In the movie Open Range, Boss (Robert Duval) and Charlie (Kevin Costner) rough up some bad guys. And just to humiliate them, Boss orders them to...
Drop ‘Em! Belts or No Belts?
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mark boardman
6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon: Wyatt Earp Edition
People used to play a game called “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” The rules: you had to be able to find unusual connections to the actor in six or...
Are You for Beer?
A Westerns staple is the saloon, where men went to meet, gamble, and drink. For the most part, the movie booze was fake—tea or colored water stood...
Sibley Supplies the Wrong Side
Henry Hopkins Sibley gained fame as a Confederate cavalry officer during the Civil War. But one of his inventions was widely used by the other side....
Wanted, Dead or Alive
It may have been the name of a TV Western, but few officials actually used “wanted, dead or alive” rewards to track down criminals. Money was...
Lawman Bill Cruger
Bill Cruger was a tough lawman in Shackleford County, Texas (which included Fort Griffin) in the 1870s. He was originally hired as a deputy by...
Colorado Charlie Utter
Colorado Charlie Utter is best known as Wild Bill Hickok’s best friend, the man who led the wagon train that brought the gunfighter (and Calamity...
Juan Cortina
Juan Cortina was a rancher and politician in the Lower Rio Grande in 1859. He was displeased as Anglos took over land next to his. And he became...
A Deadly Feud Between Two Jims
Jim Harkey and Jim Barbey were both riders at the Cottonwood Mott Line Camp in west Texas in 1880. Nobody knew of any trouble between the two...
Marshal Tom “Bear River” Preferred Fists to Guns
Abilene, Kansas Marshal Tom “Bear River” Smith gained a reputation for using fists instead of guns. According to one story, he earned that rep....
No One Steals from Barton’s Joint
Jerry Barton was associated with the Cow-boy faction in southeast Arizona. He ran a bar in the town of Charleston—a Cow-boy hangout. And he wasn’t...
Bud Ballew: Lawman Gone Bad
Bud Ballew was a lawman around Ardmore, Oklahoma after the turn of the century. He had a string of killings to his credit and the reputation of a...