Celebrating our 51st continual year of publication, True West again brings you our hoarded nuggets, our favorite out-of-the-way secrets: the best...
True West’s Best of the West 2005 Winners
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Articles
Has an original copy of the official inquest into the O.K. Corral shooting survived? A book by Al Turner purports to include the complete testimonies of the participants, but I also read that the original findings were lost in one of Tombstone’s fires.
Glenn Hebert Albuquerque, New Mexico I checked with Casey Tefertiller, one of the best experts on the Spicer hearing, and he says the original...
On a jeep tour in the Sonoran desert recently, our guide lectured on the jojoba plant, saying the beans are high in caffeine, which is why Native Americans chewed them for an energy boost and cowboys used them to make coffee. What do you think?
Roy McKay Phoenix, Arizona Your guide needs to take a refresher course on jojoba beans. They contain no caffeine. He’s right about the cowboys...
In your opinion, when did the Old West come to an end?
Kriya Singh Via the Internet Frederick Jackson Turner, in his 1893 essay, “The Frontier in American History,” claimed the frontier ended in 1890 and...
A friend claims some of the weapons used to assassinate Pancho Villa could have been obtained only from U.S. sources, thus there was a U.S. connection to his assassination. Is this true?
Charles Herrick El Segundo, California The general consensus, conspiracy theorists notwithstanding, is the U.S. wasn’t involved in any plot to get...
What is hanging around Keith Carradine’s neck in the June 2004 issue of True West?
Kent Martin Elkridge, Maryland Some suggest it’s a whiskey flask, while others say it’s a medicine pouch, but it’s a small knife in a scabbard. The...
Following Custer’s Guidon
Born in 1839 in New Rumley, Ohio, George Armstrong (or Autie, as his sister called him) Custer attended Alfred Stubbins Young Men’s Academy. He...
Paying the Rent
R549 is a country band that re-invented itself nearly three years ago by going back to its roots—those being Lower Broadway in Nashville, the...
I’ve read that Billy the Kid had a brother. What happened to him?
I've read that Billy the Kid had a brother. What happened to him? Dennis Bagwell Anaheim, California Billy had a brother, or perhaps a half brother,...
What is the origin of the phrase, “You bet?”
What is the origin of the phrase, “You bet?” Bill Beck Boise, Idaho “You bet” is a phrase all us Westerners grew up with. It’s regarded as a...
Rex Allen Arizona Cowboy Museum
Mary Leighton is a scrapper when it comes to preserving our Western heritage. Let a developer threaten to bulldoze a historical building in order to...
Double E Guest Ranch
No Jacuzzi. No swimming pool. No special vegetarian diets. No “nose to tail” horseback riding ... say, what kind of dude ranch is this, anyway?...