Nobody messed with Sarah Bowman, “The Great Western.” She was a giant among women—hell, she was a giant among most men—this “Amazon of the Border”...
The Biggest Leg in Mexico
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Jana Bommersbach
Collecting American Outlaws
Wilbur Zink has preserved the Younger Gang’s history in more ways than one. Growing up in Missouri in the 1930s, Wilbur Zink loved listening to...
Best of the West: Western Preservation
Love Them All Pick my favorite column of 2023? No way. I am supposed to write about my favorite Old West Savior of 2023. The problem is, I don’t...
A Little Town with a Big Agenda
Trinidad, Colorado, won’t let go of this 115-year-old gem. Nobody’s still around to remember the “glory days”—John Philip Sousa, Sitting Bull and...
Ringing the Bell
For the greater good of the state, two visionary women saved a school in Nome, North Dakota. This is a story about two North...
The Oldest West Savior
It wasn’t even called The West—was still the ‘New World’—when the foundation was laid. By all rights, there shouldn’t be a San Xavier del Bac...
If You Thought Dude Ranching Days Were Over….
Montana’s original wants to set you straight. It’s a fair guess that “the man who put ‘dude’ in dude ranching” would be pleased. Although he’s long...
Will This Bell Toll Again?
Tombstone’s first Episcopal Church says “Yes!” On January 21, 1882, a 24-year-old divinity student wrote in his diary, “So begins my journey West....
He Plucked One Paragraph Out of History
Kenneth Thomasma built an entire career telling stories we almost missed. Lifetime passions can start simply: like when a 30-something...
Vera’s Life in the Circus was a Zoo
Her $10 greenhorn mistake didn’t help. The first time Vera McGinnis entered the Big Top at Madison Square Garden in New York City, she looked like a...
A Proud Heritage Saved, Texas Style
Nobody’s surprised it’s so big and so bold. It started during a visit to a Norway museum in the 1960s, when Texas Tech University President...
You Had to Look Hard – The Marquis de Morès Did
His wife’s beautiful name graces the charming town he left behind. "Little Misery” was about the only name you’d find in this part of the Dakota...