The Arizona deputy sheriff lived a double life as a highwayman, gang leader and train robber. Burt Alvord wasn’t exactly a household name among...
The Curious Saga of the Outlaw Burt Alvord
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Outlaw
The Legends of Dirty Dave Rudabaugh received a lot of myth-making over time.
There are a lot of legends surrounding bad man Dave Rudabaugh. First, there’s no evidence that he was called “Dirty Dave” during his lifetime—or...
The Last Train Robbery in Arizona
The men involved in Arizona's last train robbery obviously watched too many of those old-time Western pictures. The robbery in occurred on May 15th,...
Bass Reeves: The Invincible Lawman
Born into slavery, the Arkansas native became a lauded, and legendary U.S. deputy marshal. Bass Reeves began his life as a slave in the state of...
Counselor for the Defense Douglas Preston will always be connected to Butch Cassidy.
An obituary said that lawyer Douglas Preston was “ranked as the first criminal attorney of Wyoming.” And he certainly gained notoriety as the man...
The Town Tamer James Dodson kept a lid on Prescott, Arizona
Prescott, Arizona—unlike so many other Old West towns—was pretty peaceful during the frontier period. Much of the credit goes to James Dodson, who...
The Death Of Ike Clanton Rustling his way to an early grave
After leaving Tombstone Ike moved his rustling operations to the White Mountains. As he did in Tombstone, Ike passed himself off as a successful...
Henry Plummer And The Not So Innocents Handsome Henry Plummer was a ladies man, lawman and politician in California during the Gold Rush. He was also crooked as a dog’s hind leg.
The big gold strikes at Bannack in 1862; Alder Gulch in 1863, which late became Virginia City; Last Chance Gulch in 1864, which became Helena and...
How Many Men Did Jesse James Kill Trying to count Jesse’s kill total isn’t really possible.
A question came in a few days ago from a reader wanting to know how many men did Jesse kill? Trying to count Jesse’s kill total during the war – it...
A Bloody Day At The Chandler Ranch It was said of Hunt, “He would do to go tiger hunting with.”
According to Cochise County Deputy Sheriff, Billy Breakenridge, Zwing Hunt, was one of the worst outlaws in that hell-for-leather county. Absolutely...
Outlaw Turned Lawman Turned Outlaw The strange tale of Ben Sippy.
Ben Sippy is best known as the man who beat Virgil Earp in the election for Tombstone marshal in 1880—and then suddenly (and somewhat mysteriously)...
Hanky-Panky And The Rope Two killers of two husbands got two nooses for their trouble.
Albert O’Dell and James Lamb were itinerant farmworkers near Lebanon, Indian Territory in 1886. Strangely, they took the wives of their two...