Sometimes an outlaw had to die before he or she gained fame. Myra Belle Shirley is a good example. She grew up in an affluent Southern family, was...
Belle Starr: The Bandit Queen
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True West Blog
Knights in Dusty Leather
Despite the violent image of the West there were fewer fatalities in the entire history of a raucous cow town than in an average Hollywood...
A Litany of Train Robberies
Credited with pulling the first peacetime train robbery in America goes to the four, relatively unknown, Reno brothers of Indiana, John, Frank,...
Basking in The Limelight
Billy the Kid and four of his gang were delivered to the jail in Las Vegas, New Mexico on December 26, 1880. They were locked up without much...
Western Films in Arizona
Theaters were a popular form of entertainment in early Arizona and the first moving pictures came to the towns in the 1890’s. They were shown...
Angels Camp Gold Rush
One of the stranger gold strike stories comes from Angels Camp, California in 1856. Bennager Rasberry was squirrel hunting when his ramrod got stuck...
The Birth of Tombstone’s Helldorado Celebration
Tombstone’s first Helldorado celebration was in October 1929—and like so many other things tied to the “Town Too Tough To Die,” there was some...
John Clum: Pioneer Footballer
John Clum is best known for his time in Tombstone, as a newspaperman, mayor, and friend of the Earps and Doc Holliday. But when he was a bit young,...
The Lost Belle McKeever Mine
Arizona historian James McClintock called the Lost Belle McKeever, “the richest gold ledge ever discovered in North America.” It was named not for...
Burt Alvord, Biddy Doyle and the Bisbee Caper
Burt Alvord was a big strapping, swarthy-looking fellow with a bald pate and an IQ that was said to be considerably less than the size of his waist,...
Arizona Senator Henry F. Ashurst
Henry Fountain Ashurst was one of the first two Senators elected when Arizona became a state in 1912. The other was the irrepressible former...
John J. Kloehr Downs a Dalton
John J. Kloehr was a prominent citizen of Coffeyville, Kansas, a man who owned a sizable livery operation. When the Dalton Gang tried to rob both...