True West Blog
A Trail Blazer

A Trail Blazer

But Jesse Chisholm didn’t use it for cattle… The Chisholm Trail is one of the most important and famous of the paths used to drive cattle from Texas...

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Cop vs. Cop

Cop vs. Cop

A political argument got out of hand in Newton, KS. Billy Bailey was a cowboy who took a trail drive up to Newton, Kansas (photo) in 1871. After he...

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Wild Bill Hickok

Wild Bill Hickok

Was Wild Bill Hickok ever a Deputy U.S. Marshal? Hickok joined the army in April 1861. In 1864 he was working as a policeman for a Capt. Squires in...

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Cattle Rustling

Cattle Rustling

At the lower end of the rustling scale was subsistence rustling. One poor homesteader in Eastern Montana stole two of cattle baron Conrad Kohrs’...

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Two Men; Two Dead

Two Men; Two Dead

A gunfight between an outlaw and a lawman killed both. Ed Short (picture) was marshal of Hennessey, Indian Territory and a deputy U.S. marshal in...

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An Explosive Tactic

An Explosive Tactic

Texas Ranger Ira Aten tried a controversial plan to lessen crime. Ira Aten was a lawman in the 1880s, serving as a Texas Ranger. He became involved...

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