Alabama-born Levi Jordan left the border country between Louisiana and Arkansas in 1848 and resettled near the San Bernard River in Texas. He...
Texas Captains of Cotton and Cattle
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Articles
Cole Younger
If I had to choose a favorite outlaw, without hesitation I’d say, “Cole Younger.” Besides being a “good man to ride the river with,” he had many...
Johnny Lingo: In the Land of Pronunciation Legend Rules
“When the legend becomes fact... print the legend.” –Maxwell Scott (Carelton Young) The Man Who Shoot Liberty Valance, 1962 Ever wonder why locals...
Adelnietze’s Hit and Run Race with Death
Adelnietze’s proud bearing is so obvious in C.S. Fly’s photos—the white paint carefully drawn over his nose and face, as he steadfastly gazed into...
The Legend of Elfego Baca
One of the most one-sided gun battles in the West was the one-man stand by Elfego Baca at Frisco, New Mexico on October 28th, 1884. “I’ll show the...
Lady Pinkertons
Her smile could be shy; her glance at times demure, but her ears never missed a secret. A master of disguises, she changed her accent at will,...
Belle Starr: The Bandit Queen
Sometimes an outlaw had to die before he or she gained fame. Myra Belle Shirley is a good example. She grew up in an affluent Southern family, was...
Slim Pickens
Show me a magazine cover with a pretty girl, a baby or a dog...and I’ll show you a magazine that sells,” publishing legend William Randolph Hearst...
Knights in Dusty Leather
Despite the violent image of the West there were fewer fatalities in the entire history of a raucous cow town than in an average Hollywood...
What History Has Taught Me: Howard Kazanjian
Emmy Award-winning film producer Howard Kazanjian is best known for his work on The Wild Bunch, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars. A former vice...
Bust Cream, Anyone?
We think of the late 1800s as a time of Victorian refinement, with sensitivities so severe, one was to use the term “limb,” rather than the vulgar...
Why Are Old West Figures Portrayed in Such Black-and-White Terms—Either They’re All Good or All Bad?
Why are Old West figures portrayed in such black-and-white terms—either they’re all good or all bad? W.W. Reed Chandler, Arizona Hollywood has given...