the Comstock
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Articles
Rattlesnake Bites
It’s the time of year when rattlesnakes are more likely to hole up during the daytime and be active at night so I thought it best to share what to...
Were Schoolteachers Armed during the Old West Era?
Were schoolteachers armed during the Old West era? Dave Fuller Lisbon, Connecticut Most schoolteachers were women, and the good ones knew how to...
Ride That Train!
In 1868, America was anticipating the completion of the first transcontinental railroad within the next year. The Central Pacific from Sacramento...
Land Grabbers
By 1865, the Wilkison Reno family owned more land than anyone else in Jackson County, IN. They got it the old fashioned way: crime. The acquired...
Bisbee Queen of the Copper Camps
In the spring of 1877 Sergeant Jack Dunn, a government scout from Fort Bowie, was winding his way down what later became known as Tombstone Canyon...
Convinced by Gold
When, in 1959, one of America’s most popular and respected actors, Henry Fonda, announced that he would be starring in a Western TV series, the...
Building Your Western Library: Michael F. Blake
Michael F. Blake, a two-time Emmy-winning makeup artist and respected film historian, has recently published The Cowboy President: The American West...
Land of the Apache
Apacheria: True Stories of Apache Culture 1860-1920 is an insightful introduction to the history of the Apache people. Farmer, focusing his research...
A Violent Borderland
In A Crooked River: Rustlers, Rangers, and Regulars on the Lower Rio Grande, 1861–1877, Michael L. Collins tells the story of the turmoil and...
The Man Who Killed the Man Who Killed Billy the Kid
On February 29, 1908, Jesse Wayne Brazel walked into the Doña Ana County sheriff’s office and announced, “Lock me up. . . . I’ve just killed Pat...
The Night of Blood
The night of December 12, 1868, about 50 men hijacked a train from Seymour to New Albany, IN. Once there, they took over the county jail (wounding...