In the movie Tombstone, Wyatt steps off the train wearing square-toed boots. Aren’t those a 1970’s invention? Stephen Grady Cleburne, Texas Nope,...
On the inside page of Ross Santee’s Cowboy, the dedication reads, “For Shorty Caraway—Top Hand.” What do you know about the author or Shorty? Derek...
One victim of the Lincoln County War was Morris Bernstein. Who was he? James Freed Dennison, Ohio On August 5, 1878, Billy the Kid and a group of...
I’m reading a book that claims Old West pimps were called Pi’s. Is that pronounced like Pees or Pies? Kriya Singh New York, New York I’ve never...
Why did Mountain Men prefer riding mules over horses? And how come the Indians never rode mules? Paul Gordon St Thomas, Ontario, Canada Mountain Men...
What can you tell me about the Western writer William W. Johnstone? Jack A. Graves Turlock, California William W. Johnstone was one of America’s...
While traveling through southern New Mexico and Arizona, I saw signs for “The Thing.” What is it? John Chambers San Jose, California “The Thing” is...
In some Westerns, characters hang a dead man’s gun and holster on a crudely made cross marking his grave. Did they really do that in the old days?...
I can’t locate a copy of Richard O’Connor’s Bat Masterson book, listed in the credits of the TV series starring Gene Barry. Is there another...
My SASS friends and I disagree. I say chinks were not worn by working cowboys in the 1890s. I believe they were show wear for riders during the late...
True West calls the Tombstone battle the “Gunfight Behind the O.K. Corral,” while Earp historian Allen Barra calls it the “Street Fight in...
Most Hollywood movies end with the good guys winning and the bad guys in jail or dead. How true is that to the Old West? Willie Slappy Jonesboro,...