May 11, 1889 Riding in a dougherty (canopied ambulance), U.S. Army Paymaster Maj. Joseph Washington Wham (rhymes with bomb) is on his way to pay...
Wham, Bam, Thank You Uncle Sam!
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Inside History
A View of Vasquez
If you’d visited San Francisco back in 1967, you might have found a 14-year-old kid doing something a bit unusual for a teenager. He spent time in...
Dust, Death and Disability
Dust storms undoubtedly inspired heroic resolve in some pioneers committed to the land, while causing madness, disease and disability in those less...
Why are smaller wheels on the front of stagecoaches and wagons?
Why are smaller wheels on the front of stagecoaches and wagons? Charles Baker Lake Panasoffkee, Florida The front wheels were smaller on both wagons...
Are the wooden hitching posts in frontier towns pure Hollywood?
Are the wooden hitching posts in frontier towns pure Hollywood? Barry Waldbaum Centereach, New York Since nearly everyone traveled either on...
How common were stagecoach robberies in the Old West?
How common were stagecoach robberies in the Old West? Katrina Devereaux Mesa, Arizona In Arizona alone, 129 stage robberies took place between 1875...
Did jail cells in Westerns always have a window to an alley?
Jail cells in Westerns always have a window to an alley where pals of the prisoner can toss notes or guns through. How accurate is that? Jim...
Did Old West folks wear sunglasses?
Did Old West folks wear sunglasses to protect their eyes from the sun? David Fuller Storrs, Connecticut Not usually, sunglasses weren’t readily...
Did 19th-century U.S. soldiers carry military ID cards?
Did 19th-century U.S. soldiers carry military ID cards, or their equivalent, as all military personnel do now? James Rowley Laingsburg, Michigan ID...
What are the odds that an Old West cowboy would get into a gunfight?
What are the odds that an Old West cowboy would get into a gunfight? Mike Franklin Poteet, Texas Not high. Cowboys mostly spent their time “keeping...
Uno, Dos, Tres!
October 28, 1884 While visiting Upper Frisco Plaza in western Socorro County, New Mexico, 19-year-old Elfego Baca is asked to arrest a drunken...
The Tunstalls Return
You could call the visit a “belated family reunion.” Five members of a proper English family gathered in a New Mexico canyon in July 2010 on an...