Our wonderful historian, columnist, and friend, Jana Bommersbach, who wrote our Old West Saviors column has died at age 78 after battling a long...
A Sad Farewell to Jana Bommersbach
read more
True West Blog
The Battle of Ingalls
Bill Doolin and company vs. U.S. marshals. September 1, 1893. Bill Doolin and several members of his gang are in the outlaw hangout of Ingalls (in...
Booze and the Baptist Minister
Bass Reeves makes the collar—of his own pastor. A fascinating story in The Arkansas Van Buren Press of August 24, 1907. “Rev. Wilson Hobson, a Negro...
Bill Doolin Checks Out
A posse kills the outlaw chieftain. August 24-25, 1896. Outlaw leader Bill Doolin is gunned down by Deputy US Marshal Heck Thomas' (photo) posse at...
A Wild Bunch Stickup
The Tipton train robbery of 1900. August 29, 1900. Kid Curry (photo) leads Bill Cruzan, Ben Kilpatrick and another unidentified man in holding up a...
The Romance of the Stage Line?
Riding a coach was a challenge. Rafael Pumpelly was a travel writer who hitched a ride on the Butterfield Overland Mail Line traveling cross country...
Underground Hazards
The life of a miner was tough. Those hard rock miners faced a number of hazards including gas pockets, cave-ins, silicosis of the lungs caused by...
The Angel of Tombstone
Nellie Cashman had a giving heart. Tombstone’s Nellie Cashman participated in many worthy causes. Her requests for donations brought her in contact...
Butch Busts his First Bank
Cassidy grabs the cash in Idaho. August 13, 1896. Butch Cassidy, Elzy Lay and Bub Meeks hold up the bank in Montpelier, Idaho. They get away with up...
The Debut of Doc
The life of John Henry Holliday begins. August 14, 1851. John Henry Holliday is born in Griffin, GA. Although he later becomes a dentist, he's best...
He Shot the Sheriff
The Thompson boys and Chauncey B. Whitney. August 15, 1873. Gunman Ben Thompson (photo) gets crosswise with two stalwarts--over gambling...
Doc Holliday and the Con-Man
A fake arrest almost cost Doc his freedom. July 30, 1882. Flim-flam man Perry Mallon is arrested in Toledo, Ohio on charges of being a "suspicious...