A deep distrust of law and order was felt throughout the West in the 1880s ... for good reason. Labor and Capital fought tooth and nail for their...
A Quick 300 Years
Long before Chris Columbus was a twinkle in his daddy’s eye, Pueblos lived in the Rio Grande Valley, farming what would become present-day...
Why is this Man Forgotten?
He was disgusted with what American society had made him into — what they expected of him — and he hated even more failing to live up to those...
Kid Exhumation Nixed
Nobody is going to dig up Billy the Kid. Nor his Mom. And anyone who still wonders if young Billy was killed 123 years ago by Sheriff Pat Garrett—as...
Survival
A life-or-death price tag came with settling the Old West: By their wits, their guts and their best guesses, Westerners had to learn to survive. If...
Texas Tornados & Hoosier Maniacs
Texas badman has such a great ring to it. And, in terms of old West history, it’s one of those rare exceptions where legend meets the truth and is a...
How The New York Herald Scooped the U.S. Army on Custer
Custer stories never seem to die out. But even if Custer had never been a part of this story, it would be a good one, involving among other things a...
No Quarter
The night of October 18, 1915, was relatively normal for the passengers on board the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railroad train—until around...
Love Lies Bleeding
Captain Harry Love was in a bad way in June of 1868. It had been 15 years since his greatest triumph—tracking and killing the California bandit...
Preserving an “Uninhabitable Wasteland”
An “uninhabitable wasteland.” That’s what Army explorer R.B. Marcy called the wilds of west Texas. Most folks took the captain at his word and...
Captain of All Rangers for Life
Jim Gillett was just 20 years old when he decided to join the Texas Rangers in 1875. But young didn’t mean inexperienced—Gillett was a native of the...
Wild West Conquers Europe
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked the question: How come you Brits are so interested in the American West? And I know for a...