The Oatman family was traveling alone on the Gila Trail near today’s Gila Bend in 1851 when they were attacked by a band of Western Yavapai Indians....
A Tale of Two Women: Part One – Olive Oatman
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Blog
Facing Down a Lynch Mob
Nellie Cashman saved a mine owner from certain death. E.B. Gage was one of the most successful mine owners and businessmen in Tombstone during its...
Deaths with Dignity
A Tombstone woman ensured doomed men received some respect. Nellie Cashman made a name for herself in Tombstone, as a successful businesswoman as...
The Angel of the Cassiars
Nellie Cashman came to the rescue of stranded miners. Nellie Cashman was one of the great figures in the Old West, an entrepreneur who was famed for...
Sam Houston and the Alamo
Did Sam Houston ever call the Alamo a death trap? Did he order Jim Bowie to burn it down and to get out of the area? Historian, Bob Palmquist wrote:...
McClellan Saddles
The McClellan saddle was adopted by the U.S. Cavalry in 1859. It was designed by future general, George McClellan after a tour of Europe where he...
Healthcare in Old West Prisons
Healthcare in Old West prisons varied widely. Some were progressive and some weren’t. Most prisons had some kind of medical facility or infirmary to...
Do it Yourself
Hired assassin Jim Miller (photo) sometimes sublet his killing contracts. In 1896, he sent John Denson and Bill Earhart to kill Barney Riggs, a...
Any Publicity is Good Publicity?
John Denson showed a newspaperman what he thought about his writing. John Denson was the cousin of John Wesley Hardin and kin to Killin’ Jim Miller,...
No Complaints
A Texas cowman had a unique way of dealing with troublesome workers. You just didn’t mess with trail boss Mannen Clements (photo). He was leading a...
David Crockett and Betsy
After the battle at the Alamo, what happened to all of the weapons belonging to the Texians, the rifles, pistols, etc? Did Davy Crockett actually...
Wild Bill
Wild Bill Hickok was very likely a good marksman with a handgun, which was something of a rarity on the frontier; he also was supposedly a very...