Western pioneers took extreme measures to change their marital status. The discovery of gold in the Western frontier led a mass migration of eager,...
Accident with a Gun
Trapper Jim Baker was seriously hurt while practicing shooting. Jim Baker was one of the great pioneers, explorers, trappers and hunters of the...
Amber Waves of Grain and Flowers
Kansas is still the breadbasket of America. Kansas pioneers knew their land was perfect for growing corn and wheat and an abundance of beautiful...
Circle the Wagons!
Emanuel Leutze’s 1863 oil Indians Attacking a Wagon Train vividly captured and perpetuated the fears of Americans migrating West on the Overland...
Water Purification
How did mountain men, cowboys, or settlers going west purify water before drinking? Survival shows today have people boiling it or some sort of...
Trail Drives: Code of the Trail
Was there an understanding among trail drive bosses that no two drives left at the same time? Did trail drives ever intersect and cause a problem as...
Tragedy on the Oregon-California Trail
For the most part, the women did not want to leave friends, travel some 2,000 miles home and make that trek of several months. Most of it was...
True Grit
Eighteen-year-old Susan Magoffin traveled West with her lady’s maid on the Santa Fe Trail. Susan Shelby Magoffin was an unlikely traveler when she...
A Woman’s Perspective of Life on the Oregon Trail
For the most part, the women did not want to leave home. They only went because their husbands or fathers insisted. And on the journey, they cooked...
Gunpowder to Oysters
A miner, a cook and a housewife all walked into a store to get groceries and supplies.
How did Old West Pioneers Acquire Honorific Titles?
How did Old West pioneers acquire honorific titles? Daniel Scuiry Berkeley, California An honorific is defined as a title that conveys esteem or...