Reading the pulp westerns one would conclude that the Colt revolver was the only pistol used in the Old West. Remington built a fine six-shooter and...
Gun Smoke and Black Powder
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Articles
The Boundless West
Someone once said, “Shakespeare has tragedies, the rest of us just have messes.” Fortunately for President Thomas Jefferson, his vision of a...
Arizona Rides Tall in the Saddle
From the days of the dime novels to the cowboys of the silver screen, Arizona has been the setting for numerous classic Western stories and films....
Graham’s Failed Escape
Tom Graham thought he’d gotten away from the death and destruction of Arizona’s Pleasant Valley War. He moved to Tempe to live in peace—or so he...
Butch Cassidy and the Last Standing Bank
Butch Cassidy, was given the name Robert Leroy Parker at birth, born to a poor Mormon family in Beaver, Utah. As a teen Parker set off to find a new...
In the 1985 film Silverado, British-born John Cleese plays the sheriff. Did any Britons become frontier sheriffs in the USA?
Paul Piper Dorset, England Legendary gunfighter Ben Thompson comes to mind. At the age of seven, he immigrated to America from his birthplace of...
The Most Significant July Event in Western History
It's probably a three-way tossup, depending on where your interests lie. It could be July 1, 1862 when President Lincoln set the route for the first...
Wyatt Earp vs. a Tombstone Mob
According to legend, Wyatt Earp single-handedly held off a mob of Tombstone miners attempting to string up a gambler. The actual facts are these: on...
A Screenwriter’s Five Indispensable Western Books
Brandon Boyce grew up in Virginia and New Jersey before his family moved west to Kansas City, Missouri. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles...
Curtiz Hands the Reins to Wayne
Michael Curtiz was a top Hollywood director, helming classics like Casablanca, White Christmas, and The Adventures of Robin Hood. In 1960, he was...
John P. Langellier
Without the 1950s’ ABC series, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, I probably would have taken an entirely different career path, especially after our...
The Trapper’s Clothing
The trapper’s clothes were homemade and usually made from durable buckskin. During meals he rubbed his greasy hands over his leathers, something in...