Dirty Digs
After recalling a sod house he’d seen at one of the stage stations between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Carson City, Nevada, in 1861, Mark Twain wrote in Roughing It, “It was the first time we had ever seen a man’s front yard on top of his house.” Livestock often grazed...
The Coming of the Sacred Dog
“The God of the Christians is dead. He was made of rotten wood.” These words, allegedly uttered in his native language by Tewa holy man Popé, marked the beginning of the Indian renaissance in North America. For some time, Popé had been telling his fellow Pueblos...
Gettin’ Along on the Texas/Chisholm Trail
Jesse Chisholm was no cattleman, and the trail he blazed didn’t enter Texas but stretched from the Red River in present-day Oklahoma to Wichita, Kansas. These days, however, the Chisholm Trail is synonymous with Texas, so I’m starting this drive way down south in...
Handcarts and Heartaches
“Brethren and sisters, what I have said, I know to be true.” Levi Savage was a lone voice that hot August morning in 1856 as he graphically warned 500 of his fellow Latter-day Saints about the hazards of continuing their journey to the Mormon mecca of Salt Lake...
True West March/April 2025
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Features
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