There are a number of terms for playing a joke on somebody but one of the most interesting word origins for such schemes is called “joshing.” Its...
I’m Just Joshin’ Ya
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Articles
Mystery Man Identified
The mystery of an “unidentified” man wearing a gun belt similar to the belt worn by “Buckskin Frank” Leslie has been solved. Among the Arizona...
Jim Beckwourth Leads Out of Fear
Jim Beckwourth is best known for his mountain man exploits, but he was also an author, a saloon keeper, a gambler, a rancher and more. But he...
DVD Review: Duel At Diablo
Director Ralph Nelson followed Requiem for a Heavyweight with this complex, unflinching Marvin H. Albert story in 1966. Ex-scout Remsberg (James...
Leigh Brackett’s Words with John Wayne’s Voice
Leigh Brackett was one of director Howard Hawks’ favorite screen writers. They first worked together in 1946 on the Humphrey Bogart film noir The...
Jim Bridger’s Tall Tales
Once there was a mountain man who couldn't write his name, Yet he deserves the front row seat in History's Hall of Fame, He forgot more about the...
Who Shot J.W.?
With cold, unblinking eyes, a well-dressed gentleman stared at J.W. Jarrott as he walked with his wife, Mollie, down the main street of Lubbock,...
Cuban Affair
John Horst’s Roosevelt’s Boys (Five Star Publishing $25.95) is a thoughtful, well- told story of Arizona cowboys caught up in the great adventure in...
The Free Trappers
The Free Trapper was a uniquely American innovation in the fur trade and were known as the “Aristocrats” of the trade. They could go where they...
The Encounter that Dooms Wild Bill
September 1865 George Ward Nichols and Gen. Thomas Church Haskell Smith, the inspector general of the District of Southwest Missouri, arrive in...
Are You for Beer?
A Westerns staple is the saloon, where men went to meet, gamble, and drink. For the most part, the movie booze was fake—tea or colored water stood...
The Reckless Breed
Long before the “ordinary” white men braved the arduous task of crossing into the “Great American Desert” and beyond. Long before latter day...