Jedediah Smith is considered one of the great Western explorers, blazing trails from Missouri to California in the 1820s. He was the first to enter...
The Lost Chronicles of Harrison Rogers
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mountain men
Shooting Back
Killer Kids Oh, the troubled faces of these killer kids on the cover of the current issue of True West reflect the horror and madness of war. You...
Kit Carson: History and the Myth
In October 1849, a trader named James White, his wife Ann and their infant daughter were traveling on the Santa Fe Trail to New Mexico when they...
Grizzlies of the Far West
Before the legendary bear was nearly driven to extinction, Ursus horribilis ruled the forests and plains of the Pacific Coast. The American Indians...
The Highest Peak
Best of the Mountain Man Movies On the eve of the release of The Revenant, inspired by the true story of Hugh Glass’s fight for life, the film...
Mountain Men, Grizzlies and Christmas
For 70 years, stories about legendary fur trappers have been editorial mainstays, but on the cover, they’re a rare gift to readers. Since 1953, True...
Kit Carson: Larger-Than-Life American Hero
At the age of sixteen, Carson ran away from his job as an apprentice at a saddlery in Missouri and joined a party of traders heading down the Santa...
A Pioneer Lost His Land
Charles Autobees’ homestead didn’t fit the rules. Charles Autobees was a mountain man and trapper, who plied that trade starting at age 16. He...
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...
The Iron Horse and Kit Carson
While innumerable stories about trains, train robberies and the famed trailblazer appeared in True West during its 70-year history, they were rarely...
James P. Beckwourth and His Trail
The legendary mountain man left a legacy of truth and fiction about his larger-than-life experiences as a trapper and trailblazer of the American...
Mountain Men
The first white men to venture “across the wide Missouri” were awed by the breathtaking sight of the majestic Rocky Mountains that loomed on the...