The James-Younger gang's incredible streak of good luck ran out in Northfield, Minnesota, on September 7th, 1876 when the eight-member gang rode...
The Final Years of the James-Younger Gang
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Marshall Trimble
Celerity and Mud Wagons
Everyone’s familiar with Abbott-Donning Concord Stagecoach from the western movies but in reality the Celerity and Mud wagons were the stagecoach of...
Life In A Soddy
When the farmers got west of the 100th meridian they found themselves in short grass country where the grasses were gramma, needle and buffalo. The...
Jeff Kidder: Arizona Ranger
The Arizona Rangers were established as a territorial law enforcement agency in 1901 to curb the outlawry that was rampart in Arizona’s rural...
Hualapai Joe’s Lost Loot
Arizona is a wild, untamed land of jagged mountains and barren deserts making it an ideal place for lost mines and treasures. These lost treasure...
Why Do Western Actors Rarely Wear Spurs On Screen?
Why do Western actors rarely wear spurs on screen? Charles “Spade” Phillips Odessa, Texas Mostly because of animal welfare concerns. Audiences don’t...
Claw-fingered Kitty, a.k.a. Eva Dugan
A few months ago a friend up in Yukon Territory wrote asking for some information on a lady of the evening who resided in the red light district of...
Did Old West Trains Have Bathrooms?
Did Old West trains have bathrooms? Terry Gin Columbus, Ohio Yep, they sure did. Early toilets ranged from a Hooper Toilet, which was a hole in the...
Bandit Queen Belle Starr
Myra Maybelle Shirley, was another Old West personality who might have been forgotten had she not been reinvented by a novelist. The so-called...
How Did “Killer” Jim Miller Escape Justice For So Long?
How did “Killer” Jim Miller escape justice for so long? Duff Hale Midlothian, Texas Early on, “Killer” Jim Miller kept a public front as a solid...
Old West Prisons Were No Place for Sissies
Rules For Inmates at the Wyoming Territorial Prison: Rules for Inmates: You will not be allowed to converse with each other on any subject...
The Lucky Cuss Mine
The story of rags-to-riches prospector Ed Schieffelin and his Lucky Cuss Mine is one of Arizona’s greatest Horatio Algier success stories. In 1877,...