The night of December 12, 1868, about 50 men hijacked a train from Seymour to New Albany, IN. Once there, they took over the county jail (wounding...
The Origins of the Babylon of the West
In 1829, New Mexico Antonio Armijo, a merchant-explorer, leading a trading expedition, blazed the “Old Spanish Trail” through what would become Las...
“Ain’t Suited for the Government”
Commodore Perry Owens is best known for killing three men in a Holbrook, AZ gunfight in 1887. He reportedly had a number of additional notches on...
Lieutenant John Anthony Rucker
On December 2nd, 1876 a group of Bedonkohe Apache, probably led by Geronimo stole some horses near Camp Crittenden on Sonita Creek in southern...
Doroteo Arango
Doroteo Arango was born in the settlement of Rio Grande, in the Mexican state of Durango on June 5th, 1878. It is said that on the night of his...
Keep it in the Family
Commodore Perry Owens had a problem keeping deputies when he was sheriff of Apache County, AZ in the late 1880s and of Navajo County, AZ in the mid...
Leaving the Law Behind
January 1888. Apache County (AZ) Sheriff Commodore Perry Owens arrested Ike Clanton Gang member Kid Swingle and was transporting him by train from...
The Outlaw Trail
The so-called Outlaw Trail was a 1,500-mile stretch of untamed country running Canada to New Mexico and Butch Cassidy knew the way like the back of...
Winged Victory
She’s been referred to as the Goddess of Victory, Statue of Justice, and Madame de Vaunte but Arizonans prefer to call her Winged Victory because of...
A Bad Man Goes Down
Bob Dozier was a successful farmer before—for whatever reason—he turned to crime in the Indian Territory. He delved into various and sundry...
The Fairbank Train Robbery
The railroad arrived in what became Fairbank in 1881. It was the closest rail link to the boom town of Tombstone which was at the time one of the...
A San Diego Civic Leader
Ned Bushyhead had a big impact on San Diego. The Cherokee left the reservation in 1850—he was 18—to go to the California gold fields. After moving...