Celebrating the West True West enters its eighth decade with hope and promise. When Joe Small launched True West from his office in...
Best of the West 2024
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Features & Gunfights
Kendrick’s Northern Cowboys
Growing up in the Texas Pan-handle, I often visited a cousin who worked at the 6666 Ranch, one of the old historic outfits in Texas, so I am quite...
The Death Tent
Frank Dalton and James Cole vs Dave Smith, Will Towerly and Mr. and Mrs. Dixon Based on the research of Robert Ernst and George R. Stumpf; with...
Silver Screen Buckaroos
Films and television shows featuring real working cowboys have made America’s icon famous worldwide since 1894. In America’s first...
The Real McCoy
Wyoming cowboy and Army cavalry and horse artillery veteran Tim McCoy brought realism to the silver screen. For a lad of Irish-born parents, his...
Dude or Not a Dude?
Can you spot the real cowboy? Only the photographer knew for sure. Ever since the first camera studio was set up, men and women have posed as their...
The Cowboy
America’s icon still rides tall in the saddle. They call him cowboy, vaquero, buckaroo, waddy, paniolo, saddletramp, wrangler and drover. He...
Into the Heart of the West
Make your plans, pack your bags and head out for a Western adventure of a lifetime! Whether you live in rural North Dakota or urban Texas, an annual...
Pioneer Pets
Dogs and cats are as Western as six-guns and Stetsons—and a lot more lovable. In the Old West, dogs were common—and necessary. Cats, not at first,...
John “Liver-Eating” Johnson
How did he earn his terrifying nickname? The sun lay low on the horizon over Battle Mountain in northwestern Colorado. The big man on the imposing...
A Bullet for Your Troubles
Maps & Graphics by Gus Walker Based on the research of John Langellier, Jack McPhee, Larry Ball, Chip Carlson, Grace McClure, Diana Allen Kouris...
Grizzlies of the Far West
Before the legendary bear was nearly driven to extinction, Ursus horribilis ruled the forests and plains of the Pacific Coast. The American Indians...