March 11, 1884 Fresh off the train from Austin, Texas, newly minted drinking pards Ben Thompson and John King Fisher, the acting sheriff for Uvalde...
A Colonel’s Secret Weapon
As the small train of wagons drew within sight of Fort Phil Kearny, the weary travelers rejoiced. “I could have clapped my hands for joy,” one wrote...
Hollywood’s Texas Ranger
Hell or High Water is the sleeper movie hit of the summer; Jeff Bridges’ portrayal of Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton might nab him a second Oscar....
Daniel Boone: Passing the Torch
Neither Meriwether Lewis nor William Clark ever mentioned meeting Daniel Boone on May 24, 1804, when they stopped at the village nicknamed Boone’s...
The Doomed Prince of the Pistoleers
James Butler Hickok, born on a farm in northern Illinois in 1837, leaves home at age 18, gravitating to Kansas Territory, with his brother Lorenzo,...
Burning Through Texas
To burn through Texas to the Gulf of Mexico was a vision that came to Chief Buffalo Hump that captured the imagination of his people. During the...
Fantastic Firearms in Cody
Loved and respected by royalty as well as the common man, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody embodied the spirit of the American frontier and was our...
Buckskin Frank Leslie
“I, Nashville Franklyn Leslie, was born near San Antonio, Texas on the 18th day of March 1842 and am now a resident of Tombstone, Arizona and have...
The Killing that Put Hardin on the Run
Charlie M. Webb’s claim to fame came when his plan to kill notorious gunfighter John Wesley Hardin backfired. Webb first appeared on the Texas scene...
The Unbroken Peace Treaty
The young warriors of the Penateka Comanche tribe, several hundreds of them, lined up on one side of their camping ground along the San Saba River...
The Deadliest Enemy
To the uninitiated in the Old West, the ranching business centered on cattle, but in reality, the livestock trade focused on grass and water, so...
The Wandering Visionary
A hidden assassin with a shotgun blasted Charles Lummis in the face and chest. He was bloodied, blown off his feet, and left to die in the doorway...