By 1824 the Santa Fe trade was in full swing. Joshua Gregg, in his classic tome, Commerce of the Prairies, described some of the action as he...
Greenhorns on the Santa Fe Trail
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True West Blog
Sheriff’s Duties: Other Than Keeping the Peace
As a rule peace officers in the Old West weren’t held to the high standards they are today. It wasn’t unusual to rough up a suspect in order to get...
The Saga of Pakoon Clem
Catching wolves with one’s bare hands isn’t something I recommend for everybody, but it’s not farfetched. Men have been known to snatch a...
Not on my Land!
The strange story of John Wesley Hardin’s kin. Joe Hardin was John Wesley Hardin’s big brother, and he came to his own violent end. A lynch...
An Empty Grave
Gang leader John Heath is not at Boot Hill. John Heath has gone down in infamy for his part in the Bisbee Massacre of 1884. He was the mastermind of...
Another Hardin Dies Hard
Jeff Hardin went down much like his famous brother. Jeff Hardin wasn’t as prolific as his older brother John Wesley. But he also lived a violent...
A Merry Christmas at Ft. Yuma
The workhorse among the Army’s Corps of Topographical Engineers surveying the southern border of the New Mexico Territory during the 1850’s was Lt....
Remember This at Christmas Time
According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year. Male reindeer drop...
An Uninvited Guest for Christmas
Santa Claus sometimes makes his appearances in strange disguises. Once upon a time there was these unemployed two cowboys named Jake and Tuffy. It...
A Dry Run for Northfield?
Did Jesse James use another holdup as preparation? July 7, 1876. Members of the James-Younger Gang held up a train outside Otterville, Missouri....
The Ill-Fated McDaniel Brothers
Both outlaws; both paid the price. Brothers Tom and Bud McDaniel both rode with the James-Younger Gang. Bud died after a jail break in the summer of...
An Early Celebration
A James-Younger Gang member paid a price for enjoying the loot. The James-Younger Gang got about $30,000 from a train robbery in December 1874. It...