The cross draw, worn on the left or “weak side” was popular with men who spent a lot of time sitting at a poker table or on horseback because for...
The Cross Draw
read more
Cowboy
A Preacher Arrives In Helldorado Endicott Peadbody
Endicott Peadbody A Preacher Arrives In Helldorado In Tombstone in early 1882, the Reverend Endicott Peabody, a recent arrival from Boston preached...
Branding The history of one of the West's most iconic symbols!
Branding of livestock dates all the way back to the Egyptians to around 2,700B.C. It spread to Europe in the Middle Ages and was introduced in...
Leaving Town? Evidence indicates the McLaurys were headed out just before the gunfight.
October 20, 1881, Cowboy Tom McLaury comes to Tombstone from his ranch. He and his brother likely have sold their cattle herd; Tom deposits nearly...
The Cowboy Saloon of Stilwell and Stwart
Oklahoma historian reveals the real story of the ownership of the famous Charleston, Arizona, watering hole.
Mules A mule has better “horse sense” than a horse...
During the early years of the Santa Fe Trade, Americans determined that mules, the hybrid offspring of a mare horse and male donkey in New Mexico...
Hygiene In The West Saturday night bath?
I was reading 'Good Little Bad Man', the story of Colorado Charley Utter. It was noted that Charley had the habit, thought odd at the time, of...
Cigars, Pipes And Cigarettes Did cowboys prefer to smoke cigarettes, pipes, or cigars, when out on the trail?
Cigarettes and cigars have been around for a long time. Prior to the Civil War cigars ranked next to chewing tobacco in popularity. They were...
What History Has Taught Me: Tom Russell
Tom Russell, Singer-Songwriter, Author, Artist.
Birth Of The Cowboy “He only got off his horse to dance or to die...”
The original cowboys as we know them today, were the Mexican vaqueros. From Texas to California these superbly skilled horsemen could ride and rope...
Roll The Bones A black cowboy and a key archaeological find.
George McJunkin was a black cowboy who began riding the ranges at the end of the Civil War—when he was 14-years old. He was self-taught in reading...
Whiskey In The Old West A lot of whiskey was consumed. There was good whiskey and there was bad. Or, as some would say, “It was all good, but some was better.”
A True West recently asked, “My wife and I watch western movies all of the time. We have noticed that there is a lot of whiskey drinking in all of...