What is the origin of “pistol?” Shayla Trickey Mesa, Arizona The word comes from the French pistole or pistolet. Some say the French got it from...
What is the origin of “pistol?”
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Articles
Were Gatling guns ever used during the Indian Wars?
I know that Gatling guns were used during the Civil War and Spanish-American War, but were they ever used during the Indian Wars? Mundo Osterberg...
What kind of gun did Pat Garrett use to kill Billy the Kid?
What kind of gun did Pat Garrett use to kill Billy the Kid? Billy Patscher Jr. Clifton, New Jersey Garrett used a 7.5-inch barreled, blued steel...
Wasn’t there a TV program about Elfego Baca?
The October 2010 True West shares an article about Elfego Baca. Wasn’t there a TV program about him? Ray Rodriguez Waxahachie, Texas Yep, in 1958,...
Where did the term “shoot from the hip” come from?
Where did the term “shoot from the hip” come from? Alexander F. Durvin Jr. Fort Washington, Maryland “Shoot from the hip” refers to gunmen who...
Quanah Parker Looks Promising
Lonesome Dove author Larry McMurtry and his writing partner Diana Ossana have their plates full with a number of new Western-themed movies in the...
Hart Ranch Reopens
After he finished what would be his last, and one of his best films, Tumbleweeds, in 1925, William S. Hart bought the land where the picture was...
Mangold’s Texas Ranger
James Mangold didn’t get quite as much attention as the Coen brothers when he retooled the black-and-white Western 3:10 to Yuma. But his ambitious...
True Grit
Fans of the original version of True Grit may be divided in their opinions about the remake, but we all have the Coen brothers to thank for...
Robert Conrad Dares Ya
Robert Conrad is tough. He might even be tougher than James West, the rough-and-ready secret agent he played on television in the CBS series The...
Guidebooks to Tombstone
When reviewing travel guide books, Samuel Johnson’s quote often comes to mind: “Every writer of travels should consider that...he undertakes either...
Sweetgrass Mornings
The backcountry smells fatalistic in Sweetgrass Mornings, the memoirs—sprinkled with some tall tales—of Slim Randles, a veteran outdoorsman who has...