During the gold rush era in western history there were many ways to get rich without digging up dirt. One of the most unique money makers was by an...

The tale of Tom Carson fits the bill of Old West fabrications that have been recorded as fact. Storytellers claimed Tom was the nephew of legendary...

How easy was it to get a cup of coffee in the Old West? Stace Webb Eugene, Oregon Coffee was ubiquitous in the frontier West. Contrary to popular...

In 1897, Augustus Thomas was one of America’s most successful playwrights, but he’d hit a dry spell.  So a neighbor in New Rochelle, NY suggested he...

When the log battering ram crashed against the jailhouse door, the prisoners inside cowered against the far wall, screaming for help in a desperate...

Image a poodle. How cute. How cuddly. Such a no-no in the old West. According to Anne Seagraves' Soiled Doves, poodles were the preferred pet of...

On the evening of Saturday, April 8th, 1905, two cowboys, John Shaw and Bill Smythe walked into the Wigwam Saloon in Winslow, bellied up to the bar...

Thanksgiving has been celebrated in America from the earliest days, but it became an official national holiday in 1863 in the midst of the Civil...

What do you get when you combine gutsy bravado, a genteel Victorian society background and the rugged backdrop of the Southwestern cultural...

Lottie Deno was an Old West success story. Born in 1844, she became a professional gambler in the 1860s—a rarity for a woman. She and her...

"Pard” made perfect sense as a nickname for Robert Strahorn. After his newspaper work as the first civilian correspondent attached to Gen. George...

The first Colt revolvers, produced between 1836 and 1841 were the .36 caliber Paterson model "belt" or "holster" revolvers. Calibers ranged from .28...