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...
Running the River of Truth
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Western Books & Movies
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...
Convinced by Gold
When, in 1959, one of America’s most popular and respected actors, Henry Fonda, announced that he would be starring in a Western TV series, the...
Building Your Western Library: Michael F. Blake
Michael F. Blake, a two-time Emmy-winning makeup artist and respected film historian, has recently published The Cowboy President: The American West...
Land of the Apache
Apacheria: True Stories of Apache Culture 1860-1920 is an insightful introduction to the history of the Apache people. Farmer, focusing his research...
A Violent Borderland
In A Crooked River: Rustlers, Rangers, and Regulars on the Lower Rio Grande, 1861–1877, Michael L. Collins tells the story of the turmoil and...
I, the Lawman
Using characters created by Mickey Spillane, Max Allan Collins pays tribute to the mythic West and casts an informed eye on the end of an era in The...
Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound
Is there a Western novel, film or television show in which a character does not order a shot or bottle of whiskey, let alone throw, break or shoot a...