Recently, I received a letter from a gentleman in Germany asking if Johnny Ringo’s name was actually Johann Rheingold, the son of a German settler....
Johnny Ringo or Johann Rheingold
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Articles
Burt’s Bad Boys
Arizona had its share of zany occurrences but none can top the Burt Alvord Gang from Willcox. Burt was a big, burly good ol’ boy whose major...
A Horror Story Within a Horror Story
The Hunger (G.P. Putnam & Sons, $27) by Alma Katsu takes the tragic tale of the Donner Party and infuses it with hints of witchcraft, vampirism,...
Cold-Blooded Conman
Perhaps the most cold-blooded conman early Arizona ever knew, Louis Eytinge suffered from tuberculosis and had two months to live. He should’ve died...
No Luck for Comstock
Henry Comstock gave his name to the biggest silver strike in US history, the Comstock Lode of Nevada. In one sense he was lucky. Two brothers...
Fact Vs. Fiction: The Truth about the Calamitous Martha Jane Canary
Recently I was scrolling through my photo files and ran across a photo of Miss Doris Day from her 1953 musical hit, Calamity Jane and thus inspired,...
The Doctor is in…and Out
Josiah “Doc” Scurlock was a major player in the Lincoln County War. And he was in the region even before, going to work for cattleman John Chisum...
Did Old West Shooters have Problems with Overheated Gun Barrels?
Did Old West shooters have problems with overheated gun barrels? James White Goliad, Texas “If you are having to resort to combat with your pistol,...
A Silver Strike by an Other Name
The largest silver strike in US history could have been the Grosh Lode. In 1857, the Grosh brothers discovered silver in the Virginia Range of...
The Shadow Catcher Endures
Everyone loves the Edward Curtis Indians,” Sioux scholar Vine Deloria Jr. famously declared in the introduction for Christopher M. Lyman’s The...
What were Old West Hotels like?
What were Old West hotels like? Jim Jennings Amarillo, Texas Frontier hotels varied from flea- and bedbug-infested lodgings to extravagant abodes....
New TV Series: Yellowstone
“Ranching is the only business where the goal is to break even—survive another season.” So says Kevin Costner’s character, John Dutton (shown...