When the hammer fell at $1.5 million on July 28, Coeur d’Alene Art Auction tied with Sotheby’s New York on the highest auction price paid for an...
Lone Ranger’s Iconic Saddle
Western Americana saddles are more than just a piece of horse equipment. When coupled with beautiful craftsmanship and outstanding ownership, they...
New “Old” Photo of 1896 Fight
Over 65 years of publication, True West has developed a loyal following of readers who send us historical Old West photographs to preserve in our...
History in Ink
What a difference an autograph makes. Last September, a collector successfully bid $6,500 at Cowan’s Auctions for a photograph from the Eric C....
Custer’s Last Strand
Custer’s Last Strand” made news around the nation after links of the controversial cavalry commander’s curly blond hair sold at the June 9 auction...
The Shadow Catcher Endures
Everyone loves the Edward Curtis Indians,” Sioux scholar Vine Deloria Jr. famously declared in the introduction for Christopher M. Lyman’s The...
An Artist’s Artist
Mandan warrior Four Bears has been praised for his artistic genius, which may explain why artists of the Old West have felt compelled to portray...
Romance and the Buffalo Hunt
Nancy Cooper clearly fired up Charles M. Russell’s imagination when they met in 1895 (a year later, 32-year-old Charlie would marry 18-year-old...
Private Eye Cowboy?
Born on November 3, 1877, in Hillsboro, Texas, Laney Thomas Cathey was four when the railroad arrived. His relatives believe he worked for the...
Monkey Business
A half-scale saddle that advertised Buffalo Bill’s Wild West act of a monkey riding a goat was among the top historical lots to hammer down past its...
A Plague of Flea Market Billys
The conversation all started with a letter from my hometown, Buffalo, New York. Rob McElroy had sent a note to the Yahoo group “Photo History” about...
Big Year for Custer Guns
The year 2017 turned out to be an excellent year to collect firearms tied to a storied icon, George Custer, and his most famous (and fateful)...