Romaine “Romy” Lowdermilk, the “Father of Dude Ranching in Arizona,” blossomed into one of the West’s greatest early balladeers. Born in Kansas in...
Singing At The Big Corral
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True West Blog
Bravery at Bloody Run
In May of 1889, outlaws attacked the army paymaster, Major Wham (rhymes with bomb) and a Buffalo Soldier escort between Fort Grant and Fort Thomas,...
Gregg Palmer
Gregg Palmer was a big actor, measuring out at 6’2” and well over 200 lbs. But he was big in other ways. Palmer was a member of John Wayne’s acting...
The Lasting Influence of Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson
As much as any Texas Ranger who served in the last half century, Joaquin Jackson knew well what fellow Captain C.J. Havrda meant about being a part...
Charlie Russell, “Waiting for a Chinook”
Charlie Russell came to Montana in 1880 at the age of sixteen where he hired out on a sheep ranch. He later went to work for a former trapper Jake...
Amnesty for George Coe
George Coe fought as a Regulator during the Lincoln County War, and got something his pal Billy the Kid didn’t—amnesty for his actions. Coe was one...
The Good ‘Ol Cash Stash
Jesse West and Joe Allen are best known for hiring Jim Miller to kill Gus Bobbitt in Ada, OK in 1909. The three, along with B.B. Burrell, were...
Cowboy Lingo, Tall Tales and Bald-faced Lies
A few years ago I went with “Warrior Tours” sponsored by Wrangler Jeans to the Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan with a group of champion rodeo cowboys...
Them Ain’t Cowboys; Them’s Ostrichboys
One of the most unusual yet lucrative types of ranching came into fashion around 1900 in Arizona’s Salt River Valley. With a head- ‘em-up, move...
Boone Helm
Boone Helm was a bad man through and through. Born in Kentucky in 1828, he moved West for opportunity and mayhem. He reportedly murdered several men...
In Search of Cowboy Ground Zero
In the spring of 2013, I traveled to Spain to see if I could locate Cowboy Ground Zero. My theory was, if I could find the source of the Spanish...
The Hashknife
The arrival of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in 1881 opened up the virgin grasslands of northern Arizona to large scale cattle ranching. The...