Geologists, conservationists, and environmentalists have been anticipating the 150th anniversary of John Wesley Powell’s extraordinary first...
Powell’s Grand West
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Western Books & Movies
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...
Running the River of Truth
Even those who have never dipped a paddle in fast water are likely to know of John Wesley Powell, the one-armed Civil War veteran who explored the...
A Poignant Portrait of Calamity Jane
Michelle Rene’s novel, Hour Glass, is a moving, revealing picture of the legendary Calamity Jane. The author tells her compassionate story through...
Rough Drafts
I have been interested in Western American history for as long as I can remember. My first introduction to the Old West started on tour of the ghost...
DVD Review: The Durango Kid Collection
From 1945 to 1952, Charles Starrett played undercover hero the Durango Kid in 65 hugely popular Columbia Pictures B-Westerns. Unseen for decades, a...
Westward from the White House
Glenda Riley and Richard Etulains’ Presidents Who Shaped the American West is a highly satisfying narrative spanning two centuries. The study traces...
Rough Drafts
Summer vacations are a great time to catch up on reading, so why not pack a few good Western novels and Old West histories and biographies to enjoy...