First, thanks go to the Franciscan priests who established 21 missions along the California coast starting in 1769, bringing with them the first...
America’s Cowboys Get Their Due
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Departments
Black Hills and Gold Dust
The Sioux considered the Black Hills to be sacred, the center of the earth and a place to speak to the Great Spirit. They had controlled the area...
The Constable Butcher
In the 1860s, Upper Lake, California, was a farming and mill town, but because of Clear Lake’s boating and fishing, and the healthful benefits of...
How come C.S. Fly didn’t take Photos of the Tombstone Street Fight?
How come C.S. Fly didn’t take photos of the Tombstone street fight? Robert Matters Hilliard, Ohio The Gunfight Behind the O.K. Corral started...
What History Has Taught Me: Roy Young
After 17 years as a high school teacher, band director and varsity baseball coach in his home state of Oklahoma, Roy Young opened stores...
What was the Fare for Railroads and Stagecoaches?
What was the fare for railroads and stagecoaches? Michael Hutchinson Frankfort, Indiana All stagecoach riders paid a price in physical discomfort,...
Cold-Blooded Conman
Perhaps the most cold-blooded conman early Arizona ever knew, Louis Eytinge suffered from tuberculosis and had two months to live. He should’ve died...
Did Old West Shooters have Problems with Overheated Gun Barrels?
Did Old West shooters have problems with overheated gun barrels? James White Goliad, Texas “If you are having to resort to combat with your pistol,...
What were Old West Hotels like?
What were Old West hotels like? Jim Jennings Amarillo, Texas Frontier hotels varied from flea- and bedbug-infested lodgings to extravagant abodes....
A Cold Ride into Hell
February 10, 1918 In the bitter cold, a four-man posse riding in from Klondyke, Arizona, surrounds a lone cabin in Kielberg Canyon. The posse—a...
How Many People Died During the Indian Wars?
How many people died during the Indian Wars? Paul Gortarez Phoenix, Arizona Considering the isolated skirmishes and unrecorded killings on both...
A Texas Dance For Johnny Reb
Of all of the Confederate-made revolvers, perhaps none stirs the imagination like those six-shooters manufactured by the J.H. Dance Bros. of Texas....