Kit Carson and the Conquest of California
The true story of how the trailblazer became the spearpoint of empire All Images Courtesy True West Archives Unless Otherwise Noted Kit Carson wanted to settle down. “Dick Owens and I concluded that, as we had rambled enough,” he later recalled, “it would be advisable...
Will This Bell Toll Again?
Tombstone’s first Episcopal Church says “Yes!” On January 21, 1882, a 24-year-old divinity student wrote in his diary, “So begins my journey West. God grant that I may do some good.…” The good Endicott Peabody did in the forlorn place he was sent—a rough and rowdy...
A Political Dispute
Billy Bailey lost more than the vote… Billy Bailey wandered into Newton, Kansas (photo) in 1871, probably at the end of a cattle drive. He had a reputation as a gunfighter, so Bailey was quickly hired as a special policeman, charged with overseeing the local election....
The Cherokee Light Horse
In 1797, the Cherokees created organizations called “regulating companies” to deal with horse theft and other property crimes. The regulating companies were a mounted tribal police force, empowered to enforce tribal laws. They began to be called...
True West September/October 2025
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