When the people of Preston, Idaho, decided to save the Oneida Stake Academy, they weren’t just preserving a magnificent historic building. They were...
Idaho’s Mormon Miracles
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Articles
B.B. Bullwinkle and the Arizona Cattle Company
The arrival of Mormon colonists from Utah in 1876 heralded the first permanent Anglo-American settlements in northern Arizona. Even though cattle...
Did The True “Gateway To The West” Start In St. Louis Or Independence, Missouri?
Did the true “Gateway to the West” start in St. Louis or Independence, Missouri? Chris Graefser St. Peters, Missouri That’s a good question and...
A Big Bang Year
Oliver Winchester introduced a legendary brand to the world in 1866, and in 2016, the 150th anniversary year of Winchester Repeating Arms, his brand...
Pony Diehl
Charles Ray liked to hang out with bad guys. Going by the name Pony Diehl (or Deal), he first gained notice as a member of the John Kinney and...
Badlands, Bison and Rough Riders
Teddy Roosevelt first came to Medora, North Dakota, in September of 1883 to hunt buffalo. He so loved the region that he later operated two ranches...
Dry Diggins
Back in 1848, the year it was founded, the California town was called “Dry Diggins” because of the gold mining efforts nearby. That lasted about a...
Seeking Freedom Out West
With its wonderful title, Shirley Ann Wilson Moore’s Sweet Freedom’s Plains: African Americans on the Overland Trails, 1841–1869 (University of...
The Brief And Violent Life Of Cherokee Bill
Crawford Goldsby, aka "Cherokee Bill", was born February 8th, 1876 at Fort Concho, Texas. He was the son of George Goldsby, a sergeant in the 10th...
James Bailey Of The Barnum and Bailey Circus
James Bailey is probably the least known of the founders of the soon to close Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. An orphan born in...
A Mule For Sylvia Durando
Comanche Station opens with an 11-minute montage setup featuring hardly any dialogue. A loner, Jefferson Cody (played by Randolph Scott), is moving...
Why Does Arizona Have That Diagonal Boundary Line?
Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the Mexican War in 1848 the boundary line between the United States and Mexico in what would become...