True West Blog
The Evolution of a Legend

The Evolution of a Legend

The story behind Buffalo Bill. For a time, William F. Bill Cody was the most famous man in America. His rise to fame was meteoric. In 1869, dime...

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The Hapless Hooligans of Oklahoma

The Hapless Hooligans of Oklahoma

The Jennings Gang was as inept as they come. Perhaps the zaniest bunch of outlaws in the history of the West were the Jennings brothers of Oklahoma....

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Big Boots to Fill

Big Boots to Fill

None was bigger than Bob Paul. No lawman in the Old West was taller than Bob Paul. He stood 6'6" and weighed 246, broad shoulders and massive chest....

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Divorce by Death

Divorce by Death

Buckskin Frank Leslie took care of a husband the old fashioned way. June 22, 1880. Buckskin Frank Leslie is lounging on the porch of Tombstone's...

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A Rendezvous Gunfight

A Rendezvous Gunfight

Kit Carson quieted a boastful mountain man. At the rendezvous on the Green River in 1835, Kit Carson fought his famous duel with Joseph Chouinard....

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Mapping the Territories

Mapping the Territories

Military officers surveyed an expanded United States. The United States secured its “Manifest Destiny” in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe ending...

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Riches in Them Thar Hills

Riches in Them Thar Hills

The search for gold and silver transformed Arizona. Geographically located in the wild, untamed country between New Mexico and California, Arizona...

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A Berry Gets Plucked

A Berry Gets Plucked

Outlaw Jim Berry doesn’t get far after a big haul. Jim Berry was a part of a robbery outfit (photo) that included Sam Bass and made its mark in the...

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Butch’s Beginnings

Butch’s Beginnings

Cassidy’s first bank robbery. Monday, June 24, 1889. Butch Cassidy and Matt Warner enter the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, Colorado at around...

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