Fans of Western publishing enjoyed a banner year in books in 2014. In 2015, I am convinced that fans of the Old West will find their bookshelves...

Who was the first white woman to scale Pikes Peak?
Who was the first white woman to scale Pikes Peak? Frank Polzin Colorado Springs, Colorado Julia Holmes is given the credit for that 1858 feat. Born...

Did Wild Bill Hickok really have the Dead Man’s Hand of aces and eights when he was killed?
Did Wild Bill Hickok really have the Dead Man’s Hand of aces and eights when he was killed? John Wendland Parsippany, New Jersey Nobody knows what...

What did outlaws like Frank and Jesse James do with all the loot they stole?
What did outlaws like Frank and Jesse James do with all the loot they stole? Mack Maloney Newbury, Massachusetts One thing they didn’t do—share the...

Vanishing Train Robbers
On the evening of April 27th, 1887 southern Arizona’s only passenger train, the Sunset Express, was making its run toward Tucson when a man stepped...

His Skin Lives On
Big Nose George Parrott earned his name by his face, and his place as Wyoming Territory's most notorious outlaw by his deeds. But he lives on...

For the Love of Money
The mind of a television executive can be a confusing, dangerous maze of brilliance and misconception. Last year, A&E cancelled Longmire because...

Augustine Chacon’s Musical Escape
The handsome bandit Augustine Chacon was quite the ladies man had a pretty senorita in every town. He was also a deadly killer who boasted of...

Libbie Custer on the Big Screen
If you happen to see a 1926 silent movie called The Pottery Maker—a how-to-throw-a-pot flick—check out the elderly woman in black. She’s no actress,...

More Than a Museum
These days in Arizona, if you say Sharlot Hall, most think of the fine museum of that name in Prescott. However, Sharlot Hall was a real woman with...

Never Was a “Cattle Kate”
Perhaps the most shocking thing about the only woman ever lynched in the nation as a cattle rustler is that everything about this western legend is...

The Murder of Andrew Trew Blachly
Banker Andrew Trew Blachly was murdered during a holdup in Delta, CO in 1893. Such deaths often destroyed families—but not his. His widow Dellie...