For 70 years, True West magazine’s editors and contributors have been among the greatest chroniclers of the American cowboy. True West’s founding...
Vaqueros, Buckaroos and Cowboys
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Cowboy
Rowdy Cowboys, Outlaws, and Blood Feud
L.R. Millican’s life in Lampasas, Texas, was both lucky and legendary. Lampasas, for a time, was on the edge of a lively frontier in Texas, and much...
Kingman Kin
Here’s a classic film story that involves my hometown, Kingman, the Hotel Beale and my shirttail kin. As the story goes, Buster Keaton was...
Lost Pick Mine
Arizona’s rugged central mountains, with their brawny mountains and twisting, boulder-choked canyons were a perfect place to lose a mine. Coronado’s...
History of the Toothbrush
When was the toothbrush invented? Tools to clean teeth have been around since prehistoric times. Folks used twigs, bones, feathers and even...
Cowboy Superstitions
Did you know it is considered bad luck for a cowboy to wear yellow in the arena? It's because the color is associated with cowardice. Never, set a...
The Power of Pictures
The very best historical photographs from our treasured vaults define our idea of the West. In honor of our 70th year, the editors of True West have...
Cowboy Hats and Western Boots
The two most recognizable fashion icons of the American West are selling out worldwide. Born out of necessity in the post-Civil War West, the...
Bronc Busting
I heard an old cowboy say, “The trick to breaking a horse is to climb on and keep getting bucked off until the horse gets bored.” It’s hard to say...
Posse Comitatus
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 which limits the power of the federal government in the use of federal military personnel to enforce domestic...
How Common was the Cross Draw?
The cross draw was popular among cowboys of the Old West so their pistols wouldn’t get in the way of their work around the ranch. It was also easier...
Segregation in the Old West
In the Netflix film, The Harder They Fall, a western movie about black outlaws in the 1880's and 1890's, it shows the Old West with "Black towns"...