Former California Supreme Court Justice David Terry had a temper—as he showed in the 1859 killing of U.S. Senator David Broderick in a duel just...
David Terry Tests the Wrong Man
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Mark Boardman
Juan Cortina
Juan Cortina was a rancher and politician in the Lower Rio Grande in 1859. He was displeased as Anglos took over land next to his. And he became...
A Deadly Feud Between Two Jims
Jim Harkey and Jim Barbey were both riders at the Cottonwood Mott Line Camp in west Texas in 1880. Nobody knew of any trouble between the two...
A Cochise-led Apache Ambush
It was July 15, 1862, and Union Captain Thomas Roberts led a column of volunteers into Apache Pass in southeast Arizona. They were headed to New...
Marshal Tom “Bear River” Preferred Fists to Guns
Abilene, Kansas Marshal Tom “Bear River” Smith gained a reputation for using fists instead of guns. According to one story, he earned that rep....
The Serendipitous Birth of Blue Jeans
Just after the Civil War, merchant Levi Strauss had an overstock of canvas and didn’t know exactly what to do with the material. He hit upon the...
Chunk Colbert’s Deadly Grudge
Chunk Colbert tried to take on the wrong man in Clay Allison. On January 7, 1874 the two men sat down for a friendly meal at the Clifton House in...
No One Steals from Barton’s Joint
Jerry Barton was associated with the Cow-boy faction in southeast Arizona. He ran a bar in the town of Charleston—a Cow-boy hangout. And he wasn’t...
Bud Ballew: Lawman Gone Bad
Bud Ballew was a lawman around Ardmore, Oklahoma after the turn of the century. He had a string of killings to his credit and the reputation of a...
The Teacher and the Badmen
Charlie Connelly seemed like the last person in the world to get into a gunfight with outlaws. He’d spent most of his adult life as a teacher....
Stuart’s Stranglers
Stuart’s Stranglers had a brief but deadly life in 1884. Civic and political leader Granville Stuart formed the group after several of his cattle...
Osceola’s Imprisonment
Osceola is probably the best known leader of the Seminoles. He was not born a chief in 1804 (his father was an Englishman). But his natural...