Ben “Dad” Pennington was 56 when he became a Texas Ranger in 1917. A bit old, perhaps, but Pennington had 20 years of law enforcement experience and a cool demeanor. He was stationed near the border to fight off Mexican revolutionaries, and he saw his share of action in several battles. He lost an eye in one shootout.
Bullets couldn’t stop him; sickness did. In the fall of 1918, he was assigned to help keep order as officials fought a flu epidemic. He caught the illness and di

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows