True West Blog Archives

A Devotion to Service

by Mark Boardman | Oct 18, 2024

A teacher/town marshal gave his all for Coffeyville. Charlie Connelly was a teacher in Coffeyville, Kansas in the early 1890s. Reports say he was...

Put Down the Guns

by Mark Boardman | Oct 17, 2024

Wild Bill’s last gunfight was tragic. October 5, 1871. Wild Bill Hickok's last gunfight. The shootist is marshal of Abilene, Kansas. He hears a shot...

The First Train Robbery

by Mark Boardman | Oct 16, 2024

…took place in Seymour, Indiana just after the Civil War. The evening of October 6, 1866. Three men--Simeon Reno, John Reno and Frank Sparks (latter...

A Bawdy House Battle

by Mark Boardman | Oct 11, 2024

A lawman loses out—in the fight and the courtroom. Tom Logan was a respected lawman in Tonopah, NV (photo, seated left). But on April 7, 1906 he was...

The Wright Stuff

by Mark Boardman | Oct 10, 2024

Starting a church in Dodge City. September 24, 1850. Ormond W. Wright is born in New Hampshire. When he moves west in his early 20s, he decides to...

The Sweetwater Affair

by Mark Boardman | Oct 9, 2024

The Hamer family’s ongoing fight with ex-in-laws. October 1, 1917. Frank Hamer (photo), his pregnant wife Gladys, and three others are driving...

Frontier Army

by | Oct 9, 2024

Recently a True West reader asked what a frontier army soldier could take home with him when his enlistment was up. Author and military historian...

Tombstone Rangers

by | Oct 8, 2024

On April 3rd, 1883, the citizens of Tombstone declared they had no faith in the Army’s ability to contain the Apache. Putting their faith in a...

Travelers of the West

by | Oct 7, 2024

Traveling drummers, salesmen or peddlers provided a variety of necessary goods and services for folks in frontier areas that didn’t have easy access...