He truly knew his horses. Ben Johnson arrived in California in the late 1930s after Howard Hughes bought some horses from an Oklahoma ranch where...
Cowboy & Actor Ben Johnson
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Classic True West
The ‘Western’ Godfather
Kurt Russell spills the beans. It didn’t surprise me that Kurt Russell was willing to go off topic during our interview. After all, it was...
Spur Talk
The day Bill McDonald rode over the hill leading the Appaloosa, Slim and I were repairing the corrals. Slim was running Pete Coleman’s little...
Delivering Justice
One determined lawman brought in the big guns. During the rough and woolly days of the 19th century lived a legendary generation of U.S. marshals...
Captain of All Rangers for Life
Texas Ranger Jim Gillett writes himself into fame. Jim Gillett was just 20 years old when he decided to join the Texas Rangers in...
Vera’s Life in the Circus was a Zoo
Her $10 greenhorn mistake didn’t help. The first time Vera McGinnis entered the Big Top at Madison Square Garden in New York City, she looked like a...
The Godfather of Westerns
Robert Duvall talks about the iconic Lonesome Dove, on the cusp of a special cast reunion. From the True West Archives With seven...
Noonan’s Last Stand
“We was flabbergasted.” The proud slayers of a huge grizzly are memorialized in one of the most famous photographs in all of Western history. ...
Uncle Chick, Me and the Christmas Tree
Looking back at Charles Orme’s ranch school, where students are still taught to this day. The aging Chevrolet Carryall van turned off the Old Black...
Momaday’s Billy the Kid Pistola
The famed Pulitzer Prize-winning writer shares his obsession for Billy the Kid in his tale of a gun he believes the outlaw owned. This is the story...
So-Called Cattle Kate Rises from Rubbish
Evidence points toward Ella Watson’s innocence. Cattle Kate was the only woman ever hanged in Wyoming for cattle rustling, and history long...
