In 2013, I started managing and writing the “Western Books” column for True West. In those five years, I have received between 400 and 600 books a...
True West Best of the West 2018 Western Books
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Articles
An Angel and the Train Man
Along with True West’s 65th birthday, this column celebrates a landmark too—my 10th anniversary of exploring the people and groups who are saving...
Swindlers & Bamboozlers
The wild, untamed mountains and barren deserts turned out to contain a bonanza in gold and silver. Wherever there was a rumor and a hole in the...
What Did the Actors Drink When They were Drinking “Beer” on Gunsmoke?
What did the actors drink when they were drinking “beer” on Gunsmoke? Dave Rapoza Olathe, Kansas The Gunsmoke actors actually drank beer, but the...
Training for a Killer
John Heath is best known as the mastermind of the 1883 Bisbee Massacre, an attempted robbery gone bad that resulted in four deaths. He was lynched...
True West Best of the West 2018 Art and Collectibles
When “Old Hosstail” Joe Austell Small founded True West Magazine 65 years ago, in 1953, he could not foresee that his pictorial publication...
Judge Roy Bean
My father spent part of his youth living in Langtry, Texas. His first wife, Leta, was the daughter of the town constable, Bart Gobble. My grandpa,...
A Peace Treaty Minus One
For two long years, the northern Plains Indians fought the U.S. army over a series of forts along the Bozeman Trail. The conflict was called Red...
Lieutenant Amiel Whipple
Lt. Amiel Weeks Whipple was referred to as the wheel horse among the Army’s Corps of Topographical Engineers surveying Arizona during the 1850’s....
The Size of an Assignment
In this 65th anniversary year for True West, on assignment to report my favorite Investigating History columns, I wrack my brain and only two come...
Brothers to the End
Tom Jeffords is best known as an Indian agent in Arizona Territory—and for his close relationship with Apache Chief Cochise. In fact, Jeffords was...
True West’s Best of the West 2018
In True West’s 65th anniversary year, the magazine is proud to announce the 2018 Best of the West winners! Since 1953, this pictorial publication...