Remembering my great-grandfather’s role in the creation of a classic Western fiction and film character. John Franklin Cogburn, nicknamed “Rooster”...
The Real Rooster Cogburn
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Features & Gunfights
1883: The Wagons West Story
Innovative filmmaker Taylor Sheridan’s new series captures the grit and the glory of the trail. When True West spoke to creator Taylor Sheridan in...
A Continuous Picnic Goes South
– Illustrations by Bob Boze Bell – Like so many bad trips, this one started out as a fun adventure. The so-called Brewster wagon train departed...
Shooting Back
Canadian vs. Montana Peak I have just been re-reading True West’s November 2021 issue and discovered an error in the caption of the photos of the...
Truth Be Known
Old Vaquero Saying “Learn as if you were to live forever; live as if you were to die tomorrow.” Quotes “We are all travelers in the wilderness of...
Circle the Wagons!
Emanuel Leutze’s 1863 oil Indians Attacking a Wagon Train vividly captured and perpetuated the fears of Americans migrating West on the Overland...
Western Roundup: February/March 2022
73rd Gold Rush Days and Senior Pro Rodeo Wickenburg, AZ, February 11-13: Wickenburg’s mining and ranching origins are celebrated with a pro...
Chile Queens
For two centuries, locals and visitors to the public plazas of San Antonio, Texas, dined on the famous fiery cuisine. San Antonio, Texas, became...
Tamer of Raton Pass
“Uncle Dick” Wootton helped build a nation with his Santa Fe Trail toll road. Well past midnight, everyone in the wagon train was snoring. First...
Tombstone: On the Cutting Room Floor
Historians, actors and film critics weigh in on Kevin Jarre’s original script—and whether it should be remade and finally get its DUE. Everyone...
Did Doc Kill Ringo?
Once and for all, historians set the record straight on the tragic demise of the legendary gunfighter. July 2, 1882 John Ringo has decided to move...
Shooting Back
Our readers remind us of the variables and vagaries of historic truths, “well-established” facts, headlines and historical photographs. Flags...