In 1938, teenager Phil Varney moved with his folks from the flatlands of Illinois to the deserts of Arizona. He’d never seen mountains shouldering...
Ghost Town Travelogues
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Western Books & Movies
The Cowgirl Way
When women moved to the American West with the great migration of the 1800s, they left behind some of the constricting rules of femininity, becoming...
In the Footsteps of Lewis and Clark
In the Footsteps of Lewis and Clark, by Wallace G. Lewis, is not just another title in the flood of books about the Lewis and Clark expedition....
Four Years in Europe With Buffalo Bill
Charles Eldridge Griffin’s memoir, Four Years in Europe With Buffalo Bill, makes an interesting sidebar to the biography of William F. Cody and the...
Outlaw Tales of Nebraska
Among the 12 outlaws featured in Outlaw Tales of Nebraska is James “Doc” Middleton Riley, a horse thief who actually gained admiration! From the...
Forts, Fights, and Frontier Sites
Bringing history forward is what Candy Moulton has done with Forts, Fights, and Frontier Sites. Detailed maps and clever symbols indicate if the...
Convict Cowgirls
Finally, a documentary has been made with the True West reader in mind. Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo will be touring cities through late October...
Louis L’Amour Western Collection
A middling Western, 1971’s Catlow is worth watching to see Yul Brynner tapping an inner rascal that no one even imagined existed. Brynner spent so...
Jonah Hex
Jonah Hex, the 2010 movie, was a disaster at the box office. But Jonah Hex is a fine movie, in some respects; Josh Brolin’s performance as the lead...
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is a terrifically satisfying Western, and 2010 marks its 50th anniversary. The picture launched several actors, including...
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
In October, Warner Brothers is launching its Humphrey Bogart collection ($99.98) that will box up 42 of Bogart’s choicest pictures on 12 discs,...
“That Cockeyed Little Old Thing”
The Rounders was Director and Screenwriter Burt Kennedy’s first shot at making a Western comedy, and it’s one of his best. Other movies about aging...