Scholars uncover answers and create more questions on the outlaw’s life and family from New York to New Mexico. This past year has been a watershed...
Bowery Boy to Billy the Kid
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Articles
Billy the Kid and the Apaches
The audacious outlaw fought and raided his rival renegades without retribution. All images courtesy True West Archives unless otherwise noted ...
Young Guns
Armed and Dangerous on the American Frontier One-hundred and forty years ago, on July 14, 1881, Pat Garrett shot and killed Billy the Kid in...
The 1841 “Mississippi” Rifle
This handsomely rugged 1840s muzzleloader was prized by frontiersmen and military riflemen alike and helped phase out the smoothbore musket. ...
The West’s First Preservationist Will Surprise You
In Lincoln County, New Mexico, the name John Tunstall is as famous as his hired gun, Billy the Kid. His ambition, his capitalistic competition, his...
Great Danger Rests on the Town! God Save Us!
A doctor and pastor found little healing during the Lincoln County War. It must have seemed like a simple assignment—providing medical care...
Shooting Back
Our readers remind us of the variables and vagaries of historic truths, “well-established” facts, headlines and historical photographs. Who was...
Here’s Looking at You, Kid
The Class of 2021 has turned in their research and—boy, howdy—there are some eyebrow-raisers here. When I was first diving deep into all the Billy...
Truth Be Known
Old Vaquero Saying “The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest.” Quotes “Have...
Young Guns South of the Border
Six decades after the California Gold Rush, adventurous young men from around the world were still flooding the West seeking fame, fortune and, for...
Wide Open Spaces and Western Wonderlands
The summer of 2021 is a great time to travel across these Old West highways. The West is a grand place to travel, and its many highways and...
Blood on the Trail
The latest biography of Daniel Boone, plus new bios of Doc Holliday and Buffalo Bill, and histories of the Chiricahuas and California good-time...