Trapper Jim Baker was seriously hurt while practicing shooting. Jim Baker was one of the great pioneers, explorers, trappers and hunters of the...
Accident with a Gun
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True West Blog
A Pioneer Lost His Land
Charles Autobees’ homestead didn’t fit the rules. Charles Autobees was a mountain man and trapper, who plied that trade starting at age 16. He...
The Real Grizzly Adams
How a bear saved his life. Grizzly Adams was renowned for his hunting skills—including taking down bears. But he owed his life to one. In 1854, he...
Who Was Laura Bullion?
Her grave marker refers to her as the Thorny Rose, so who was Laura Bullion? Laura had a hardscrabble life. She had flings with many men and among...
At the End of the Long Drive
When a cowboy got to a cattle town after a long drive, making his dollar a day, what would have been his thoughts on spending a part of that money...
Too Old to Wrangle or Ride on the Swing
What did a cowboy do to get by when they got too old to ride herd and work as a cowboy? Utah Phillips wrote a great song on that theme The Goodnight...
Luke’s Last Fight
Short was badly wounded in the shootout. The long-simmering feud between Luke Short and Charles Wright finally reached the boiling point in Fort...
He Hated the Irish
Charlie Harrison’s bigotry had a high cost. It started as an argument over cards in a Cheyenne, WY, saloon. Gambler Charlie Harrison insulted Jim...
They Called Him Teddy Blue
Abbott wrote about the life of a cowboy. Edward Charles Abbott was born in England—but he became the prototypical American cowboy. His family moved...
Del Potter’s Railroad
Del Potter ran a little railroad he proudly named the Clifton and Northern. The line ran from the little town of Clifton to a mine north of town but...
Lost Pick Mine
Arizona’s rugged central mountains, with their brawny mountains and twisting, boulder-choked canyons were a perfect place to lose a mine. Coronado’s...
The Horse Returns to North America
The end of the Pleistocene epoch, a geological period spanning roughly 2.5 million to 12,000 years ago brought about climate change to animals in...