The Death of Morgan Earp
True West Magazine
by Mark Boardman
16h ago
Violence begets violence in Cochise County… March 18, 1882. Morgan Earp is assassinated while playing billiards at Campbell and Hatch’s in Tombstone. Another bullet lodges in the low ceiling just over his brother Wyatt’s head. The killers escape. But this kicks off the next phase of the Cow-boy/Earp feud: The Vendetta Ride. The post The Death of Morgan Earp appeared first on True West Magazine by Mark Boardman. Only the True West ..read more
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The Life and Legend Begins
True West Magazine
by Mark Boardman
1d ago
Wyatt Earp is born in Illinois. March 19, 1848. Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp is born in Monmouth, IL. He will live a long and interesting life, often a wandering journey seeking the next big score. He works both sides of the law at various times. And he gains eternal fame for participating in an 1881 gunfight in Tombstone, AZ–and for the Vendetta Ride that soon followed. Perhaps ironically, he died quietly in Los Angeles more than 80 years later. And his legend was really created by books, movies and TV shows that came out after he was gone. The post The Life and Legend Begins appeared first on Tru ..read more
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A Man of Action
True West Magazine
by Marshall Trimble
3d ago
Burt Mossman cleaned up cow operations in Arizona. In 1897, Burt Mossman was superintendent for Arizona’s Aztec Land and Cattle Company, better-known as the Hash Knife Outfit, one of the biggest operations in the West. The ranch had failed in attempts to stop the rustling by locals—and in combatting internal corruption. Mossman didn’t waste any time. On his first day, the scrappy cowman captured three rustlers. Then he fired 52 of the 84 cowboys on the Hash Knife payroll and installed trusted cowmen as wagon bosses. Soon, he had the outfit turning a profit again. In 1901 he became the first c ..read more
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What’s in a Name?
True West Magazine
by Marshall Trimble
4d ago
Some colorful monikers of the Old West. Early Arizona mining towns were graced with a number of colorful characters with whimsical nicknames. There was Long-Necked Charlie Leisure; Shoot-Em-Up Dick; Long Hair Sprague; Red Jacket Almer; Lafayette Grime; Rattlesnake Bill; Johnny-Behind-the-Duece. Women also had unusual monikers like Wild Irish Rose, Nellie the Pig, the Waddling Duck, the Dancing Heifer, and the Galloping Cow. Madam Featherlegs earned her name and fame when she delighted the male citizens by galloping her horse down main street, wearing nothing but a pair of chaps flapping ..read more
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Should Have Tried Another Bar
True West Magazine
by Mark Boardman
6d ago
King Fisher and Ben Thompson make a fatal mistake. March 11, 1884. Gunmen Ben Thompson and King Fisher make a huge mistake. A day of drinking in various Texas towns takes them to the Vaudeville Theater in San Antonio. Two years before, Thompson had killed Jack Harris, the theater’s owner, and the late man’s friends want revenge. Thompson and Fisher are ambushed in an upstairs area; both are riddled with bullets. Although the killers are known (or at least suspected), no-one is ever tried in the case The post Should Have Tried Another Bar appeared first on True West Magazine by Mark Boardman ..read more
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Villa’s Raid on New Mexico
True West Magazine
by Mark Boardman
1w ago
The U.S. gets pulled into the Revolution. March 9, 1916. Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa and his Division of the North attack Columbus, NM. Eight US soldiers and 10 civilians are killed. More than 100 of the attackers also die. President Woodrow Wilson, furious, orders troops to go into Mexico to get Villa in what becomes known as the Punitive Expedition. Villa is never captured, and U.S. involvement becomes muddled. But in some ways, the expedition became a good training ground for America’s efforts in WWI. The post Villa’s Raid on New Mexico appeared first on True West Magazine by Mark B ..read more
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Thanks to Al Harper Billy the Kid Has His Day at Old Tucson
True West Magazine
by Bob Boze Bell
1w ago
 Last weekend we had a great celebration at Old Tucson when we presented our True Westerner Award to Al Harper in the Grand Hotel Saloon. Not only has Al Harper saved multiple historic railroads with his American Heritage Railways company, he recently took on the role of saving Old Tucson which had not only fallen on hard times, but when the pandemic hit, sat vacant for two whole years, while the Sonoran Desert reclaimed more than a few of the buildings. Not only has Al’s crew stabilized the physical buildings in the town, they are hell bent on getting movies back to the location for film ..read more
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A Talk for the Ages
True West Magazine
by Mark Boardman
1w ago
The interview that made Wild Bill famous. In September 1865, Col. George Ward Nichols was in Springfield, MO—it’s not clear why. But he took the opportunity to interview Wild Bill Hickok, who was fresh off his face-to-face gunfight with Davis Tutt. The subsequent talk wasn’t published for nearly two years. But when it did, Hickok’s reputation spread world-wide. And Nichols became known as an important chronicler of one of the West’s great characters (although there was a lot of fable in the story). The post A Talk for the Ages appeared first on True West Magazine by Mark Boardman. Only the Tr ..read more
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The Last Drink
True West Magazine
by Marshall Trimble
1w ago
A corpse, a bottle of whiskey, and drunken cowboys. On Saturday, April 8th, 1905, two cowboys, John Shaw and Bill Smythe, walked into the Wigwam Saloon in Winslow and held up the gambling table. They jumped a train bound for Flagstaff, but a posse caught up with them at Canyon Diablo. Smythe was captured; Shaw was killed and buried on the spot. Some of his pals wanted to give him a last drink, so they headed for the grave site and dug up Shaw. They propped him up, gave him a drink, and took his photo. Shaw's death grin seemed to indicate that he was enjoying the moment. The post The L ..read more
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Divine Intervention?
True West Magazine
by Marshall Trimble
1w ago
A lightning bolt stopped a lynching. Near Canyon Diablo in Arizona, along the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, an aspiring train robber hijacked the payroll intended for the railroad construction crew building a bridge across the canyon. The outraged workers quickly formed a posse and went in hot pursuit of their money. They caught up with the outlaw but alas, during the chase he had lost his saddlebags containing the payroll. They started to hang him from a tree limb, but just then a lightning bolt hit the tree. They took the outlaw back to Canyon Diablo and turned him over to the proper aut ..read more
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