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...
Following Custer’s Guidon
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Articles
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?...
Following the Nez Perce Trail
The words are as moving today as they were when Chief Joseph spoke them on a cold fall day in 1877: “I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are all...
1881 Marlin Rifle
While the 1873 Winchester is often called the “gun that won the West,” this rifle certainly didn’t win it by itself. There were plenty of other good...
Talking the Legs Off a Donkey
Of all the scams coming out of the Western mining era, the one perpetrated by George Babcock wins hands down. In 1894, Babcock, who was a jovial man...
Judging the Peace
Mexican raiders swam across the Rio Grande, showing off their freshly-stolen beeves, taunting Capt. Leander McNelly and his Special Force of Texas...
Training Painted Paints
It’s a breathtaking scene in a beautiful movie. Hundreds of wild horses run free across the Montana prairie in the final scene of Hidalgo. The...
Calamity Jane
Her name isn’t real and neither are most of the folklore images of her. Calamity Jane—yes, there really was such a person in the Old West—wasn’t the...