From 1821 until the Gadsden Purchase in 1854 the Mexican government sold and awarded granted land under Mexico’s 1824 Law of Colonization, it called...
Not-So Scared Straight
A sheriff’s failed attempt to turn Billy the Kid’s life around. Harvey Whitehill was the sheriff of Grant County, New Mexico Territory, at the time...
Blood Brothers
Billy the Kid’s sibling Joe went in a different direction. Joe McCarty/Antrim had one claim to fame: he was Billy the Kid’s brother (or...
No Son of Mine
The distant relationship of Billy the Kid and his step-father. William Henry Harrison Antrim is best known as the step-father of Billy the Kid. But...
Buckskin Frank Leslie
To many, Buckskin Frank’s death is very much a mystery. Was it suicide or murder? The mystery of Buckskin Franks demise has been solved by authors...
Border Security
The history of border security predates Poncho Villa’s raid on Columbus, New Mexico and General Pershing Punitive Expedition by several years....
Time-Honored Books on the Cowboys of the Long Trail
A True West reader recently requested a list of my favorite authors and books on the old-time cowboys on the Long Trail from southwest Texas...
The Irish Singer Sponsored by Chuck Pinnell
Composer Chuck Pinnell makes his literary debut with The Irish Singer, inspired by his West Texas childhood and family trips to southern New...
Resenting the Chinese
White workers massacred Chinese at a Wyoming mining camp. American labor troubles turned inward at Rock Springs, Wyoming on September 2, 1885. The...
A Not-So-Safety Inspector
The curious cause of a Colorado mine disaster. Colorado mining had its second disaster in April 1917. Less than two miles from where the Ludlow...
The Massacre at Ludlow
A Colorado incident resulted in big changes in the mining industry. The Ludlow Massacre was one of the turning points in the various mining wars....
The Buntline
I never bought into the extra-long barrel O'Brian carried on TV. I really don't buy into the 10-inch barrel. That was an eyewitnesses account. We...