November 5, 1870. A group of outlaws held up a train just outside Verdi, Nevada, in the first train stickup on the Pacific Coast. They made off...
Saved By A Friendly Card Game Rufe Thomas nearly cashed in his chips…
Will Carver was in a mood for revenge. The Wild Bunch rider was back in his home digs of San Angelo, Texas in early 1901. He discovered that Rufe...
What Were Hotels In The Old West Like? They varied widely from flea and bedbug-infested abodes to elaborate...
They varied widely from flea and bedbug-infested abodes to elaborate. The rooms were small compared to what we’re used to today and the walls were...
They Called Him Wild Bill Wild Bill Hickok was arguably the greatest shootist of them all. Wild Bill's other hobby was gambling, although his hand at cards wasn't nearly as skillful as his prowess with his 1851 Navy Colt’s.
Wild Bill Hickok was arguably the greatest shootist of them all. His skill as a marksman with a six-gun, even considering embellishments, can't be...
Which Indian Tribes Tortured Their Prisoners? Nearly all the tribes tortured their captives to some degree...
Long before the Euro-Americans arrived Indian tribes were constantly at war with one another. Captives were often put to death. While being...
Mack Makes His Mark The Arizonan lived a long and fascinating life.
Joseph “Mack” Axford was a colorful character of Arizona. In the late 1890s, he worked the WS Ranch near Tucson with Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay...
Guilty As Sin Tom O’Day was caught dead to rights in a bank robbery, but…
On June 24, 1897, Tom O’Day was supposed to hold the horses as members of the Hole-in-the-Wall gang tried to rob a bank in Belle Fourche, South...
Mules A mule has better “horse sense” than a horse...
During the early years of the Santa Fe Trade, Americans determined that mules, the hybrid offspring of a mare horse and male donkey in New Mexico...
Buckskin Frank Leslie Many gaps remain in the real Buckskin Frank’s death....
There is a story about old man who died in San Diego back in 1948. He was admitted under the name of Barney McCoy but shortly before he died, he...
Birth Of The Social Bandit The best example of a social bandit came in the latter days of the Old West, was Butch Cassidy...
By the latter part of the nineteenth century train robberies had become big business among western outlaws. During one period trains were being...
Vengeance For Flat Nose Kid Curry got revenge for his outlaw mentor.
Outlaw George Curry was better known as “Flat Nose” because of a facial deformity. In the 1880s, he was a criminal mentor to Harvey Logan, who...
The Big Haul Rustler Bill Cruzan’s move to train robbery paid dividends.
Bill Cruzan was an off and on member of the Wild Bunch. In the 1890s, he was primarily known as a rustler and spent three years in prison for...