Soapy Smith cashes in his chips. July 8, 1898, Jefferson Randolph Smith II–better known as conman Soapy Smith–is shot to […] The post A Conman’s End Game appeared first on True West Magazine by Mark Boardman. Only the True West ..read more

Outlaw Cole Younger gets out of prison. July 10, 1901. Outlaws Cole (photo) and Jim Younger are released from the […] The post A Second Chance appeared first on True West Magazine by Mark Boardman. Only the True West ..read more

A chance encounter that later led to Cole Younger getting out of prison. In September 1876, preparing for the ill-fated Northfield Robbery, Cole Younger stopped in St. Peter, MN. There, he gave six-year-old Horace Greeley Perry a ride atop his horse. The child and the bandit were smitten with each other and promised to stay in touch. In 1891, Horace became owner/editor of The St. Peter Journal and turned her pen toward fulfilling the goal of freeing Cole Younger. In 1901, her efforts succeeded. If there was one person responsible for Cole leaving prison behind, it was Horace Greeley Perry (sh ..read more

The story behind Buffalo Bill. For a time, William F. Bill Cody was the most famous man in America. His rise to fame was meteoric. In 1869, dime novelist Ned Buntline (Edward Zane Carroll Judson) met the 23-year-old Cody in Nebraska. Cody already had a reputation as an army scout and hunter—and had been nicknamed “Buffalo Bill.” Buntline wrote an article and dime novel about the young man. That turned into a stage show in 1872. And in 1883, Cody began what became an international legend—the Wild West show.  The post The Evolution of a Legend appeared first on True West Magazine by Marsha ..read more

None was bigger than Bob Paul. No lawman in the Old West was taller than Bob Paul. He stood 6’6″ and weighed 246, broad shoulders and massive chest. Wyatt Earp held him in the highest esteem, saying, “As fearless a man as I ever knew.” Paul was a peace officer for 30 years.  He came to Arizona in 1880 and ran for sheriff of Pima County against the Cow-boy’s puppet, incumbent Charlie Shibell. Paul was favored to win in a landslide—but when the votes came in, Shibell won by 42 votes. Paul charged fraud. After various machinations, Paul was declared the winner. The post Big Boots to Fill ap ..read more

Buckskin Frank Leslie took care of a husband the old fashioned way. June 22, 1880. Buckskin Frank Leslie is lounging on the porch of Tombstone’s Cosmopolitan Hotel. He has his arm around May Killeen, a chambermaid at the hotel. But May’s husband Mike is not pleased. He comes toward the pair, shooting. Two shots graze Leslie’s head. Mike then beats Frank with his pistol–at which point a couple more shots are heard. Killeen is mortally wounded.  Eight days after Mike Killeen succumbs, May Killeen becomes May Leslie in a small gathering in the lobby of the Cosmopolitan. The post Divorce by ..read more

How lawmen got even for the death of their captain. June 30, 1893. Texas Ranger Captain Frank Jones is killed in a fight with a Mexican rustling gang. Jones and his men accidentally crossed into Mexico, nearly setting off an international incident. In the coming days, three members of the gang were found dead under mysterious circumstances. The Rangers were believed to be behind the revenge killings. The post The Rangers’ Revenge appeared first on True West Magazine by Mark Boardman. Only the True West ..read more

Gunfighter Clay Allison lost out to a wagon wheel. July 3, 1887. Shootist Clay Allison checks out. He accidentally falls off his moving wagon and a wheel breaks his neck. Allison was involved in a number of killings, mostly in Colfax County, NM and West Texas. It’s hard to know how many men died at his hands–he dispatched them with knife, gun and even a lynching rope. He was considered very dangerous and unstable; some believe an old head injury was at fault, although he also drank profusely. attached photo shows Allison with a bum foot–he’d accidentally shot himself. The post An Ignominous W ..read more

Kit Carson quieted a boastful mountain man. At the rendezvous on the Green River in 1835, Kit Carson fought his famous duel with Joseph Chouinard. The French Canadian challenged all comers to fight. He bragged that he’d take a switch to Americans and beat them like children. Carson had been quietly taking it all in. “I did not like such talk from any man, so I told him that if he made anymore such expressions, I would rip his guts.” Both men mounted their horses and charged; they fired at the same time. Chouinard took a bullet to the arm. He caused no more trouble. The post A Rendezvous Gunfi ..read more

Military officers surveyed an expanded United States. The United States secured its “Manifest Destiny” in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe ending the Mexican War. Mexico agreed to give up its claim to Texas and ceded to the U.S. lands that included California, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona north of the Gila River. The acquisition of more territory with the Gadsden Purchase six years later marked the final boundaries of the nation. The new landlords wanted the land surveyed and charted. That responsibility became the mission of a rugged bunch of officers known as the ..read more