In 1862, William T. Anderson lived up to his “Bloody Bill” nickname. Anderson’s father had been shot dead by a judge in Council Grove, Iowa. Bill...
Burn ‘em Out Bloody Bill Anderson avenged his father’s death.
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True West Blog
Jake Snively Jake Snively is relatively unknown in Arizona history today but for a time he was one of its most important citizens...
Jake Snively is relatively unknown in Arizona history today but for a time he was one of its most important citizens. He came west to Texas in 1835,...
Gunfight At Big Hat Arizona Fact or fiction?
The New York Tribune published, on March 26th, 1893 a story describing a gunfight in Big Hat, Arizona. Two prominent citizens meeting to settle a...
Roughing It Royalty Style In the early 1850’s Sir George Gore, a British nobleman, bestowed with enormous wealth and a thirst for adventure, decided to go on a hunting expedition in the wild American West...
In the early 1850’s Sir George Gore, a British nobleman, bestowed with enormous wealth and a thirst for adventure, decided to go on a hunting...
Lawmen And The Role Of The Bondsman What was the role of the bondsman with an elected sheriff?
A bondsman is a person who provides bond or surety for another. A bondsman is a person who provides bond or surety for another. In the...
The Audit That Nixed Nix E.D. Nix was fired as US marshal—based on a wrong accounting.
Evett Dumas Nix was only 32—and with basically no law enforcement experience—when he was named US Marshal of Oklahoma Territory in 1893. He led the...
Pastor John Clum? The Tombstone stalwart nearly became a minister.
Except for illness, Tombstone mayor and Epitaph founder John Clum might have walked a very different road. After finishing prep school, he decided...
John Clum, All-American He played in one of the first college football games.
John Clum briefly made his mark in the world of college football. In November 1870, he was on the Rutgers squad that lost to Princeton 6-2; it may...
Smallpox Epidemic Of 1837 Smallpox was the scourge of the West, especially to the Indians. They called it “Rotting face” for the pustules that broke out on the skin.
Smallpox was the scourge of the West, especially to the Indians. It attacked whole tribes and left few survivors. It has afflicted Native Americans...
Gunsmoke Although 'Gunsmoke' was my favorite, every time I watch or listen to an episode on both radio and TV and the narrator refers to him as a U.S. Marshal, I wince...
From 1949 to the late 1960s there were over 100 western series that aired on the networks. Although Gunsmoke was my favorite, every time I watch or...
Taking Revenge On The Railroad On the job injuries pushed John Sontag onto the outlaw trail.
John Sontag had a particular reason for becoming an outlaw: revenge. He was working on the Southern Pacific in 1888 when his leg was crushed as he...
Long On Guts, Short On Memory John Chapman wanted a reduced sentence, but…
Roy Gardner was long on guts and short on memory. He took $187,000 during a May 1921 robbery of a train just outside Sacramento. The next morning,...