“Those were exciting days. A regular pageant of non-descript people, coming and going, all the time. “I have but to close my eyes to live it all...
Ethnic Fare
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Art, Guns and Culture
The Functional Side of Cowboy Boots
All the men were well shod in good looking riding boots, except the cook. I learned that the boots were mostly made by a boot maker named Hyer, of...
The Best BBQ Joints in Texas
Coming from South Carolina, I arrived in Dallas in 1984 and was shocked at what they called barbecue in Texas. It wasn’t pig meat. It was beef. And...
Framing the West
In Mackay, Idaho, a rugged cowboy and his trusty steed have braved the winter weather and harsh terrain to save a tender calf, with only a beacon of...
Best Photography of the True West
Ansel Adams started with with a Kodak No. 1 Box Brownie. Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter,”...
Ranch Style on a Budget
Jodi Finkenbinder did not just imagine what her new home could be, but she actually rolled up her shirt sleeves and helped create it. Starting with...
The Mouse that Roared
If any single gun had an impact on the history of the West, it was the palm-sized Deringer pistol that John Wilkes Booth used in 1865 to assassinate...
Frontier Wedding Menus
“One of the prettiest home weddings of the season was that of Miss Etta Scofield and Roy H. Tracey, Wednesday evening at 8 o’clock at the home of...
What to Wear This Summer
I wear a sombrero, silk neckerchief, fringed buckskin shirt, sealskin chaparajos or riding trousers [sic]; alligator hide boots; and with my pearl...
Glacier’s Great Artists
“Railway stations and hotels served in a real sense as the first “art galleries” in the West, at a time before traditional art institutions were...
Meet Robert J. Conley
I knew Robert J. Conley was not your typical Western writer when he came up to me and fellow author John D. Nesbitt at an Albuquerque bar and...
Western Flair the Duke Would Appreciate
John Wayne had solid ranch connections in Arizona. He and partner Louie Johnson once owned the Red River Ranch, which included more than 14,000...