Across the West, cemeteries, monuments and memorials provide a poignant reminder of the West’s historic past. Across the United States...
Hallowed Ground & Honored Heroes
read more
Jesse James
How did Bob Ford, the killer of Jesse James die?
Soon after Bob Ford shot Jesse James at Jesse’s home In St. Joseph, Missouri public opinion turned against Bob and Charlie Ford. Bob was seen as a...
A Dry Run for Northfield?
Did Jesse James use another holdup as preparation? July 7, 1876. Members of the James-Younger Gang held up a train outside Otterville, Missouri....
Nobody Believed Him!
A James Gang member couldn’t turn himself in. Jim Cummins was not the most enthusiastic member of the James-Younger Gang. He served with the boys...
Bounties
How was reward money collected in the Old West? Was it paid out by local law enforcement, banks, the court system, or did it come from some other...
What Drunken Mistake led to the Downfall of the James-Younger Gang? Watch Live 7/21
What Drunken Mistake led to the Downfall of the James-Younger Gang? Oh, this is going to be a fun one. You may already know the answer, but not the...
A Funeral Surprise When Charlie Ford was laid to rest, one of the attendees was unexpected.
After the assassination of Jesse James, Charley Ford went downhill fast. By May 1884—two years after the killing—he was living with his parents at...
Remembering Larry McMurtry
The life and times of the legendary Western writer and the legacy of Lonesome Dove. “Sometimes Sonny felt like he was the only human creature in...
Jesse James Guns
Jesse James was assassinated on April 3rd , 1882 at his home in St. Joseph Missouri by two members of his gang, Bob and Charlie Ford. There are...
How Many Men Did Jesse James Kill Trying to count Jesse’s kill total isn’t really possible.
A question came in a few days ago from a reader wanting to know how many men did Jesse kill? Trying to count Jesse’s kill total during the war – it...
Burn ‘em Out Bloody Bill Anderson avenged his father’s death.
In 1862, William T. Anderson lived up to his “Bloody Bill” nickname. Anderson’s father had been shot dead by a judge in Council Grove, Iowa. Bill...
Birth Of The Social Bandit The best example of a social bandit came in the latter days of the Old West, was Butch Cassidy...
By the latter part of the nineteenth century train robberies had become big business among western outlaws. During one period trains were being...