When a cowboy got to a cattle town after a long drive, making his dollar a day, what would have been his thoughts on spending a part of that money...
At the End of the Long Drive
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life in the old west
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...
Amber Waves of Grain and Flowers
Kansas is still the breadbasket of America. Kansas pioneers knew their land was perfect for growing corn and wheat and an abundance of beautiful...
In the Lens of History
A century ago, the state of Montana was still one of the youngest states. The Rocky Mountain and Great Plains state received its star on Old...
Cornish Miners in the West
Men who work where danger is a way of life have a tendency to embrace superstitions or habits that might seem strange to an outsider. For...
Education in Early Arizona
The three R’s, readin’, writin’, and ’rithmetic, like many other cultural conveniences, were late arriving on the Arizona frontier. The first...
Frontier Dentistry
Oftentimes I hear folks say that they wish they'd lived "in the good old days. Usually, I reply, “The good old days really weren’t all that good.”...
Did the Devil Make Me Do It?
Manifest Destiny, westward expansion and the California gold rush were fertile topics for humorists and satirists of the 1840s and 1850s. “A man...
Kit Carson and the Conquest of California
The true story of how the trailblazer became the spearpoint of empire All Images Courtesy True West Archives Unless Otherwise Noted Kit Carson...
Flame Delhi
Arizona's First Native Born Major League Baseball Player Most Americans are aware that on April 15th, 1912, the luxury liner Titanic sank in the...
Those Harvey Girls
Humorist Will Rogers once remarked, “Fred Harvey supplied the West in food and wives.” It wasn’t just the excellent food that attracted people to...
William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody: A Star is Born
Myth is based on what we would like to believe while Legend takes the truth and enhances its meaning across the passage of time. The era of the “Old...