Wild West

Wild West Magazine presents the great American frontier from its beginnings to today. America’s western frontier has been a vital part of the country’s myths and reality, from the earliest exploration beyond the territory of the first colonies, to the wide expanses of the western prairies and deserts. Experience the old west and cowboys and Indians from top historical writers. Wild West brings to life the fascinating history, lore and culture of the great American frontier.

Behind the Curtain

Wild West • WINTER 2024 / VOL. 36, NO. 3

Dynamite Squared

Top Figures in Earp-era Tombstone, Arizona

Will Rogers Wins for Wild West

WEST WORDS

Texas Jack on Horseback

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

SEE YOU LATER…

New Wild West Editor

A Brothel Comes to Town

Pistols With Provenance

Wagon Master • DOUG HANSEN SEEKS TO PRESERVE THE CRAFT OF WESTERN WAGONMAKING ONE WHEEL AT A TIME

The Scout Who (Almost) Never Was

Femme Fatale Laura Fair • AFTER SHOOTING DOWN HER MARRIED LOVER, THIS JILTED WOMAN CLAIMED ‘FEMALE HYSTERIA,’ AN ALIBI REJECTED BY BOTH SUFFRAGETTES AND A JURY

The Reviled Al Swearingen • THE NOTORIOUS ENTREPRENEUR WHO MADE HIS BLACK MARK IN DEADWOOD, DAKOTA TERRITORY, DIED A VIOLENT DEATH UNDER MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES IN DENVER

Exploring New Depths • TODD CONNOR’S PLEIN AIR WORK DELVES DEEP TO RELATE THE AURA AND HISTORY OF THE FRONTIER WEST

Medicine Flower • FASCINATED BY INDIAN LORE, ETHNOLOGIST FRANK HAMILTON CUSHING ADOPTED ZUNI CULTURAL RITES, TRAPPINGS, LANGUAGE AND A MONIKER

Deadwood’s Open Secret • THOUGH PROSTITUTION WAS OVERTLY PRACTICED IN THE BLACK HILLS GOLD RUSH BOOMTOWN, ITS DEGRADED, DEPRESSED PURVEYORS WERE ALL BUT INVISIBLE

Deadwood’s Latest Draw

The Mysterious Death of Johnny Ringo • IN JULY 1882 A PASSERBY DISCOVERED THE GUNMAN’S CORPSE BY AN ARIZONA TERRITORY ROADSIDE, THE APPARENT VICTIM OF SUICIDE—OR WAS HE?

Six-Gun Silhouette

The Vixen & the Vigilantes • TO SPARE HER WRETCH OF A HUSBAND, NOTORIOUS SAN FRANCISCO MADAM BELLE CORA WOULD STOP AT NOTHING—BUT NEITHER WOULD THE 1856 COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE

Lady Behind the Legend • OLIVE DIXON, WIFE OF ADOBE WALLS SHARPSHOOTER AND BUFFALO WALLOW HERO BILLY DIXON, DEVOTED HER LONG WIDOWHOOD TO ENSURING HER LATE HUSBAND’S LEGACY

Wallowing in Controversy

Hats Off! • STETSON MAY HAVE INVENTED THE COWBOY HAT, BUT WESTERNERS SINCE HAVE MADE IT THEIR OWN

Kicking Bird Goes to War • THE RESPECTED KIOWA WARRIOR HAD LONG TROD THE ROAD OF PEACE, BUT IN 1870 HIS DETRACTORS NEEDLED HIM INTO A FIGHT WITH BLUECOATS ON TEXAS’ LITTLE WICHITA RIVER

A Lethal Little ‘Lemon Squeezer’ • HARRINGTON & RICHARDSON’S HAMMERLESS, SMALL-FRAME DOUBLE-ACTION REVOLVER WAS A HIT AMONG KLONDIKE GOLD SEEKERS AND WELLS FARGO MESSENGERS

St. Thomas, Nevada • ALTERNATELY REVEALED AND SUBMERGED BY THE EBB AND FLOW OF LAKE MEAD, THIS GHOST STARTED LIFE AS A TREE-LINED MORMON VILLAGE

Must See, Must Read • DOUG HOCKING’S TOP BOOKS & FILMS ABOUT EARLY TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA

Tombstone, Arizona