Historical West
The Bloody Bozeman
- Published May 13, 2013
- Written by Candy Moulton
Trails across the West in the mid-1800s crisscrossed Indian lands, often displacing the people who had been living on the land for generations. The Bozeman Trail is no exception. It cuts through some of the prime hunting grounds for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Crow tribes and was hotly contested as a result.
Remembering the Dakota War in Minnesota
- Published April 16, 2013
- Written by Johnny D Boggs
Are you here to see the Dakota War exhibit?” a male worker at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul asks me.
It takes a moment before I can answer. I didn’t expect anyone in Minnesota to be broadcasting the 150th anniversary of a war that most people here would just as soon as forget.
The Arizona Rangers
- Published February 10, 2013
- Written by Marshall Trimble
The dawning of the 20th century brought little improvement to the notorious reputation Arizona had earned during the tumultuous years of outlawry and the Indian Wars. The close proximity to Mexico and the rugged mountain wilderness in the eastern part of the territory made Arizona the sanctuary of choice for outlaws who had been driven out of other parts of the Southwest.
“Serious Cow People”
- Published April 15, 2013
- Written by Sue Hansen
Yes, these were the cowgirls who had the gallto turn down President Teddy Roosevelt.
Looking for the Shawnee Trail
- Published January 08, 2013
- Written by Johnny D Boggs
What was it John Wayne said in Red River? “Ten miles a day will be good. Fifteen will be luck.” Sounds just about right.
The Apache Wars in Apache Words
- Published April 15, 2013
- Written by Jeff Haozous
In January 1863, Mangas Coloradas went to Pinos Altos, New Mexico, to seek peace with the United States. Other Chiricahua Apache tribal leaders had tried to talk him out of it, but Mangas persisted.
“War to the Death”
- Published January 08, 2013
- Written by Robert T. Gibney
On the morning of June 1, 1864, a group of 100 volunteers gathered at King Woolsey’s fortified ranch house to form a raiding party to pursue Apaches in Tonto Basin. The Apaches had been harassing the isolated settlements of Big Bug, Lynx Creek and Agua Fria (present-day Humboldt) ever since Joseph Rutherford Walker and his party had first ventured into the area the prior summer.
Scoping Out Del Norte
- Published April 15, 2013
- Written by John Stanley
Every Old West town had saloons and bawdy houses. How many, though, had an observatory?
The Rocky Mountain Rangers
- Published January 08, 2013
- Written by Gordon E. Tolton
The Canadian prairies were anything but polite in 1885. In southwestern Alberta, rancher William Cochrane wrote his father: “There is a great deal of uneasiness about the Indians…Riel’s runners are in their camps, and it seems doubtful what they will do...we ought to make every effort to get more protection here from the Government.”
Rocky Mountain National Park
- Published March 18, 2013
- Written by Steve Friesen
During Colorado’s gold “Rush to the Rockies,” Joel Estes was hunting with his son in 1859 when they stumbled across beautiful meadows that eventually became known as Estes Park. His cattle ranch quickly became a favorite stop for tourists, most notably the Englishwoman Isabella Bird, who ascended the 14,259-foot-high Long’s Peak in 1873.
The Sodbusters’ Historian
- Published November 05, 2012
- Written by Nancy Plain
In 1886, Solomon Butcher had his eureka moment, the biggest idea of his life.
He would compile a book, a photographic history of the pioneers of Nebraska’s Custer County.
Yellowstone-Grand Teton National Parks
- Published March 18, 2013
- Written by J. Stuart Rosebrook
Travelers seeking solace in the wide open spaces of the American West will discover a wilderness Shangri-La in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, the latter being America’s first national park, established in 1872.
The Geronimo Trap
- Published November 05, 2012
- Written by John Langellier
Dating to ancient times, commanders have wrestled with communications over distances and under combat conditions. The flashing shield, drums or other instruments, semaphores and other devices offered basic and, all too often, unsatisfactory results.
Seeking Ute Stories
- Published March 18, 2013
- Written by Candy Moulton
I sat in the front row of a school auditorium watching girls compete in a princess contest. This was not a competition of fancy hair and youngsters wearing makeup, but rather a tradition dating back decades.
Splitting Hairs
- Published August 06, 2012
- Written by Bob Boze Bell
A few years ago, I attended the Dalton Days event in Meade, Kansas (held this July 13-14), and met two re-enactors from Arkansas. They told me the head honcho at Fort Smith keeps insisting to volunteers like them that “hippie style hairdos” were not worn in Judge Parker’s day (the Old West).
Killed in the Line of Duty
- Published March 18, 2013
- Written by Mark Boardman
Ezekiel Proctor was a Cherokee and proud of it.
“Zeke” had walked the Trail of Tears from Georgia to the Indian Territory when he was a seven-year-old boy in 1838. He clung to the Cherokee language, culture and customs. He dealt with white folks, but he didn’t have much use for them.
Northfield Revelations
- Published August 06, 2012
- Written by Chip DeMann
When Northfield re-enacts the James-Younger bank raid, during the Defeat of Jesse James Days this September 5-9, local historian Chip DeMann will be heading up the re-enactors. He’s among the James-Younger historians who, as Johnny D. Boggs points out in his article, still debate the particulars of the foiled bank robbery.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
- Published March 04, 2013
- Written by Bill Markley
North Dakota is nicknamed the Roughrider State after Theodore Roosevelt’s 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. TR (folks didn’t call him Teddy to his face) loved North Dakota. Tour western North Dakota, and you will understand why TR said if he were given the choice to remember only one aspect of his life, he would want to remember his adventures in Dakota Territory. To reach the national park named in his honor, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we will make a circle tour to and from Bismarck.
Honorable Warriors
- Published June 12, 2012
- Written by John Langellier
Long before the famed Code Talkers, American Indians from today’s Arizona and New Mexico played important roles in the U.S. military. As early as the 1850s, some Navajos were paid for various temporary duties.
Wet Your Whistle at These Historic Saloons
- Published February 11, 2013
- Written by Sherry Monahan
"Saloon openings are all the rage. The Oriental is simply gorgeous and is pronounced the finest place of the kind this side of San Francisco."
“The bar is a marvel of beauty; the sideboards were made for the Baldwin Hotel; the gaming room connected is carpeted with Brussels, brilliantly lighted, and furnished with reading matter and writing materials for its patrons.
Honor in Sacrifice
- Published February 22, 2011
- Written by Paul Andrew Hutton
Death—that one great certainty of life—haunts us all.
