One of my favorite photographs of rock ’n’ roll frontman Tom Petty was taken on March 10, 1977, by Michael Putland. The singer, clad in a striped...
An Enduring Everyman Hero
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Meghan Saar
Blessed Booze
A Presbyterian pastor and a Mormon walked into a saloon. The first railed against the distribution of liquor and all the evils that came from...
True West Best of the West 2018 Art and Collectibles
When “Old Hosstail” Joe Austell Small founded True West Magazine 65 years ago, in 1953, he could not foresee that his pictorial publication...
A Bozeman Christmas
On Christmas Day in 1867, three years after the founding of this fair Montana Territory city, Bozeman was elected by citizens as the county seat....
An Unusual Scale
Edgar Alwin Payne’s language of the Southwestern landscape mainly spoke of brilliant cliffs and skies towering over a small group of figures on...
The Real Frank James
Nobody asks, “Who is Jesse James?” Books, movies, newspapers, dime novels have all shared his story, from the days when the bank and train robbing...
Million-Dollar Cowboys
Thomas Moran was alive today, he would be surprised to hear that his former pupil reached the million dollar auction mark through an unusual subject...
Did “Buffalo Bill” Cody Ever Ride for the Pony Express?
For more than 30 years, our historical consultant, Paul Andrew Hutton, has been arguing with historians over whether or not “Buffalo Bill” Cody rode...
Death-Defying Riders of the Pony Express
When America’s first Pony Express rider set off on April 3, 1860, from St. Joseph, Missouri, launching a coast-to-coast transfer of news and...
The Wretched Newspaper War
A profit-making enterprise that ended up documenting history may make one’s stomach queasy—especially when a complete picture of how that happened...
Beating a Retreat
Alfred Jacob Miller did not leave his viewers guessing at what inspired his 200 watercolors that William Walters commissioned, beginning in 1858. He...
Hunka, Hunka Burnin’ Iron
Two days before The Guardian published its exposé, “Can’t Help Falling in Price,” about how the deaths of Baby Boomers has sent Elvis Presley...