The saying “luck of the Irish” was virtually born in the West. Consider: Jimmy Doyle, Jimmy Burns, and Johnny Harnan, who made their fortunes at...
The Luck of the Irish
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Articles
The Dead Man In The Picture
One of the most iconic paintings of the old west is "The Last Spike", created in 1881 by Thomas Hill to commemorate the completion of the...
Outlaw Henry Starr
If I had to pick an outlaw who literally “rode tall in the saddle,” I would have to go with Indian Territory Cherokee outlaw, Henry Starr, who at...
Building Your Western Library: Jim Turner
Jim Turner was the eighth generation living in the family’s Connecticut home until they moved to Tucson in 1951 because of his asthma. He has been...
When Lawmen Got It Wrong
A gunfight outside Blackwell, Oklahoma just proved that lawmen didn’t always get the right man. Outlaws Ben Craven and Dick Ainsley had been casing...
Texas Feud
The last major Texas feud has been explored in No Hope For Heaven, No Fear of Hell by James C. Kearney, Bill Stein and James Smallwood (University...
Charge Into The Old West!
A century and a half ago, the nation was on the move. Just two years after the Civil War, millions of veterans and their families on both sides of...
Chief Dan George
Chief Dan George is perhaps best known for playing Old Lodge Skins in the 1970 Western Little Big Man. He was not the first choice. Director Arthur...
Did The “Buntline Special” Gun Really Exist?
Did the “Buntline Special” gun really exist? Ralph G. Swanson Prescott, Arizona Western historians disagree over whether Wyatt Earp ever carried a...
Arizona’s Most Famous Card Game
Arizona is a place that loves its myths and legends. Sometimes it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction. Such is the story of Corydon Cooley and...
A First for Custer Firearms
The “first firearm forensically proven to have been used” at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, as the auction catalog noted, hammered down for a...
The Tombstone Collector
Jim Melikian was window shopping. Normally, the 61-year-old Arizona businessman scoured auction catalogs for items he’s been collecting since he...