While we often think of the shoulder holster as a product of the gangster era of the 1920-30s, the rig was actually a creation of the gun toters of...
Shoulder Holsters
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Articles
New Mexico’s Journey of the Dead
The Spanish called it Jornada del Muerto, “Journey of the Dead,” and traveling through Southern New Mexico’s desert, you might think it’s aptly...
Ridin’ the Rails
There was a time in the Old West when the arrival of the railroad was as exciting as it got—the coming of the train was much anticipated and...
Bad to the Bone
Deadwood’s real Ellis Alfred “Al” Swearengen was every bit as evil and ill-tempered as HBO Deadwood’s reel Al Swearengen, who is played by Ian...
On Her Own
If your image of a senorita in the Old West is beautiful brown eyes shyly hidden behind a lace fan, then you’ve never heard of Juana Briones—a...
“Giddy Up” Gals Getaway
As 70 head of horses hoofed their way to the corral for morning rides, a Mercedes Benz horn honked, loud and impatient. But horses stop for no man....
“I Hold for No One!” Road Agents Attempt to Rob Kinnear’s Stage Near Contention
March 15, 1881 Two California boys are riding the box on this chilly night along the San Pedro River bottom. Eli “Bud” Philpot, a top-rated stage...
No Bull(s)
Big hats ... big boots ... big mustaches ... big silver engraved lids for Copenhagen and Skoal cans ... big spit cups ... And not one big, bad...
May They Rest in Peace
If not for a 27-second gunfight near Tombstone’s O.K. Corral, many of the Old West’s most colorful characters would be remembered as little more...
Earning His Retirement
“I’m not writing anything now,” Fred Grove says from his Tucson, Arizona, home. “I feel kind of lost, but I think it’s just as well to hang ’em up.”...
On the Trail of Laura Ingalls Wilder
“As far as I could see, covered wagons stood one beyond another in a long, long line. Behind them and over them, high over half the sky, a yellow...
Boots and Saddles
Although the Civil War was primarily fought east of the Mississippi River, a number of battles did take place in the West. This is also true of...