Ron Mance Cicero, Illinois Billy Wilson was one of New Mexico’s Lincoln County warriors. He later became sheriff of Texas’ Terrell County, where he...
Who was Billy Wilson?
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Articles
Did Frank James die in the last shoot-out with the Ford that was still living?
Richard Dalton Via Fax Frank James died peacefully of old age at the James farm in Clay County, Missouri, on February 18, 1915. His ashes were kept...
A True Country Brew
Barbequed with a hint of barley smoke could describe Sony Music’s new Western tunesmith and vocalist Trent Willmon. But whatever you do, don’t call...
Did the Indians really use smoke signals or is that something out of Hollywood?
Larry Smith Austria Sending messages by smoke signals was a simple form of communication used mostly by the Plains Indians and in the Southwest...
As a girl in Kingman, Arizona, I took music lessons from Mrs. Cole, whose husband Walter told me he had been The Tombstone Epitaph editor and that he coined the phrase “Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die.”
Marcella Bloomfield Middleton, New York Bill Kelley, editor of the Epitaph, organized the first Helldorado Days in 1929. The following year, he sold...
Are there pictures of Zwing Hunt?
Craig Brewer Fairdale, New York Zwing Hunt is one of the more interesting characters in the Tombstone saga, but there is no known photo of him. He...
Following the Arkansas River
I’m driving around Wichita, Kansas, looking for the Arkansas River and I can’t find it. That is probably because I’m pronouncing it like the state...
Can you tell me how the famous XIT Ranch in Texas got its name? And can you explain how cattle rustlers altered the brand?
Richard Diaz Shreveport, Louisiana In 1879, the Texas legislature appropriated three million acres of land in the Texas Panhandle to finance a new...
I thought spurs were worn only for bronc riding. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Toni Via the Internet Horsemen have used spurs at least since the days of knights in shining armor. Spurs were generally used to control the animal,...
Have you ever heard of an outlaw called “Three-Shooter Bill?”
Ed Young Dallas, Texas “Three-Shooter Bill” was a two-bit outlaw and small time con man who earned his nickname because he was only half as bad as...
Has there ever been a thorough book written on the commerce of the Old West?
Patrick Wheaton Camby, IN I called James Denniston in Jackson, Wyoming, who specializes in books on the Old West, and he suggests The Plains Across...
I have a print of a photo I received from Winchester Arms, dated November 14, 1962. The caption says they are Texas Rangers. A year or two later, I read that Winchester made a mistake and the lawmen were actually Arizona Rangers. I’ve never heard of Arizo
Eugene O’Brien Union, New Jersey The famous photo of the Arizona Rangers was taken in Morenci, Arizona, during the mining strike in 1903. The tall...