What’s better than a good, old-fashioned murder mystery? An illustrious cowgirl helping to solve a good old-fashioned murder mystery. That’s the...
Mystery Sharpshooter
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Western Books & Movies
Rough Drafts
Western art and artists are major topics for publishers each year, and 2018 is a stellar year, as reflected in a selection of my favorites and...
Fencing the West
The open range in this country was doomed in 1873 when three men from DeKalb, Illinois—Jacob Haish, Joseph Glidden and Isaac Ellwood—each filed...
Building Your Western Library: John Langellier
John Langellier moved to Arizona as a child. From then on his fascination with the West, particularly with the U.S. Army in the region, never...
Ranger Heroes
When it comes to recently published nonfiction on the Texas Rangers, the figurative cartridge belt rides pretty heavy on the waist. In other words,...
DVD Review: Black Jack & The Belle Starr Story
There is no honor among thieves in the first Oater, 1968’s Black Jack, shot in Spain and Israel. After a fight over a robbery’s spoils, mastermind...
Powell’s Grand West
Geologists, conservationists, and environmentalists have been anticipating the 150th anniversary of John Wesley Powell’s extraordinary first...
Still Blasting Away
Six decades ago this September 30, a Western series premiered, starring a ballplayer-turned-actor and a one-season Mouseketeer as father-and-son...
Junior Bonner
While most “making of” books are works of reverse engineering by outsiders, full of flawed guesswork, Junior Bonner, the making of Steve McQueen’s...
Grinnin’, Gunnin’ and Funnin’
If there’s one thing missing from most Western bookshelves, it’s humor. Spur Award-winner Preston Lewis is out to fill that gap. His latest entry in...
Building Your Western Library: Doug Hocking
Historian Doug Hocking’s experiences growing up in Northern New Mexico on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation—and his lifelong ties to the Rio...
A Bad Bad Man
Scott Martin has been cautiously optimistic about the future of Western films: “Until this resurgence, there hasn’t been the appetite for them. But...