The American West: A Wink to Davy Crockett’s Vest
Davy Crockett’s buckskin vest on display at The Alamo is of special interest to visitors because it's something he wore. But no one really knows if the garment was actually Crockett's. But that hasn't stopped them from promoting it.
William GronemanNovember 16, 2024
The American West: Porter Rockwell Got A Gun
Long before there was Wild Bill Hickock or Billy the Kid, there was Orrin Porter Rockwell. To outsiders, he was considered a murderer, a “destroying angel.” To most Mormons he was thought of as an angel of a better nature, protecting his fellow Saints.
R.B. MillerNovember 15, 2024
The American West: Calamity Jane – Wild Woman of the West
Calamity Jane drank hard and could tell a good tale with the best of them. People who knew her well said she had a heart of gold. When Deadwood was struck with a smallpox outbreak, Calamity said she was immune and took care of the sick.
Bill MarkleyNovember 14, 2024
The American West: Confrontation on Bitter Creek
During an attack on the LaClede Station on the Overland Trail in 1867, it was lucky for the occupants of the station that the Sioux warriors did not know how the station was effectively defenseless.
Terry A. Del BeneNovember 10, 2024
The American West: Massacre at Bear River
No one can say how many lives Tin Dup’s dream saved. The Shoshone elder, known for his prophecies, saw through the haze of sleep soldiers attacking the winter camp in the Bear River bottoms in what is now southeastern Idaho.
R.B. MillerNovember 09, 2024
The American West: David Jackson - Entrepreneur of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade
Jackson Hole is named for David E. Jackson, one of the most brilliant, yet elusive, players in the vast drama of the Rocky Mountain fur trade.
James A. CrutchfieldNovember 08, 2024
The American West: Jack Slade, Julesburg’s Legendary Villain
After Jules Beni shot Jack Slade six times in the streets of Julesburg, Colorado, Slade vowed he would live long enough to wear Beni’s ears as a watch fob. He accomplished his gruesome goal.
Linda WommackNovember 03, 2024
The American West: Women on the Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was the oldest of several overland highways that linked the easternmost section of the Trans-Mississippi West with the Pacific coast. It was a long, tortuous, dangerous journey, but in the end, these hardy women persevered to bring American culture and lifestyles to the remote villages and towns of New Mexico.
James A. CrutchfieldNovember 02, 2024
The American West: Cumberland Gap - Gateway to the West
Daniel Boone, with 30 axmen to assist him, blazed a trail through Cumberland Gap – the Gateway to the West. His route became known as the Wilderness Road and opened the nation to westward expansion.
James A. CrutchfieldOctober 30, 2024
The American West: The Strange Case of Nat Rasper’s Skull
Browns Park was a lawless place where outlaws came and went as they pleased. Raids by the law rarely reduced the supply of rustlers, murderers, and robbers in that harsh environment. Only after a telephone line connected the area with Rock Springs did the outlaw period come to an end.
Terry A. Del BeneOctober 28, 2024
The American West: Celebrating Michener’s Centennial
James Michener’s characters in Centennial were based on real people or composites of actual historic figures making the miniseries epic true to human nature and compelling, a piece of film making that has stood the test of time.
Linda WommackOctober 27, 2024
The American West: The Many Ways James Bowie Died At The Alamo
James Bowie either died: as a murder victim; a suicide; a battle casualty; or of sadistic torture. He may have died fighting from his sickbed; died helplessly in his sickbed; or died of illness before Mexican soldiers did the job. He may have been killed by swords, bayonets, gunfire, or fire.
William GronemanOctober 26, 2024
The American West: A Bronc Rider Named “Blanket of the Sun”
Nez Perce cowboy Waaya-Tonah-Toesits-Kahn not only rode with Chief Joseph, but was named Saddle Bronc Riding Champion of the World at age 53. He's in both the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.
R.B. MillerOctober 26, 2024
The American West: Amelia Earhart’s Cross-Country Autogiro Jaunt Included Wyoming
Famed female pilot Amelia Earhart stopped at several Wyoming Towns in 1931 as she set out to establish a round-trip record flying an experimental aircraft called the autogiro.
Lori Van PeltOctober 24, 2024
The American West: Using A “Two-Wheeled Man-Tormentor” To Cross The Plains
After crossing the Atlantic, the travelers now faced several weeks of grueling travel pushing and pulling what was called a “two-wheeled man-tormentors” although one historian said it “might be bettered rendered as ‘two-wheeled torture devices.’”
Candy MoultonOctober 21, 2024
The American West: Marie Dorion - Toughest Woman in the Old West
Despite a life of adventure, hardship, and bravery, Marie Dorion does not receive the recognition in history she earned and deserves. Other than a scattering of cursory historical markers, there are few reminders of the woman who may well have been the toughest in the Old West.
R.B. MillerOctober 20, 2024
The American West: The Bloody Adventures of Harry Tracy
In 1896, Harry Tracy - who was wanted for murder in Utah - joined Butch Cassidy’s notorious “Wild Bunch’’ at their hideout in Wyoming. Although his life of crime was short-lived, its brevity was punctuated by dishonesty, murder, and terror.
James A. CrutchfieldOctober 19, 2024
The American West: The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty
After several years of sporadic warfare with the Lakota and other tribes, the federal government desired to make peace and sent messengers to inform the tribes of a peace council to be held at Fort Laramie in June 1866.
Bill MarkleyOctober 18, 2024
The American West: A Remarkable Shot at Adobe Walls
Two legends were born when Billy Dixon grabbed his friend's .50-caliber Sharps rifle and picked off an Indian nearly a mile away at the Second Battle of Adobe Walls. First, his marksmanship. Second, the accuracy and killing power of the Sharps rifle.
James A. CrutchfieldOctober 13, 2024
The American West: A North Platte River Ferry Tale
For far longer than history records, the North Platte River Valley has been a thoroughfare through the American West. Crossing the river was sometimes impossible, often difficult, and always a challenge.
R.B. MillerOctober 12, 2024
Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame: John C. Budd – A Real Cowboy from Age 10
John Budd and his five siblings grew up as many pioneer children did: doing whatever possible to help the family survive. That included becoming a cowboy. In his own words: “I started riding horses as soon as I was weaned and by the time I was ten years old I was a real cowboy and one of the gang; at least I thought so.”
Candy MoultonOctober 08, 2024
The American West: Meriwether Lewis’s Last Journey
When Meriwether Lewis left St. Louis in late summer, 1809, on a trip to the nation’s capital, Tennessee was the furthest thing from his mind. But Lewis never arrived in Washington, and his violent death on the Natchez Trace remains a mystery to this day.
James A. CrutchfieldOctober 06, 2024
The American West: Matt Warner - The Outlaw Who Became a Lawman
Few would argue that Butch Cassidy would be at or near the top of any list of famous Old West outlaws. Matt Warner is not as widely known. But if not for Warner, Butch Cassidy would not have achieved the notoriety that lasts to this day.
R.B. MillerOctober 05, 2024
The American West: On This Day In 1877, Chief Joseph Surrenders His Gun
In shelter pits that had been hastily dug into the prairie of the Northern Plains, on October 5, 1877, with his weary, wounded people around him, Nez Perce Chief Joseph made his decision: “Tell General Howard I know his heart. I am tired of fighting.”
Candy MoultonOctober 04, 2024