A decade since the highest-grossing Western was released, the film remains controversial. There are many disconcerting issues that a...
Cowboy & Actor Ben Johnson
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...
U.S. Marshals, Oklahoma and Wild Bill
For 70 years, Western law and order history has been popularized by True West’s editors. From Joe Small’s first issue in the summer of 1953 to the...
Today’s Art of the American Indian
No Longer Just About Yesteryear In the 19th century, art of the American Indian was usually viewed through the canvas and brush of...
Tombstone: A Reckoning
Thirty years after the popular film’s release, it might be the most influential Western of all time. In 1993, Walt Disney’s Hollywood...
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...
Doc Hits Bottom (but not much else)
Doc Holliday vs Billy Allen “Doc Holliday is ten feet tall and weighs a ton.” —The Arizona Daily Star August 19, 1884 Broke, sick and usually...
The Town Too Tough to Die
For seven decades, True West has chronicled the legendary history of Tombstone and its notorious citizenry. As it is the 30th anniversary of the...
Western Art Museums of the Year
Visionary museums from coast to coast showcase the West’s best artists and artwork. Emerging from a depressing run of pandemic, war and overall...
Discover the West
Museums from coast to coast celebrate our Western heritage for all generations. Museums across the country are expanding their collections and...
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...
Chalk Level Shoot-Out
The Youngers vs. The Pinkertons The Bushwhackers Score A Goal Shot Down in the Missouri Wilds Based on the research of John Langellier and Jack...