In 1833, the Bent brothers—Charles and William—along with partner Ceran St. Vrain were building a trading empire in the Southwest. The plan: to...
Bent’s Fort’s 50th Anniversary
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Investigating History
Tracking a Vendetta Rider
Most folks know that the violence in Tombstone, Arizona, didn’t end with the Gunfight behind the O.K. Corral in 1881. A number of shootings—several...
A Tall Order?
I must confess that investigating history (the process, not the column) can be a big undertaking—but sometimes it’s a simple matter of asking a...
A Grave Matter for Mattie Earp
You may know Celia Ann Blaylock-Mattie-from movies such as Tombstone or Wyatt Earp. She’s the drugged out, paranoid shrew who tried the patience of...
The Original Boot Hill
In the streets of a Kansas prairie town on an evening in mid-1872, a familiar pattern unfolded-a crowd gathered, somebody fired a gun and somebody...
Who Killed Col. Fountain?
In February 1, 1896, Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry were on the last leg of the 150-mile trip from Lincoln, New...
Who Killed Col. Fountain?
In February 1, 1896, Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry were on the last leg of the 150-mile trip from Lincoln, New...
Digging Up Billy the Kid’s Mother
This is a unique moment in jurisprudence where law, history, legend, myth and modern criminology come simultaneously to the forefront in a single...
Digging Up Billy the Kid’s Mother
This is a unique moment in jurisprudence where law, history, legend, myth and modern criminology come simultaneously to the forefront in a single...
Eating His Weight in Democrats
It was one of the most outrageous quotes of the Old West about one of the most barbaric crimes. In 1883, a 34-year-old tracker named Alferd Packer...
Dodging Fakes
"You’ve seen more Old West autograph forgeries in the last three years than in the previous 20 years combined.” It’s a pretty stunning statement,...
Breaking Out More Shovels
If anyone knows Billy the Kid, it’s the sheriff in the town that claims to hold the outlaw’s grave. Sheriff Gary Graves has ridden the “last ride of...