More than 125 years ago the famous London resident author Oscar Wilde was touring the Old West and giving lectures in saloons and stage stops. Wilde loved the west and the people who settled it. He was well liked by most everyone he met but the rough frontiersmen did not know quite what to make read more…

Not everything of note that took place in the Old West involved six-shooters or gunslingers.  Some of the most important events that took place on the brave new frontier were quiet, unassuming advances that barely made the papers at all.  In late August, 1856, Gail Borden, recognizing the plight of mothers and their children on read more…

Calamity Jane may have dressed in buckskins, cussed with the roughest of men, and drank more than a few rough characters under the table, but there’s no question her heart was fragile. She fell for Wild Bill Hickok and hoped with everything she was that she could turn his head. Such would not be the read more…

It’s agonizing to love someone romantically who doesn’t return your feelings. The object of your affection sees you only as a friend and cannot be persuaded to view you as anything other than that. Your manner of dress doesn’t make a difference, how you defend yourself in a difficult time doesn’t turn their head, nothing read more…

After more than two years of working on the book about lawman Sam Sixkiller it’s now complete and off to the publisher. The tentative title of the book is The Life and Hard Time of Captain Sam Sixkiller. Sixkiller was an amazing lawman and deserves to be remembered for his heroic efforts in the Oklahoma read more…

Outside of Bodie, California one my favorite Old West locations is Ellsworth, Kansas. At one time is was known as the “wickedest cattletown in Kansas.” Ellsworth was a bustling cattle town for a time during the late 1860s but its cattle trade had dwindled down by the mid-1880s. The town was the setting for numerous read more…

Uniformed guards led my brother and I into a cage surrounded by razor wire and locked us inside. In front of us was the Long Beach harbor, teaming with ships weighted down with giant metal containers. Tugboats escorted barges through a labyrinth of canals and waterways. The interesting view was marred by several layers of read more…

Three siblings are on the run in the Southeast right now. It’s been reported they’ve robbed a couple of banks. Their motivation for the crime spree has not been revealed as of yet. The news seldom if ever gets things right and I’m guessing the why isn’t as interesting to the talking heads as the read more…

One of the most tragic figures in American West history has to be Thomas “Tom” Horn, Jr. (November 21, 1860 – November 20, 1903.) He was lawman, scout, soldier, hired gunman, detective, outlaw and assassin. On the day before his 43rd birthday, he was hanged in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the murder of Willie Nickell. Horn’s read more…

I have multiple deadlines to make this month and I’m going out of town to see my brother. Looks like I’ll be at the computer night and day until the job is done. Somewhere along the way I hope to watch the western Hombre again. It’s one of my favorite westerns. The 1967 film starring read more…