Joshua Norton spent more than 30 years in San Francisco, from 1849 to 1880, and for most of them he was the self-proclai…
True West Blog
Justice for a Journalist Vigilantes closed the case of a California killer.
James King of William (he gave himself the last part of that name to distinguish himself from other James Kings) was a c…
So you Want to be a Cowboy There’s been many a young man or woman who dreamed of climbing into a time machine and transporting themselves back to the days when the West was wild and free.
There’s been many a young man or woman who dreamed of climbing into a time machine and transporting themselves back to t…
The Notorious Dutch Henry Dutch Henry Borne was one of the most prevalent and notorious livestock thieves in the West.
Dutch Henry Borne (also spelled Born and Bourne) was one of the most prevalent and notorious livestock thieves in the We…
Gunfight at the Chandler Ranch Billy Breakenridge, Richard “Zwing Hunt,” was one of the baddest of the bad hombres.
According to Cochise County Deputy Sheriff, Billy Breakenridge, Richard “Zwing Hunt,” was one of the baddest of the bad …
A Warning for Abolitionists A Methodist pastor paid for his views on slavery.
Anthony Bewley was a Methodist pastor south of Ft. Worth just before the Civil War. He was outspokenly abolitionist, an…
Arizona’s First US Marshal Milton Duffield was a gunman who came to a tragic end.
Milton Duffield was a seasoned gunman, claiming his first victim in 1854. That reputation must have helped him in some …
Attacks on the Butterfield Stage The Butterfield Overland stage did come under Apache attack on at least two occasions.
A True West reader recently asked, did the Butterfield Overland and Mail in Arizona ever come under attack? And where in…
Old Jails The cliché of the jail bars, with the big window is quite unrealistic.
We always see on Hollywood westerns, the jails in towns like Tombstone, Dodge City are portrayed with large windows with…
Setting up Shop Ed Schieffelin’s early base of operations was the Brunckow Cabin.
Ed Schieffelin must have been a brave man. In 1877, he set up shop at the Brunckow Cabin, a few miles southwest of the …