Henry Weston Smith brought the Bible to the Old West town. Henry Weston Smith was the first minister in Deadwood, arriving in May 1876. For...
Divinity in Deadwood
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True West Blog
The Demise of the Wild Bunch
By the early 1900s the law was closing in and Butch was beginning to feel the pressure. He considered going to South America. The cattle...
In His Own Words: Sheriff Commodore Perry Owens
A few years ago the late Jo Baeza and I spent many hours talking about the Pleasant Valley War. She had spent most of her life in Arizona’s...
The Tonto Basin Campaign 1872-1873
The governor of the Arizona Territory Anson P.K. Safford, representatives from Arizona and California appealed to President Ulysses S. Grant to...
Crossing the Line
Johnny Owens used trickery to arrest an outlaw. Johnny Owens was the sheriff of Weston County, based out of Newcastle, Wyoming (photo) in the early...
Protecting the Clean Shirts
Jim Moon faced down a mob at a Chinese laundry. On October 31, 1880, drunken mobs went after Chinese in Denver. Most of Chinatown was destroyed—but...
How the West was Won Sponsored by Bonhams
"This is not just a gun — it is the history of America." -Jim Earle The Early West: The Collection of Jim and Theresa Earle 27 Aug 2021 | Los...
The Road to Redemption
Jack Watson put on a badge and went straight. Jack Watson was a hardcase. The Texan had spent time as a Ranger in his native state—but he also had a...
Mountain Men
While the Texians winning their independence and while the Santa Fe Traders were opening commerce between the U.S. and Mexico, a reckless breed...
Nashville Buckskin Frank Leslie
Among the many colorful denizens of Tombstone society during its heyday was Buckskin Frank Leslie. Although he was only 5’7” and weighed 135 pounds...
Water Purification
How did mountain men, cowboys, or settlers going west purify water before drinking? Survival shows today have people boiling it or some sort of...
Into the Devil’s Den
David Starr Hoyt’s peace attempt proved fatal. David Starr Hoyt was an early casualty of “Bleeding Kansas.” In the mid-1850s, he was a leader of...