The American West produced many exciting heroes and legends. Names like Jesse James & Cole Younger. The Dalton Gang, Kit Carson and Calamity Jane bring up images of train robberies, scouting, trapping, and gun-fighting duels. .....Women, like Annie Oakley, Belle Star, Willa Cather, Cattle Kate, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Carry Nation, made a large mark on the Old West as everything from shady characters to leaders (paving the way for women's rights).
Landmarks, like Tombstone and The Alamo, are tributes to the people like Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Daniel Boone and Sam Houston who made those sites famous. And, then there was Samuel Colt who made the American West into what we know it today, just by developing a gun! These stories are available all over the net, but if you click these pictures, you can go directly to a website that will give you the history and biography of some of your favorite old west characters.
 The Texas Rangers web site, click above photo. |
Click above picture to go to an Alamo site.
Click above picture to go to a Wells Fargo site that has great actual stories of the Wells Fargo Stagecoach from historical archives .
Tombstone Arizona 1882
(L) - Dodge City Kansas, 1878 - The Earps and Doc made folks want to "get out of Dodge" . See Boothill Cemetary list below. These are those unfortunate individuals who "died with their boots on".
Frank & Tom Lowery - gunshot victims of the shootout at the OK Corral, Billy Clanton and old man Clanton - gunshot victims of the shootout at the OK Corral, Tom Waters, prospector and gunshot victim - Joseph Ziegler, miner and gunshot victim, -Dan Dowd - hanged, Dan Kelly - hanged, John Heath - hanged, Red Sample - hanged, Tex Howard - hanged, William Delaney - hanged, Florintino Cruz, outlaw and supposedly killed Morgan Earp - killed by Wyatt and/or others.
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horse team - hauling ore out of Tombstone, AZ mine
Apache Kid, son of Apache Chief
Toga-de-Chuz, dangerous. Indian Scout that was angered by the way
the Apaches were treated by the Military.
Buffalo Bill Cody-
1845 - 1917 has his own web page. 
Museum!
Click museum picture to go to that website.
Frontiersman and Showman. Wild Bill's Wild West Show included: Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull, and Kit Carson. Click Bill Cody's picture to go to his homepage.
John "Doc" Holliday 1857-1887, Gambler, Dentist and Gunslinger. Assisted The Wyatt boys at the OK Corral in Tombstone.
Click Wyatt's picture to go to his
webpage.
Bat Masterson, lawman- friend of Wyatt Earp.
Wyatt Earp ...............................................Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson
Josephine Marcus Earp - Wyatt's wife.
Morgan Earp...
Virgil Earp ..
Wyatt Earp - These three lawmen were in the shootout
at the OK Corral. Their main enemy, Ike Clanton and his Gang.
Jesse James, rode with brother Frank and
Bobby Younger, train robber & outlaw. I saw the boyhood home
of the James family in Missouri. It was well kept home in a
lovely green rolling hills setting. Click Jesse's picture to go
to his webpage.
Robert LeRoy Parker - alias - Butch
Cassidy, rode with the Sundance Kid & Gang, Desperados. Click
photo to go to website. There is much dispute as to when Cassidy
and Sundance actually died, and where. Hundreds of books have
been written about the lives and times of Butch and Sundance.
Key members of Sundance's Wild Bunch
Seated, left to right: Harry Longbaugh, "The Sundance
Kid" (c.1862--1911 ); Ben Kirkpatrick, "The Tall
Texan" (?--1912); Robert Leroy Parker, "Butch
Cassidy" (1866--1911 or 1937). Standing, left to right:
William Todd (Bill) Carver (?--1901); Harvey Logan, "Kid
Curry" (c.1865--1903).
Black Bart. - Outlaw Stagecoach Robber. Famous for
robbing Wells Fargo Stages. Very successful but eventually served
5 years in prison and released in 1888. Rumor has it that Wells
Fargo paid him off to get him to leave their Stage's alone.
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Bob Younger., part of the James-Younger
Outlaw Gang.. died in prison in 1899. His brother James Younger
commited suicide but the other brother, Cole Younger received a
full pardon and lived a long happy life.
