Billy the Kid vs. Joe Grant - An Eyewitness Revelation January 10, 1880 Bob Hargrove’s saloon in Old Fort Sumner, New Mexico, is packed with...
The Tale of the Empty Chamber
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Features & Gunfights
Hickok’s Twist of Fate
Wild Bill’s 1870 drunken brawl with Custer’s troopers is as legendary as the man of many names he killed. On July 17, 1870, Wild Bill Hickok...
A Hero’s Journey from War to Peace
The federal government’s betrayal of Army Scout Chato is still a stain on American history. In 1934 Chato, well into his 80s, a shiny silver medal...
Crazy Horse’s Final Vision
The prophetic Lakota leader’s final days still haunt us today. There were too many tongues. Crazy Horse sought quiet on solitary walks on the...
Darlings of the Rodeo
Naughty or Nice. Daringly dressed in voluminous bloomers or divided skirts, with boots and big hats, cowgirls first galloped into American arenas...
Battle of the Plaza
Bat Masterson vs. Peacock & Updegraff Things Go Lickety-Bang! Bullets Careen into the Long Branch Traveling mostly by rail, Bat Masterson...
The West’s Worst Shootout
The tragedy at Goingsnake left 11 men dead—and a lot of questions. Ezekiel Proctor was a Cherokee and proud of it. “Zeke” had walked...
Bat Masterson
The deadly and dangerous life of the man who invented Wyatt Earp. Thanks to a 1960s television show starring Gene Barry, Bat Masterson was called a...
Get Out of Dodge!
Since Dodge City was founded 150 years ago, the Kansas cowtown is still the reigning queen of the West. “Queen of the Cowtowns” was the...
Alaska’s Wild West
Adventure and history await discovery across the Last Frontier State. Several years ago, I was a long-term substitute teacher in the Yup’ik...
Gunpowder and Smoke
The West was immense, and frontier law enforcement sparse. Wise individuals carried firearms and knew how to use them. Some men and women became...
Historic Hotels, Saloons and Ranches
The West's best hotels, saloons, restaurants and dude ranches are among the most tangible ties to America’s frontier past. Outlaws, lawmen,...