Dressed in a sack coat and carrying a shotgun, riding a mule and wearing a pith helmet, Gen. George Crook looked more like a duck hunter than the...
A Well-Traveled Corpse
You've got to feel sorry for Elmer McCurdy—not for his miserable life, but for the miserable 60 years after his death. This bank and train...
Mile-High Getaway
Arguably the most historic town in Arizona sits in the central highlands, sheltered by forested mountains yet easily accessible to visitors seeking...
Bronco Billy
In 1903, Edwin S. Porter made the 9-minute film called the Great Train Robbery in the wilds of New Jersey. It was the first with a story. Earlier...
Tragedy on the Montana Frontier
In Blood on the Marias: The Baker Massacre (University of Oklahoma Press, $29.95), Paul R. Wylie has given us an outstanding look into a tragic...
The Town Named for a Hairdo
In 1890, Walt Rigney ran a saloon on the Mogollon Rim. His hair stuck out like a pine bough, so the soldiers who frequented the saloon called him...
Wave of Violence
Somewhere around 1890, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association decided to take deadly action against men they regarded as rustlers. Tom Waggoner was...
An Unusual Hero
Billy Curtis may have been one of the most unusual heroes in any Western. Then again, his first Oater was…different. Billy, all 4’2” of him, played...
J.C. Ives Visits the Grand Canyon
In early 1858, Lt. Joseph Christmas Ives of the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers commanded the first military vessel up the Colorado River. He...
What is your opinion of John Wesley Hardin?
What is your opinion of John Wesley Hardin? Bill Calloway Wilmington, Delaware I view John Wesley Hardin as a product of his times—and those were...
Curtain Close with The Comancheros
In 1961, Michael Curtiz directed his final film—the John Wayne vehicle The Comancheros. As Westerns go, it’s okay even though it’s far from...
Exiled Into Celebrity
After his surrender in 1886, the Apache leader Geronimo became quite in demand at expositions, parades and fairs and he quickly caught on to the...