Since 1955, he has towered above all Western lawmen—at least those on television. That’s not just because James Arness, better known as Marshal...
He’s Hung Up His Gun and Badge but James Arness is Still the Marshal
read more
Articles
A Knight with the Widow Benton
Many have claimed that Jesse James, America’s most notorious bandit, was a Robin Hood who took from the rich and gave to the poor. Others have...
The James Boys’
The ragged remnants of the James-Younger Gang rode south out of Northfield—six men on five horses. All of them were wounded (see sidebar, next...
The James-Younger Gang vs The Townsmen of Northfield
September 7, 1876 It’s just past 2:00 p.m. when three horsemen wearing matching white linen dusters dismount in front of the First National Bank in...
Two Great Myths about Jesse James
Most Jesse James buffs take as gospel that the famous bandit invented the daylight bank robbery and that he was never arrested. Both of these...
Frontier House
Could a 21st-century family survive in 1883 Montana? That’s the question PBS tried to answer in its excellent six-hour Frontier House, a WNET...
I have seen three variations of the well-known “Dodge City Peace Commission” photo, one with the top-right corner torn off, another with W.F. Petillon, a political friend of Luke Short’s, and still another with an aged Bill Tilghman in that corner. Which
I have seen three variations of the well-known “Dodge City Peace Commission” photo, one with the top-right corner torn off, another with W.F....
Did guys actually exist in the Old West who made their living as bounty hunters?
Did guys actually exist in the Old West who made their living as bounty hunters? Steve Drake Gladewater, Texas Bounty hunters were a varied...
Can you explain to me exactly what “Long Riders” are?
Can you explain to me exactly what “Long Riders” are? Mike Via the Internet According to Ramon Adams’ Western Words, long riders was another name...
A Writer Who Speaks for the Dead
You have to relish a writer who describes Benjamin Franklin as an 18th-century Groucho Marx. Lucia St. Clair Robson is not only one of America’s...
The Oregon Trail
Day after day, week after week, we went through the same weary routine of breaking camp at daybreak, yoking the oxen, cooking our meagre rations...
King of Texas
In the new TNT Western movie King of Texas, rancher John Lear has an ego about as big as the newly formed Republic of Texas. He tells his three...