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,...
Burt Alvord, Biddy Doyle and the Bisbee Caper
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True West Blog
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...
Marion Hedgepeth Crosses Tracks with Serial Killer H.H. Holmes
Old West train robber Marion Hedgepeth helped unmask serial killer H.H. Holmes. The two were in a Missouri jail and came up with a con scheme:...
Charlie Connelly Cut Short
Charlie Connelly was a teacher, first in Indiana and then in Kansas when he moved there in the 1880s. In 1892, he was looking for a little extra...
The 1886 Martin Family Massacre
Arizona had a lot of loathsome cold-blooded killers but none worse than Charles Stanton. He arrived in Arizona in 1871 where he got his start by...
The Code of Honor
Some outlaws had their lives glorified on the silver screen. Others are mere footnotes in history. A few years ago I wrote a story about an outlaw...
Tulsa Jack
William Blake was better known by the handle “Tulsa Jack.” The cowboy went to the dark side in 1892 when he joined Bill Doolin’s gang. Over the...
Jim Parker’s Last Night
This much is known: Jim Parker was hanged in Prescott, AZ on June 3, 1898, for the murder of Assistant District Attorney Lee Norris during a...
The Canoa Land Grant Ranch
The San Ignacio de la Canoa land grant is one of the oldest and most interesting in Arizona. The Canoa, located south of Tucson in the fertile...
Clay O’Brien Cooper
John Wayne thought Clay O’Brien Cooper was too small to play one of The Cowboys—until the pint-sized nine-year-old lassoed and dumped him on the...
The Lost Dutchman Mine
Lost gold mines are among our greatest natural resources; they don’t pollute the sky with columns of acrid smoke, befoul streams, or scar delicate...