Kenneth Thomasma built an entire career telling stories we almost missed. Lifetime passions can start simply: like when a 30-something...
He Plucked One Paragraph Out of History
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Jana Bommersbach
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...
Let’s Honor a Kick-Ass Arizona Woman
Frances Willard Munds changed life in the brand new state. Arizona deserves a new tradition on election day: After voting, women could take...
Meet Mrs. Tombstone
Most places need a committee; Tombstone needed Edna. The Town Too Tough to Die was on life support when Edna Landin came to town in 1949. It was...
Aloha Cowboys
Hawaii’s Paniolo Preservation Society keeps the Old West alive in the 50th state. Here’s a Cliffs Notes history of the cowboy: The first were...
So-Called Cattle Kate Rises from Rubbish
Evidence points toward Ella Watson’s innocence. Cattle Kate was the only woman ever hanged in Wyoming for cattle rustling, and history long...
In This Museum, the Paintings Do Talk
The George Phippen Museum continues to inspire Western artists. The painting is so expressive, you can almost hear the words of the poem that...
Slinging Lead, Hot Type and the Truth
History tried to erase the courageous Arizona journalist, but her remarkable life and work as a publisher is a testament to her courage and her...
Thank You, President Lincoln
Here’s how we got home, home on the range. Free Land!” In 30 states. Offering 270 million acres—one tenth of the entire United States. Over two...
If it Moves, If it Spins, You’ll Find it Here
This truly was the “engine” for Albuquerque. The first thing Rabbi Isador Freed did in 1920, as he de-parted the train in a dusty New Mexico town,...