In the pantheon of Old West publishing history, James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok is a biographical anomaly. Compared to h…
Tag: western history
The Judge and the Prizefight Roy Bean promoted a heavyweight championship.
Roy Bean is best known as the eccentric Texas judge. But at least once, he was a promoter, putting together a champions…
Stacking the Deck Clarence Darrow likely used bribery to get a client off.
Famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow tried to ensure a victory in the 1907 trial of Western Federation of Miners offic…
What History Has Taught Me: Dolan Ellis
As a kid, we lived on a small farm in eastern Kansas, where I literally had no playmates. My play consisted of doing lit…
When the West was True Our Western heritage is under assault.
We live in a time of national discord. Americans find themselves adrift in a cultural malaise highlighted by overheated…
Bits and Pieces to Chew On Contemporary scholars remark there were few bank robberies in the Old West.
Contemporary scholars remark there were few bank robberies in the Old West. That’s because there were few banks. Money …
Daylight Saving Time Standard time began with the American railroads who maintained many different time zones during the late 1800s.
Arizona has always taken pride in marching to the beat of its own drum. For example, all but one of contiguous United S…
Sitting with Wyatt Earp Never-before-seen biographer materials donated to the Tombstone Courthouse.
Dreams of a “fly-on-the-wall” moment in Western history certainly include sitting with Wyatt Earp in the 1920s as he set…
Hot Air & Kind Words The proper burial of “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s press agent, “Arizona John” Burke.
The “Prince of Press Agents,” a spinmeister in a Stetson—he made “Buffalo Bill” Cody a household word around the world. …
Gunfight in the Galiuros Questions remain about Arizona’s worst shoot-out—even outdoing the O.K. Corral gunfight.
At of Old West gunfights were quick, bloody affairs that left more questions than answers as each side had its own versi…