Car races across the deserts promoted road building. When the first horseless carriage sputtered and jerked into Arizona soon after the dawning of...
Cactus Derbies
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life in the old west
An Institution of Many Parts
The saloon was many things to many people. The saloon was the hub of a Western town, serving as a bar, restaurant, gambling house, town hall, hotel,...
Best of the West: Western Fare
Come and Get It! Historic Western-style restaurants, saloons and dinner shows keep the Old West alive. Across the West, from small towns to big...
The Cowboy
America’s icon still rides tall in the saddle. They call him cowboy, vaquero, buckaroo, waddy, paniolo, saddletramp, wrangler and drover. He...
The Birth of the Horseless Carriage
“YOU ONLY HAVE TO FEED ‘EM WHEN YOU USE ‘EM” Prior to 1800 never has there been a period that experienced such dramatic changes as the 19th century....
Belt Loops on Men’s Trousers
There seems to be some confusion as to when belt loops first came into use on men's trousers. The hot summer of 1893 drove men to give up their...
Pioneer Pets
Dogs and cats are as Western as six-guns and Stetsons—and a lot more lovable. In the Old West, dogs were common—and necessary. Cats, not at first,...
The Jackass Mail
In 1849 it took 166 days to travel coast to coast. By the 1860’s you could do it in 60 days. A decade later a train could make the trip in 11 days....
The Harvey Girls
“Will Rogers said: Fred Harvey kept the West supplied with food and wives.” Conditions of hash houses along railroad lines before dining cars and...
Blood Money, Time Zones and Old West Jails
Did the Ford Brothers ever get the reward money on Jesse James? Joe Manriquez (Whittier, California) Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittenden raised...
In Pursuit of Honor
In 1995 the movie, In Pursuit of Honor was about an incident in the 1930’s when the Army set about to slaughter some 500 cavalry horses. Three...
Rules of the Road
Were there rules of the road in the Wild West days? For example, when two horse riders, traveling in opposite directions, met on a road (trail), did...