You probably didn’t know. • The idea behind a relay mail service didn’t originate with the Pony Express; it was first proposed in 13th-century...
10 Things about the Pony Express
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The Pony Express
America was exploding in the mid-1800s. From coast to coast, it was a time of great anxiety—the Civil War was looming, the Mexican War was waging,...
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
In 1883, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show began in North Platte, Nebraska. Before it folded three decades later, the hunter-scout-turned-megastar had...
Cottonwood Canyon Ranch
The original pioneers came to the land as explorers, as dreamers—claiming a hunk of dirt to make a life. They came, as historians remind us, “not to...
Where’s the Beef?
The cowboys, longhorns and chuck wagon on the bluff two miles south of Caldwell, Kansas, aren’t making any progress. Since 1995, this trail herd has...
Sojourn through the Past and Present
Step off a plane at the San Antonio airport and you’re met by a quartet of cultures—Anglo, Mexican, Spanish and German. To experience the West in...
No Substitute for a Romping Good Story
With his deep voice and lean hawklike look, Western novelist Matt Braun could be one of the Old West lawmen or cowboys that populate his novels....
What ever happened to “Big Minnie” of Tombstone?
Dave Hayhurst Moline, Illinois Maulda Branscomb stood over six feet tall and weighed 230 lbs. Once you saw her, you never forgot her. Maulda sang,...
Reading the September 2000 True West article by Glenn Shirley, titled, “A Tireless Energy & Nerves of Steel,” I was fascinated by Caroline Bonneville. Are there books about other independent women of the early West?
Stace Webb Via the Internet Agnes Morley Cleveland wrote No Life for a Lady, which is about her experiences on a ranch in New Mexico. Mary Kidder...
What was the favorite type of mule used in the Old West?
Paul Gordon St. Thomas, Ontario The mule of choice was the big Missouri Mule, known far and wide for its intelligence and stamina. I’m told the army...
While looking at a Tombstone photo, I saw a sign that says mule and ox shoes to order. How do you put shoes on a cloven-footed ox?
David M. Peacock Montello, Wisconsin Shoes for oxen come in two halves and were wider than mule shoes. They were more difficult to put on because...
How far apart were Wild Bill Hickok and Dave Tutt in their famous 1865 showdown in Springfield, Missouri?
Tom Shepard El Monte, California Dave Tutt and Wild Bill were, according to many accounts, 75 yards apart; however, Hickok expert Joseph Rosa, in...