The delay in the publication of the book about my brother is due largely to my own ambivalence . I have three drafts written, but can’t decide which version to use in the final submission. Last week I heard from a reader who noted that they enjoyed reading the daily journals on my site about read more…

Whenever I was writing about a something that took place in Nevada County I always made a trip to Searls Library in Nevada City to do the research. Ed Tyson, the kind, elderly librarian would welcome me into the small, two-room building that was once a law office back in the day, and clear a read more…

I’ve never been as excited about writing a book as I am the one Howard and I are working on now about Elizabeth Custer. Her story has been told before, but we have the advantage of using a number personal letters and photographs that no one has ever seen before. I have been dividing my read more…

Many of the wagon trains that arrived in Nevada County more than 150 years ago, brought with them women who had become widows on the journey west. Cholera or lack of water claimed the lives of more than a few men. Often times those men left behind families. When the survivors reached the Gold Country read more…

I haven’t been feeling too well so I asked my friend Cynthia to contribute something to the blog. I thought it might be a bit more interesting than my usual rants. She didn’t disappoint. “Having grown up here in California in the gold country, stories of cowboys and Indians, gold minors and woman of the read more…

I did a radio interview yesterday with a gentlemen who dislikes westerns. It was an uncomfortable 15 to 20 minutes defending the genre, Dodge City, and the wisdom to write about such a well-known story as Dora Hand’s. It was awkward, but I guess it comes with the territory. The last few days I’ve been read more…

One of my guilty pleasures is watching Judge Judy. I like her no-nonsense approach to dealing with people who come into her courtroom with no morals or sense of right and wrong. Many of the cases that come before her are from people that have borrowed huge sums of money from someone and refused to read more…

One of the framed movie posters I have hanging in my home is for the film The Long Riders. It’s a smart western directed by a brilliant director named Walter Hill. Hill also directed several other fine westerns such as Wild Bill, Deadwood, and Broken Trail. Hill will be writing and directing Thunder Over the read more…

It’s unfortunate that I have to start my Monday with another conversation with the FBI about the individuals who emailed death threats to me at the beginning of the year. They have returned – hitting the site after midnight this morning from an Brigham Young University off-campus location. I’ll phone the dean of the school read more…

What History Has Taught Me by Chris Enss Tiger Woods and Buffalo Bill Cody are men who thought monogamy was a type of wood.  They were legendary talents with flaws who were eager to entertain the numerous women who threw themselves at the men, regardless of the fact that they were married. Elizabeth Custer’s extramarital read more…