New Mexico’s Mes Gang came to a bloody end in August 1875. They’d been rustling cattle from John Chisum (and may have killed a man). Outlaw Jessie...
The Mes Gang Falls
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Mark Boardman
Friends or Foes?
It was November 1893, and two men who had fought off the Johnson County (WY) invasion the previous year had it out in the streets of Buffalo....
Asa Mercer
Asa Mercer left quite the legacy. As a young man, he was one of the early settlers of Seattle—where he helped found and became the first president...
Happy’s Not-So-Happy Blunder
Somebody with a sense of humor, with more than a touch of irony, must have nicknamed John Morco “Happy Jack.” Happy? Accounts record him as an...
The Johnson County Invaders
The Johnson County, Wyoming invaders were saved by political maneuvers that reached to the highest levels. The cattleman’s army had killed two...
Judge Roy Bean
You know the story of Roy Bean—the man who came to prominence (of sorts) in his late 50s when he moved to an area west of the Pecos in Texas. He...
Lyne “Tol” Barret
Lyne “Tol” Barret had a novel idea for getting rich. In late 1865, he and some friends formed the Melrose Petroleum Oil Company, the first such...
Graham’s Failed Escape
Tom Graham thought he’d gotten away from the death and destruction of Arizona’s Pleasant Valley War. He moved to Tempe to live in peace—or so he...
Curtiz Hands the Reins to Wayne
Michael Curtiz was a top Hollywood director, helming classics like Casablanca, White Christmas, and The Adventures of Robin Hood. In 1960, he was...
He Died in Style
Marion Hedgepeth was a train robber and outlaw with style. “The Debonair Bandit” usually wore a suit, cravat, bowler hat and had neatly polished...
The Fall Creek Massacre
The Fall Creek Massacre was all too typical—seven whites murdering nine Indians in Indiana in 1824, for no apparent reason. The outcome set a...
Tombstone’s Schieffelin Hall
It was June 1881 when Al Schieffelin—brother of Tombstone founder Ed Schieffelin—opened the theater and opera house that carried their last name....