Nellie Cashman was a restless adventurer who ranged the Old West for fifty years prospecting for gold and spreading good cheer wherever she...
Vinegar Pie
As unappetizing as it sounds, this was the “go to" recipe in the Old West when all other ingredients were scarce. One recipe calls for 2 tablespoons...
Go West, Young Man?
One of the most famous phrases of the 19th century, “Go West, young man!” reportedly inspired thousands of Eastern Americans to find their fortunes...
Country Star Marty Stuart Honors the Duke and the Lakota
As the sun went down on Saturday night May 23, 2015, in Winterset, Iowa, Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives, with special guest star, Opry...
Pink Higgins
Like most Texas cattlemen, John Pinckney Calhoun Higgins, was mighty handy with a gun and was not a man to trifle with. He’s not exactly a household...
Dry Kansas!
Governor John St. John, with the backing of the national Woman's Christian Temperance Union, forced the legislature to pass a constitutional...
Butch Cassidy Wants Out
Butch Cassidy was tired of the outlaw trail. So in 1899, he tried to cut a deal to gain his freedom. The details are cloudy, but it appears that he...
A Homecoming for the Duke in Winterset, Iowa
On May 23, 2015, over 1,000 fans, friends, family, honorary guests and dignitaries, from as far away as Australia, Ireland and France, gathered in...
Kit Carson: History and the Myth
In October 1849, a trader named James White, his wife Ann and their infant daughter were traveling on the Santa Fe Trail to New Mexico when they...
Wild Wilcox Robbery
What...is...history?” asked French Revolution leader Napoléon Bonaparte. “A fable agreed upon.” He went on to state, “...you will not find two...
Bricks of Earth
The first “home sweet home” for many early pioneers was a soddie—a house built from two-feet-thick “bricks of earth,” cut from the prairie sod The...
Bitter Creek Newcomb and Charley Pierce
Bitter Creek Newcomb and Charley Pierce learned the hard way about being careful where they lay their heads. On May 2, 1895, the Doolin Gang members...