Deadwood has always attracted big names. In 1874, even before the town’s creation, George Armstrong Custer and his command scouted the Black Hills...
Gambling, Gold and Women
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Movies
High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic
In this engrossing follow-up to his bestseller about The Searchers, the Pulitzer Prize-winning international reporter reveals much more than the...
The Best of the Weird Western
Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, an endlessly-in-the-works film that finally premiered on August 4, disappointed fans because, unlike the novels, it’s...
Farewell to Curly Bill
On May 14, 2017, actor Powers Boothe died just short of his 69th birthday. A magnetic and commanding presence, he enjoyed simultaneous stardom as...
Buffalo Bill in the Movies
The first actor to play Buffalo Bill in the movies was the man who had perfected the role for over a quarter century on the stage and in the show...
Val Kilmer at Doc Holli-Days
The first “Doc Holli-Days” celebration, taking place in Tombstone, Arizona, this August 12-13, is already attracting at least one big name: Val...
I Killed John Wayne
Who would’ve guessed that, in the last decade of his life, a lung lost to cancer, John “Duke” Wayne would star in a dozen films, three of...
In Theaters: The Hero
Lee Hayden (played by Sam Elliott), once a Western movie icon, now uses his golden voice to narrate barbecue-sauce ads. He receives bad news and...
Keeping Movies Alive
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was among the first. Dr. Rennard Strickland found the movie poster for the 1962 John Ford classic, “Together for...
The Screen’s Greatest Horse Stuntman
The most memorable action sequence in Stagecoach comes near the end of the 1939 film. Shortly after the river crossing, the passengers expect a...
Slim Pickens
Show me a magazine cover with a pretty girl, a baby or a dog...and I’ll show you a magazine that sells,” publishing legend William Randolph Hearst...
High Times in the Bitterroots
When the Bitterroot Mountains exploded in wildfires in 1910, Buffalo Soldiers from the 25th Infantry helped evacuate the town of Wallace, Idaho. The...