When the first explorers of the early 19th century ventured west beyond the Mississippi River, they carried long, slender and somewhat delicate...

Dave Mather was a man of mystery—not only in life, but also in death. “Mysterious Dave” straddled the line between outlaw and lawman, and left...

The jaundiced characterization of a dandified, belt-wearing, young riverboat hand is vintage Mark Twain—and a puzzle. After all, men seldom wore...

Who actually shot the coin tossed in the air in the movie Winchester ‘73? Steve Andrews Colorado Springs, Colorado I ran this by True West’s gun...

Howard Terpning has been described as the “finest artist of Plains Indian history” by David Joseph, when he was the owner of B&R Gallery, but...

The conflicts of Old West mining wars between labor and business spread to the fields of California agriculture in the latter stages of that era....

On this summer month, when most Civil War minds think about the events 150 years ago at a town called Gettysburg, I’d like to draw your attention to...

July 19, 1878 As a raging fire engulfs another room, Alexander McSween and his men move into the kitchen, the last standing room of his adobe home...

Beginning July 18, 1881, with telegrams from the Gazette and Optic newspapers in Las Vegas, word spread throughout New Mexico Territory and the...

For the first half of the 20th century, Warner Brothers did not have a signature cowboy star. John Wayne toiled in its early talkies, but the 1930s...

I’ve read that Sheriff John Behan was a scoundrel in Tombstone during the trouble years. Is that the case? Chuck Sawyer Phoenix, Arizona I’ve never...

When were photos first put on wanted posters? B.R. Fleenor Springfield, Tennessee In the classic era of the Old West—1870s and 1880s—most reward...