In my humble opinion Johnny Ringo was probably the most fortunate outlaw when it comes to great names. That was his real name, but others evidently...
What’s in a Name
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Marshall Trimble
The Bird Cage Theater
Down on the corner of Allen Street and 6th Street was the Bird Cage, a theater that catered more to Tombstone’s working class. It was built by a...
Sometimes Life Imitates Art
Hollywood matinee idol William Boyd had a wicked reputation as a boozer, womanizer and hell-raiser. In time his career foundered; nobody wanted to...
Wild Bill Hickok
Was Wild Bill Hickok ever a Deputy U.S. Marshal? Hickok joined the army in April 1861. In 1864 he was working as a policeman for a Capt. Squires in...
Cattle Rustling
At the lower end of the rustling scale was subsistence rustling. One poor homesteader in Eastern Montana stole two of cattle baron Conrad Kohrs’...
William Levi “Buck” Taylor
Was Roy Rogers the original ‘King of the Cowboys” or was it someone else? The first and original King of the Cowboys was a Texas cowboy named Buck...
Billy the Kid’s Many Aliases
The Kid's official birth name was William Henry McCarty Jr. His birthplace is not certain. Some say New York City. In 1873 his mother, Catherine...
Shaman or Medicine Men
I’ve been asked a number of times, “Where would Geronimo or Sitting Bull have learned their trade as a medicine man. How did they get this position?...
Mules, Levi’s and Chuckwagons
Can horses really run themselves to death? Marie Johnson (Dallas, Texas) Horses can run themselves to death even without a rider. A...
Rascals of Tombstone: Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne
After running away from the gunfight in the vacant lot near the OK Corral in Tombstone, Ike Clanton made a desperate attempt to get the Earp’s and...
Tumbleweed Wagons
They called them “tumbleweed wagons” because like their namesake, the Russian thistle, they seemed to wander aimlessly across the territory picking...
Mountain Men
The first white men to venture “across the wide Missouri” were awed by the breathtaking sight of the majestic Rocky Mountains that loomed on the...