Jeff Mynatt spent much of his adult life in law enforcement. He was a deputy U.S. marshal in Indian Territory, a lawman in various Texas locales,...
Shooting At Siringo A rustling investigation nearly cost the Cowboy Detective.
Patrick Coghlan owned a cattle ranch in the Three Rivers area of New Mexico. Lawmen, including the legendary Charlie Siringo (photo), found some...
Outlaw Turned Lawman Turned Outlaw The strange tale of Ben Sippy.
Ben Sippy is best known as the man who beat Virgil Earp in the election for Tombstone marshal in 1880—and then suddenly (and somewhat mysteriously)...
Smoke Signals Unlike sign language, smoke signals aimed to send a secret message
Did you ever wonder if the Indians could send messages by smoke signals (as in Morse code) or if they only meant something specific that was agreed...
When Did The Civil War Really Begin? “He who controls the mouth of the Mississippi River controls the West.”
In 1784, Spain, looking from her outposts in Louisiana and Florida, watched America’s growing western frontier with a menacing eye and made a...
Mining Camp Law A white man from Tennessee arrived in the California gold camps with 3 slaves
A white man from Tennessee arrived in the California gold camps with 3 slaves. He put them to work while he rested in town. This didn’t set well...
Drinking And Gambling: A Bad Mix Ranger Outlaw learned the hard way.
Texas Ranger Bass Outlaw let his bad habits get the best of him in 1893. He was temporarily in charge of D Company when he went to the Buckhorn...
Hanky-Panky And The Rope Two killers of two husbands got two nooses for their trouble.
Albert O’Dell and James Lamb were itinerant farmworkers near Lebanon, Indian Territory in 1886. Strangely, they took the wives of their two...
Picked The Wrong Man A killer for hire had the tables turned.
Bill Earhart was a shootist who helped out “Killin’” Jim Miller on occasion—either as a lookout or assassin for hire. Miller wanted him and a cohort...
A Clean Slate Frank Canton wanted a pardon for his crimes—or else.
Former lawman Frank Canton was seeking a pardon for crimes—murder, rustling, robbery—that he’d committed in Texas in the 1870s under the name Joe...
Losing Control Lawman Frank Canton fell off the wagon—literally.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Frank Canton had some moments of embarrassment. That included July 9, 1896, when he was transporting three prisoners to jail in...
No Craven Coward Frank Canton showed guts in facing down Ben Cravens.
Lawman Frank Canton was a lot of things—but he certainly had guts. It was May 1894, and Deputy U.S. Marshal Canton was tracking career criminal Ben...