Calamity Jane in Wyoming: separating the record from the legend
Martha Jane Cannary spent much of her life in Wyoming's forts and rail towns. Here is what the records show,…
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Western Life
Western history, books, film and television, cowboy poetry and music, and the arts of the West.
Susan Nottingham keeps her parents’ ranch near Burns from going the way of their first one
Her parents' first ranch became the EagleVail golf course. Susan Nottingham has now put 18,484 acres of the Nottingham Ranch near Burns under a conservation easement.
By Nell Garrity · · 3 min read
Buffalo Bill Cody’s Colorado and Wyoming legacy, from Cody to Lookout Mountain
William F. Cody founded a Wyoming town, died in Denver and was buried on Lookout Mountain above Golden. How two…
Twelve Western novels worth reading, from The Virginian to Lonesome Dove
A reading list of twelve Western novels that hold up, with notes on why each matters, including two set close…
Hidalgo and the Frank Hopkins debate: what historians say about the endurance-ride story
The 2004 film Hidalgo was promoted as the true story of Frank Hopkins and his mustang. Horse historians and researchers…
Gunsmoke’s twenty-year run, and the actor who played Matt Dillon
Gunsmoke ran on CBS television from 1955 to 1975, longer than any other prime-time drama of its era. A look…
Western short-story collections worth reading, from Bret Harte to Annie Proulx
The short story has carried some of the best Western writing. Here are collections worth finding, from 19th-century classics to…
Tom Selleck’s Westerns, from The Sacketts to Monte Walsh
A guide to Tom Selleck's Western films and TV movies, from The Sacketts and Quigley Down Under to Crossfire Trail…