Perry Mallon was a con-artist, a liar and a fake.  And he nearly brought down Doc Holliday. In May 1881, Mallon “arrested” Doc in a Denver...

David Trousdale was a nondescript Wells Fargo express messenger on a Southern Pacific train.  March 14, 1912, made him a celebrity. That’s when...

J. Frank Dalton wanted publicity—so much that he claimed to be famous Old West figures. In the 1940s, he said he was lawman Frank Dalton, who had...

Gunman Ben Thompson (right) had his photo taken on March 11, 1884—and promptly signed and gave it to his friend, fellow shootist King Fisher (left)....

Bat Masterson is one of the most famous lawmen in the Old West.  But he was also a serial lawbreaker. Bat was born in Canada in 1853 and never...

Langford Peel and John Bull (in illustration, in a fake holdup of Mark Twain) ran con games throughout the West.  The association ended on July 22,...

Juan Soto was a killer and bandit in California in the 1860s and ‘70s—until he met lawman Harry Morse. Morse tracked Soto and his gang to an adobe...

Galen Clark was, for want of a better term, a loser. Yet all of his trials and tribulations ended up giving this country a great natural treasure:...