In the old west, you didn't have an Ace hidden in your poker hand when you had an “ace in the hole.” What you had was a hidden pistol concealed in a...
Teddy’s Roughest Riders
Jerome Tuccille’s book titled The Roughest Riders: The Untold Story of the Black Soldiers in the Spanish American War (Chicago Review Press, $26.95)...
The Nude Duel that Will Not Die
August 24, 1877 A wild picnic is in progress just outside the city limits of Denver, Colorado. Notorious brothel owner Mattie Silks is among the...
Fred Waite and the Lincoln County War
Fred Waite got out of the Lincoln County War alive—and managed to turn his life around. In 1878, Waite joined Billy the Kid and the Regulators. He...
The Youngers Visit Madelia
After their capture at Hanska Slough following the ill-fated Northfield, Minnesota bank robbery, Cole, Bob and Jim Younger thought they'd be hung...
You Slapped Wyatt Earp and Lived to Tell?
That historical honor goes to U.S. Marshall Albert Lowe of Nome, Alaska in the late 1890s, who reportedly slapped an intoxicated saloon keeper and...
River Captain’s Hotel
The Port of Jefferson’s first steamboat captain opened Texas’s second oldest, continuously operating hotel, the Excelsior. William Perry, a...
Charlie Bowdre’s Blood Stained Photo
Talk about a rare photo. Billy the Kid’s friend Charlie Bowdre carried in his pocket a photo of his wife Manuela and him. That’s where it was on...
Flint Hills Folklorist Jim Hoy
Jim Hoy, Emporia State University’s director of the Center for Great Plains Studies, is a native of the Kansas Flint Hills. Recently retired from...
Herding with the Wind
He was standing there, as was his horse, Warrior, but both were invisible between the flashes. Shrieking winds cut the rolling grasslands into...
Bob Dalton’s Gang
Men who wore the badge on the frontier often walked an ill-defined line between lawmen and outlaw. Oklahoma lawman Bob Dalton is a good example of a...
Were Indian War soldiers ordered to crush empty shell casings so Indians could not reload them?
Were Indian War soldiers ordered to crush empty shell casings so Indians could not reload them? Chuck Doire Healdsburg, California Commanders did...