The Most Contemptible Character I Ever Saw
During the summer of 1886 in the midst of the Geronimo campaign in southern Arizona, Capt. Gustavus Cheyney Doane wrote dozens of letters to his wife, Mary, attempting to soothe her concerns about his safety. Doane commanded Company A, 2nd U.S. Cavalry, which, in...
Was Wyatt Earp a Horse Thief?
Wyatt Earp’s 1871 arrest for horse theft in the Indian Territory, which first came to light in Ed Bartholomew’s book, Wyatt Earp, 1848 to 1880: The Untold Story, has long troubled some of Earp’s defenders. At the time of the book’s publication in 1963, the image of...
Stalwart Army Sweethearts
Wives and families accompanying their military husbands during wartime is nothing new in American history. Martha Washington spent winter encampment with her general husband during the American Revolution. The wives of frontier U.S. Army servicemen during the last...
This is a Hold Up
The jaundiced characterization of a dandified, belt-wearing, young riverboat hand is vintage Mark Twain—and a puzzle. After all, men seldom wore belts to hold up their pants in the 1800s. Belt loops were even rare on pants until the 1920s! Men wore suspenders,...
True West July/August 2025
In This Issue:
Features
Western Books & Movies
To The Point
