What did a cowboy do to get by when they got too old to ride herd and work as a cowboy? Utah Phillips wrote a great song on that theme The Goodnight...
Aliases, Flintlocks and Cowboy Vests
Were there are any instances of small-time outlaws using the name of more famous outlaws as an alias? Jeffery Stafford Hyde, Cheshire, UK We do know...
In Search of Hugh Glass
Travel the Rocky Mountain West to discover the truth about the legendary mountain man. If he had to do it over, there’s a chance Hugh Glass...
Spur Talk
The day Bill McDonald rode over the hill leading the Appaloosa, Slim and I were repairing the corrals. Slim was running Pete Coleman’s little...
Cowboys Rule!
Working cowboys and cattle drives have dominated the covers of True West for 70 years. Did True West’s founder Joe Small have a soft spot in his...
Long Johns, Dirty Dave and the Bird Cage
What did cowboys wear as underwear? Ethan Cooperrider Coulee City, Washington Long johns were first introduced into England in the 17th century,...
Vaqueros, Buckaroos and Cowboys
For 70 years, True West magazine’s editors and contributors have been among the greatest chroniclers of the American cowboy. True West’s founding...
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...
The First of the Silver Screen Cowboys
Edwin S. Porter’s, The Great Train Robbery hit the silver screen in 1903. Filmed in the wilds of New Jersey, it lasted just nine minutes. It was the...
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...
Border Security
The history of border security predates Poncho Villa’s raid on Columbus, New Mexico and General Pershing Punitive Expedition by several years....