Violence begets violence in Cochise County… March 18, 1882. Morgan Earp is assassinated while playing billiards at Campbell and Hatch's in...
The Life and Legend Begins
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...
From Good to Bad
The Dalton boys crossed the line to outlawry. The Dalton brothers were lawmen before they turned to outlawry. The boys grew up listening to tales of...
A Man of Action
Burt Mossman cleaned up cow operations in Arizona. In 1897, Burt Mossman was superintendent for Arizona’s Aztec Land and Cattle Company,...
What’s in a Name?
Some colorful monikers of the Old West. Early Arizona mining towns were graced with a number of colorful characters with whimsical nicknames. There...
Should Have Tried Another Bar
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...
Villa’s Raid on New Mexico
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...
Thanks to Al Harper Billy the Kid Has His Day at Old Tucson
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...
A Talk for the Ages
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...
The Last Drink
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...
Divine Intervention?
A lightning bolt stopped a lynching. Near Canyon Diablo in Arizona, along the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, an aspiring train robber hijacked the...
A Man Called Pie
John Allen made his mark in Arizona. John B. Allen came to Arizona during the 1858 gold rush at Gila City, a few miles east of Yuma. That same year...