True West Blog
The Mes Gang Falls

The Mes Gang Falls

New Mexico’s Mes Gang came to a bloody end in August 1875. They’d been rustling cattle from John Chisum (and may have killed a man). Outlaw Jessie...

read more
Holbrook, Arizona

Holbrook, Arizona

Before the railroad arrived in 1881, Holbrook, located where the Rio Pureco joined the Little Colorado, was known as Horsehead Crossing. Just east...

read more
Not So Gentle Tamers

Not So Gentle Tamers

Although some have portrayed early Arizona pioneer women as being “gentle tamers” the term does a bit of disservice to the toughness of these women....

read more
Friends or Foes?

Friends or Foes?

It was November 1893, and two men who had fought off the Johnson County (WY) invasion the previous year had it out in the streets of Buffalo....

read more
Lozen, Woman Warrior

Lozen, Woman Warrior

“Lozen is my right hand. . . strong as a man, braver than most, and cunning in strategy,” said the Apache leader Victorio about his sister. She also...

read more
Asa Mercer

Asa Mercer

Asa Mercer left quite the legacy. As a young man, he was one of the early settlers of Seattle—where he helped found and became the first president...

read more
Wyatt the Farmer?

Wyatt the Farmer?

In June 1880, Philip M. Thurmond walked around the newly formed mining camp of Tombstone and asked for the vital statistics of every person he could...

read more
The Henry Rifle

The Henry Rifle

The legendary Model 1873 Winchester, has been called the favorite "Fighting rifle of the Old Civilian West."  The granddaddy of Model 1873 and all...

read more