The American West
The American West: Badger Clark And “The Cowboy’s Prayer”
Although his travels took him afar, Badger Clark always returned to the Black Hills. He licked tuberculosis then became a cowboy poet and author who wrote one of the most recognized poems in the West.
Peggy SandersMarch 16, 2025
The American West: Susan Magoffin on the Santa Fe Trail
Samuel Magoffin was an experienced trader who used the Santa Fe trail when he set off in June of 1846 with fourteen big wagons, each one pulled by six yoke of oxen. His young wife, on the other hand, had no clue what was in store for her on the trail.
March 15, 2025
The American West: The Arikara Campaign Of 1823
As fur trader William Ashley and his two boatloads of men and supplies neared the Arikara villages in 1823 he had no way of determining whether the Indians would be friendly or not.
James A. CrutchfieldMarch 14, 2025
The American West: Pegleg Smith, Mountain Man
Pegleg Smith reportedly trapped and traded among the Sioux and Osage Indians for a few years, then worked as a free trapper in New Mexico, but he lost his leg in Colorado and became a horse thief in California.
R.B. MillerMarch 12, 2025
The American West: The Manassa Mauler Jack Dempsey
From meager beginnings in southwest Colorado, Jack Dempsey fought literally for everything he had, including the world championship boxing title in 1919. It was a time when America needed a hero and Jack Dempsey delivered.
Linda WommackMarch 11, 2025
The American West: U.S. Presidents And The Alamo
The Alamo garrison celebrated George Washington’s birthday in San Antonio on the night of February 22, 1836. It was their last party. There are many other Alamo connections to the presidents.
William GronemanMarch 10, 2025
American West: The Kidnapped Doctor And Wounded Outlaw
In 1904, two masked men kidnapped a Thermopolis doctor to save the life of an outlaw at their remote ranch. The horse thief had been shot in a shoot-out with lawmen and his true identity remains a mystery to this day.
Jackie DorothyMarch 09, 2025
The American West: The Pleasant Valley War Erupts in Arizona
One of the most famous gunfights in the history of the Old West took less than one minute. It was only one battle in what would become known as the Pleasant Valley War.
James A. CrutchfieldMarch 08, 2025
The American West: Jedediah Smith Mountain Man Trailblazer
One of Jedediah Smith’s goals was to "be the first to view a country on which the eyes of a white man had never gazed and to follow the course of rivers that run through a new land." He would break trails to California, Oregon, and Washington.
March 07, 2025
The American West: POWs, Timber Dominated Headlines During WWII
One Saratoga resident’s brother was in Europe fighting Germans during World War II, while his father was working in the timber industry with German prisoners from a POW Camp at Ryan Park, treating one of them as if he was one of our neighbors.
Dick PerueMarch 06, 2025
The American West: Mountain Man Extraordinaire - Mariano Medina
Mountain Man Mariano Medina built a post near present Loveland, Colorado that was “a known location for the ‘pony trade,’ ‘Whites,’ ‘Mexicans’ and ‘Indians’ who traded on a regular schedule in the Big Thompson Valley."
Linda WommackMarch 06, 2025
The American West: Geronimo - Master Guerrilla Fighter
The fierce Chiricahua Apache fighter Geronimo had an all-out war that spanned the American-Mexican border as he defended his people and their way of life, eluding the army for decades.
Bill MarkleyMarch 05, 2025
The American West: Charlie Siringo’s Cowboy Days
Charlie Siringo is best remembered for his years as a detective, undercover agent, and manhunter with the Pinkerton Agency, including his pursuit of Butch Cassidy and his accomplices in robbing trains. But Siringo was a cowboy before he was a Pinkerton detective.
R.B. MillerMarch 03, 2025
The American West – Writing Advice From John Steinbeck
People often lose sight of John Steinbeck as a Western writer. Born in California, half of his published books take place in his native state or in Mexico. Some feature the theme of Westering – traveling toward the goal of California.
William GronemanMarch 02, 2025
The American West: How A Wyoming Outlaw Won A Gunfight With A Coffee Mug
When outlaw Tom O’Day was ambushed in a Thermopolis café back in 1903, a coffee cup was his only defense. Although O'Day was injured, he was declared the winner of the gunfight by newspapers all across Wyoming. The media lampooned the gunman for losing to a coffee cup.
Jackie DorothyMarch 01, 2025
The American West: The Doomed Gold Rush Of Wyoming’s Wind River Canyon
In 1906, a gold rush erupted in Wyoming’s Copper Mountains above the Wind River Canyon. Asmus Boysen’s dream to build a dam and power for these mines was destined for ruin.
Jackie DorothyFebruary 28, 2025
The American West: The First Settlement Of Pueblo, Colorado
For many years, the first official, permanent settlement of today’s city of Pueblo, Colorado, has been credited to the noted mountain man, James P. Beckwourth. But Major Jacob Fowler may have been there twenty years earlier.
James A. CrutchfieldFebruary 27, 2025
The American West: Was Frank James in Wyoming?
One puzzling historical question remains unanswered: Was Frank James (Jesse James' brother) part of the Big Nose George Parott gang that killed two law enforcement officers near Elk Mountain in Wyoming on August 19, 1878?
Mark E. MillerFebruary 26, 2025
The American West: Termespheres -- A Unique Universe Of Art In South Dakota
Each of Dick Terme’s painted spheres are unbelievably complex, painted by a masterful artist whose imagination and multifaceted techniques are beyond compare.
Quackgrass SallyFebruary 25, 2025
The American West: Solomon Butcher – Nebraska’s Prairie Photographer
Solomon Butcher didn’t want to be a homesteader, but he clearly admired those with the grit and gumption to build a home of sod and a life on the land so he made a career traveling the prairie and making photographs.
Candy MoultonFebruary 24, 2025
The American West: The Wild Bunch Moves On - The 1896 Montpelier Bank Robbery
When notorious outlaw Matt Warner was arrested and put on trial for murder in Utah in 1896, he lacked the means to pay for legal assistance. So, his friend Butch Cassidy put a team together and robbed a bank to help him out.
R.B. MillerFebruary 23, 2025
The American West: The McCarty Brothers - Criminals Who Made Butch Cassidy Famous
As the bank robbers raced out of Telluride in 1889, Butch Cassidy entered the history books for his first hold-up that would lead to the formation of the Wild Bunch. Butch Cassidy is the best known of Wild Bunch outlaws, but behind his prominence were the McCarty Brothers.
Linda WommackFebruary 22, 2025
The American West: Murder And Mayhem In Old Deadwood
After the killing of Wild Bill Hickok on August 2, 1876, another feud in Deadwood broke out. This time it was between Laughing Sam and Harry Young. Speculation is that it was over a woman. Unfortunately, the feud led to the death of Bummer Dan in a case of mistaken identity.
Bill MarkleyFebruary 21, 2025
The American West: Butch Cassidy’s Banker, Eugene Amoretti Sr.
Eugene Amoretti Sr. was the founder of Lander, Wyoming, and known friend of both outlaw Butch Cassidy and Fremont County Sheriff Charles Stough, who pursued the outlaws. Amoretti came to America to seek his fortune and died a millionaire.
Jackie DorothyFebruary 21, 2025