Tom Horn was famed as a gunman. But gun ignorance did him in. He was awaiting execution for the murder of Willie Nickell when he and a pal broke out...
Wyatt Earp’s Wild Times in Nome
Wyatt and Josie Earp tried their hand at Alaska in 1899, following the gold rush to Nome where they opened (with Charlie Hoxie) the Dexter Saloon. ...
Hitching Your Wagon to a Star
What that phrase meant in the mid-1800s—was the “camel of the prairie,” the small wooden wagon carrying some 400,000 people west, the Conestoga...
History of the Gunfighter
For many, the gunfighter evokes images of an errant knight on horseback who rides into town and rescues the helpless citizens from bad guys bent on...
Back to the Future with J. Frank Dobie
When the directors of the University of Texas Press decided to reissue eight J. Frank Dobie classics from its catalog two years ago, a discussion...
Arizona’s Laddie Godiva
During the early 1900s Rufus Nephew aka “Climax Jim,” was one of the most notorious horse thieves in Arizona. Lawmen caught him one day and hauled...
Now That was a Party
Perhaps the most riveting moment in American history to date was 2:40 p.m., Monday, May 10, 1869. Today, we know that as the moment when the last...
The Wild West of James D. Horan
James D. Horan was a prolific writer, a New York newspaperman who also penned history, historical fiction and novels (more than 40 books total). He...
New Mexico’s Rio Grande
It starts in Colorado, and is most identified as the Texas-Mexico border, but the Rio Grande flows through New Mexico, too. Years ago, a friend of...
Wyatt Earp: The Missing Years
Ever so brave, courageous and bold (isn’t that redundant?), I’ve let myself be talked into tracking down Wyatt Earp’s missing years. Face it. Wyatt...
Arizona’s Cowboys and Cattle
The Spanish and Mexicans were ranching in Southern Arizona centuries before intrepid Pete Kitchen, and wife, Rosa, herded Mexican cattle four miles...
The Apache Joan of Arc
When Arizona writer and historian Peter Aleshire introduced Lozen in his book, Warrior Woman, he said this: “The stories of Geronimo, Crazy Horse,...