On February 26, 1860 a large group of white settlers attacked Wiyot Indian camps in Humboldt County, California. Hundreds of the Indians were...
Massacre of the Wiyots The California tribe ran afoul of white settlers.
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True West Blog
The Legends of Dirty Dave Rudabaugh received a lot of myth-making over time.
There are a lot of legends surrounding bad man Dave Rudabaugh. First, there’s no evidence that he was called “Dirty Dave” during his lifetime—or...
A Panhandle Pioneer Mooar found success and more in Texas.
J. Wright Mooar was something of a pioneer in the 1870s. He started the decade working as a woodcutter in Kansas, but soon switched to buffalo...
The Notorious Crédit Mobilier
The notorious Crédit Mobilier scandal of 1872-1873 damaged the careers of several Gilded Age politicians. Major stockholders in the Union Pacific...
The Last Train Robbery in Arizona
The men involved in Arizona's last train robbery obviously watched too many of those old-time Western pictures. The robbery in occurred on May 15th,...
The Salt Lake Cutoff
Most are familiar with the story of the ill-fated Donner Party in the winter of 1846 and 1847. Twenty wagons of emigrants bound for California chose...
The Brutal End of Mangas Coloradas Tortured, killed—and worst of all, decapitated.
January 18, 1863--US troops torture and murder Apache war chief Mangas Coloradas in southwest New Mexico. He had come to them under a flag of truce,...
She Followed Her Heart And it proved to be a deadly mistake for Mollie Brennan.
Mollie Brennan is best know for being shot to death by Melvin King in Sweetwater, Texas. Bat Masterson, wounded by the same bullet that ended...
Enemies Become Partners The strange story of Dave Rudabaugh and J.J. Webb.
In the spring of 1878, Deputy J.J. Webb helped Sheriff Bat Masterson arrest Dave Rudabaugh for an attempted train/depot robbery at Kinsley, Kansas....
What’s In a Name
"Sheet-Iron Jack" Allen, was a California horse thief who wore an iron vest when plying his trade. Jack earned his nickname after surviving four...
Military Sockets
During the Civil War cavalry troopers carried their carbines in what were called sockets. These were leather rings only about three or four inches...
Death Song
American Indian life was steeped in ritual. These rituals varied from tribe to tribe and played an important role in their daily life. The Hopi for...