The gunfight with Davis Tutt brings fame. July 21, 1865. Wild Bill Hickok and Davis Tutt face off in the Springfield, Missouri town square. The...
Wild Bill’s Shining Moment
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True West Blog
The Missing Mules
The first confrontation between the Earps and McLaurys. July 25, 1880. A contingent including several soldiers, a Wells Fargo agent, and Deputy US...
The Birth of the Dime Novel
The genre helped define the myth of the Old West. In 1860, the publishers Erastus and Irwin Beadle released a new series of cheap...
Leaving the Trash Behind
How some Indian tribes dealt with refuse. Nomadic tribes moved every few days or weeks as the campsites got too odorous and messy (think about the...
Arizona Charlie’s Promise
He said he’d go when the snow flew in Yuma… When Wild West showman and shooter Arizona Charlie's show biz days ended, he retired to Yuma. He...
A Bullet for Ringo
A despondent Cow-boy ends it all. July 12, 1882. The Tombstone Epitaph reports that Cow-boy John Ringo has been drinking heavily in the town of...
The Battle of Lincoln
The final chapter of NM’s infamous mercantile/range war. July 15-19, 1878. The climax of New Mexico Territory's Lincoln County War. The Regulators...
A Wild Affray for Hickok
Wild Bill gets out of a sticky situation. July 17, 1870--A saloon in Hays City, KS. Wild Bill Hickok is attacked by two soldiers of the 7th Cavalry,...
The Big Shoes of Bucky O’Neill
A true Old West/Arizona legend. Buckey O’Neill is an Arizona legend. He arrived at age 19 in 1879, becoming a lawman in Phoenix, Prescott and...
The Heights of Arizona
Picacho Peak has been a landmark for thousands of years. Picacho Peak--a rugged 3,374-foot-high spire—is a tilted remnant of ancient lava flows. The...
A Conman’s End Game
Soapy Smith cashes in his chips. July 8, 1898, Jefferson Randolph Smith II--better known as conman Soapy Smith--is shot to death on a wharf in...
A Second Chance
Outlaw Cole Younger gets out of prison. July 10, 1901. Outlaws Cole (photo) and Jim Younger are released from the Minnesota prison in Stillwater...