Gambling in the 19th century ranged from lotteries seen as “civic responsibility” on the East coast (the proceeds built prestigious universities...
High Rollers
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History Features
How to Cheat at Cards without Getting Killed
“Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom’s. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.”...
Is the Alleged Josie Earp Photo Really of Evelyn Nesbit?
A former artist’s model turned “Florodora Girl,” Evelyn Nesbit married Philadelphia society scion Harry K. Thaw in 1906. A few months later, after...
A Rancher’s Big Heart Goes the Distance
When C.B. Irwin rode into an arena and announced an event, he did not need a megaphone for this big man had a booming voice. Although his Stetson...
Boxing Impresario Nonpareil
A look at the record of heavyweight championship fights reveals that on February 21, 1896, Ruby Robert Fitzsimmons defeated Peter Maher, the Irish...
Building on Faith
Jesus Christ immigrated to the West, too, but you could read 100 history books and never know that. It’s impossible to talk honestly about the...
Band of Brothers Broken
In the midst of a prisoner exchange negotiation, two men enter William Clarke Quantrill’s camp, four miles northeast of Lee’s Summit, Missouri,...
Rodeo Flight School
Offspring of a Percheron stud and a Mexican hot-blood mare, the big black colt born on the Frank Foss ranch of Southeastern Wyoming may have lacked...
Deadwood’s Resident Boy Scout
Timothy Olyphant’s portrayal of Seth Bullock in HBO’s Deadwood could be described as resolute, a term that aptly fit the real Seth Bullock. Bullock...
Down Mexico Way
At 4:20 a.m. on March 9, 1916, the United States was invaded for the first time since the British sacked Washington during the War of 1812. The...
Utah’s Official Boogey Man
It was a good day for Porter Rockwell. On April 15, 1847, the first Mormon wagon train under the leadership of Brigham Young was about to depart...
Fur, Defeat and Pluck
Deserted by her husband, a determined teenage mother is left to raise her young son in France’s colonial outpost, New Orleans. Not an auspicious...