First, thanks go to the Franciscan priests who established 21 missions along the California coast starting in 1769, bringing with them the first...
America’s Cowboys Get Their Due
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Articles
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...
The Constable Butcher
In the 1860s, Upper Lake, California, was a farming and mill town, but because of Clear Lake’s boating and fishing, and the healthful benefits of...
The Siege of Flagstaff
One of those Post-Indian Wars gunfights, almost lost in history occurred in northern Arizona on November 11th, 1899, eight years after Wounded Knee....
Bragging Rights for a Badman
Andy Blevins—alias Andy Cooper—was a Texas hardcase who specialized in rustling cattle. But things got too hot for Andy, his father and brothers so...
2018 WWA Spur Award Winners
Since 1953, Western Writers of America has promoted and honored the best in Western literature with the annual Spur Awards, selected by a panel of...