The touring troupe would always remember that 1870s night in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, when Calamity Jane came to see them perform: “Calamity was...
Deadwood Drama
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Articles
Did the old stagecoach route between Benson and Tucson follow what is today’s I-10?
Did the old stagecoach route between Benson and Tucson follow what is today’s I-10? Harry McNeer Via Fax The old Butterfield Overland stage line,...
How did Martha Jane Canary acquire the nickname “Calamity?”
How did Martha Jane Canary acquire the nickname Calamity? Rob Noyes Cincinnati, Ohio According to one tale, Martha Jane Canary’s paramours, and...
I’ve heard there was a passenger on the Titanic named William P. Longley, and that someone from the family of Wild Bill Longley identified the traveler as the outlaw. Evidently, Longley faked his death only to sink along with the Titanic. Is that true?
I’ve heard there was a passenger on the Titanic named William P. Longley, and that someone from the family of Wild Bill Longley identified the...
Cassidy Gang Captured Again
Butch Cassidy’s well-known “Fort Worth Five” photograph, which led to the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang’s eventual breakup, was recaptured for the History...
Vera’s Cowboy Done Her Wrong
If Vera McGinnis’ love story were a Country Western song, it would go something like this: “He dragged her heart around that ring, that handsome...
A Pineapple-Coconut Pie Kind of Guy
Since third grade, Johnny Boggs has been making up stories. Of course for True West, he sticks to the facts. And as regular readers already know, he...
Beating Out the Pilgrims
"El Paso, not Plymouth, held the first Thanksgiving,” declared Peggy Boone of the El Paso, Texas, CVB. “In 1598, the 500 settlers led by Don Juan de...
Following Cherokee Tracks
I first saw the Cherokee Trail when I was a little girl. One branch of it crossed my family’s ranch near Encampment, Wyoming, and when we were at...
Truth Failed To Hide In A Tin
When his hired hand stomped off in a huff that chilled November day in 1895, foreman Jim Potts knew it would be up to him to take care of his band...
The Bell Tolls For Bell
By dying from Billy the Kid’s hands on April 28, 1881, Deputy Sheriffs James W. Bell and Robert Olinger stoked Billy’s legend to a white hot flame....
From Shovels to DNA
You could hear the two shots all over Lincoln, New Mexico: noon, April 28. The date is historic: on that day in 1881, history tells us Billy the Kid...