Our readers remind us of the variables and vagaries of historic truths, “well-established” facts, headlines and historical photographs. Along the...
Shooting Back
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Articles
Texas’s Tangy Thirst Quencher
The origin story of the Lone Star State’s Dr. Pepper is legendary. Texas and beef go together like chips and salsa. And while Texas is known for its...
Battle of the Plaza
Bat Masterson vs. Peacock & Updegraff Things Go Lickety-Bang! Bullets Careen into the Long Branch Traveling mostly by rail, Bat Masterson...
The Grand Old Park
Yellowstone, America’s first National Park, celebrates its 150th anniversary. Ferdinand V. Hayden, head of the U.S. Geological and Geographic...
Red Lodge, Montana
Discover the Old West in the gateway town to America’s most beautiful highway. Heading southwest across the high plains of south-central...
Wild Bill, Bearded Indians and Banks
Can you tell me why Wild Bill Hickok wore his guns backwards? Bob Hite (Kinship Productions Pine Island Sound, Florida) Many successful...
The Wildest Town in Indian Territory
Muskogee, Oklahoma’s early years as a frontier outpost were violent, dangerous and unpredictable. Welcome to Muskogee, the rip-roaring and most...
The West’s Worst Shootout
The tragedy at Goingsnake left 11 men dead—and a lot of questions. Ezekiel Proctor was a Cherokee and proud of it. “Zeke” had walked...
Bat Masterson
The deadly and dangerous life of the man who invented Wyatt Earp. Thanks to a 1960s television show starring Gene Barry, Bat Masterson was called a...
Get Out of Dodge!
Since Dodge City was founded 150 years ago, the Kansas cowtown is still the reigning queen of the West. “Queen of the Cowtowns” was the...
Alaska’s Wild West
Adventure and history await discovery across the Last Frontier State. Several years ago, I was a long-term substitute teacher in the Yup’ik...
Gunpowder and Smoke
The West was immense, and frontier law enforcement sparse. Wise individuals carried firearms and knew how to use them. Some men and women became...