In 1890, Walt Rigney ran a saloon on the Mogollon Rim. His hair stuck out like a pine bough, so the soldiers who frequented the saloon called him...
The Town Named for a Hairdo
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Bob Boze Bell
Exiled Into Celebrity
After his surrender in 1886, the Apache leader Geronimo became quite in demand at expositions, parades and fairs and he quickly caught on to the...
Blazing Pols
As volatile as today’s politics seem, I find it somewhat comforting to know that in the Old West, it was even worse. During the 1871 election season...
Show Low vs. a Straight Flush
Two ranchers, Corydon Cooley and Marion Clark, decided the valley they lived in wasn’t big enough for the both of them. They played a card game to...
The Wizard of the Colorado River
During her arduous journey into the war zone of Arizona in 1874, Martha Summerhayes gave high praise to a riverboat pilot, Captain Jack Mellon,...
On the Rock with the Apache Kid
In 1888, Ski-be-nan-ted , better known as The Apache Kid, was sentenced to a ten year term at Alcatraz for a crime he did not commit. Pardoned after...
Fine Wine at the O.K. Corral
We have this image of Old West saloons serving rotgut, but in wild Tombstone, A.T., Kelly’s Wine House served 26 wines imported from Europe and had...
A Nazi Western?
Believe it or not, a 1936 German film, Der Kaiser von Kalifornien (The Emperor of California), was partially filmed in Sedona. The script allegedly...
Fashion Faux Pas, Arizona-Style
Embarking by boat from San Francisco in 1874, Martha Summerhayes joined her army husband as he headed to far-off Arizona. Arriving in Yuma they met...
Tragic Powwow
June 1, 1887 Absent from duty for five days, the Apache Kid, along with four other Apache scouts under his command, ride single file into the...
Border Bandidos
The U.S.-Mexico border has long been plagued by outlaws and bandidos from both sides of the line. Some of the most infamous to ply the no man’s land...
A Freighter Transcends the Plains
He was a freighter, a scout, a gambler, a lawman and an actor (a bad one by his own admission). His real name was James, but someone called him...