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Billy the Kid
(James Bonner).1859-1881. Billy was an outlaw, but now he has his
own webpage. Click picture of Billy to go to his webpage
Ike Clanton of the "Clanton
Gang". Fought against Earp in "OK Corral" battle.
Click Ike's picture to go to the Clanton Gang's webpage.
Wild Bill Hickok - 1837-1876 (James Butler Hickok) - Born in Troy Grove, Illinois - Lawman, gunfighter and gambler. Killed at age 39 in a card game. Click picture to go to webpage & history.
Custer's gun - Remington
Libby Custer1842-1933 Click her
photo to go to read all about Libby.
Battleground of the Battle of Little Bighorn taken
in 1874 and again in 2000. InyanKaraMountain.
Sitting Bull - Sioux Chief - Successful in defeating
Custer's Troops in The Battle of Little Big Horn.
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General George A. Custer - best known for losing the Battle of Little Big Horn to the Sioux and other indians in 1876. Plains Indian artifacts in the Custer Museum. 1870 War Hat and 1870 Knife Sheath - Battle of Little Bighorn.General Custer is best known for a supreme error of judgment, facing some 3,000 plus sioux warriors with the 7th Calvary, resulting in a massacre. He was a young general and obviously misjudged his battle plan.
Judge Roy J. Bean - best known as
"The only law west of the Pecos".
Judge bean held court on the front porch of the Jersey Lily Saloon - named for his idol, Lillie Langtree, a famous British entertainer. The first picture is the actual historic saloon, the second picture is in the museum, a reproduction. Judge Bean maintained a correspondence with Lily, but probably never actually met her. Judge Bean was also known as the "hanging judge", because of the number of men he sentenced to hanging. His motto, "hang 'em first, try 'em later". Supposedly there was a "hanging tree" near the court. Ahh, frontier justice!
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Yellow Boy
So what about today's Cowboy? He still rides the range, herds cattle, searches for cattle, brands cattle, rounds 'em up, takes care of his horse and tack, hones his roping and riding skills and enters rodeos. He writes poetry and listens to stories of cowboy life. He is as active as a cowboy has ever been.. Ranches today are large and sometimes the cowboy is out on the range working far from his home and his bunk. He sleeps under the stars and shares his experiences with his fellow riders. A few pictures of today's Cowboy!
Rounding them up!
Camping in teepees when out on the range.
Horses at the ropes!
Looking for strays!
Cheyenne,Wyoming - Rodeo - Grand Entry!
Saddle Bronc..Check out: http://www.cowboyshowcase.com - for many more of these great cowboy pictures.
Putting Bulls in Corral-- working Cowboys!
Dealing with Longhorns!
Poetry
Click above logos to go to great Cowboy Poetry Sites:
Every year there is a Cowboy Poetry Gathering. See some of the Posters are collector items in and of themselves. Click logos to go to cowboy poetry sites or click some of these links.
http://www.lost-dutchman-mine.
A Cowboy's life is a special one, and often a lonely one. He travels among wide vistas and mountainous valleys. At the end of the day he reflects on his life, his wins and losses, his love and romance and of stories told to him by others through the years. Sometimes he reads and writes poetry and sometimes he just tells his own stories. Cowboy poetry is like none other, it touches the soul and takes the listeners to that special place that Cowboys inherit. The wind, the dust, the loneliness of a long cattle drive, the women who wait, and the prize at the end of the Trail. If you have never listened to Cowboy Poetry, you are in for a treat.(Posters below) are of annual cowboy poetry gatherings. These posters are collector items themselves.
Baxter Black - Great Poet and Story
Teller!
Baxter is also a syndicated writer so now ordinary citizens can sample his humor and charm. Luckily, we are treatd to his columns.
Click Logo to
go to Baxter Black's Website. You will enjoy reading his poetry.
Ike Clanton - Wonderful Cowboy Poet. Click Logo to go to his Website.
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The Old West had it's famous ladies too. Annie Oakley was a fabulous shot. She toured with Wild Bill Cody's Wild West Show. Annie was a real lady, always dressed modestly and would not associate with performers who wore revealing clothing. Had a dog named Dave and he was part of the act. She would shoot an apple off the top of Dave's head. Annie could split a playing card sideways at 30 paces and put a hole in a coin at 30 paces. I think she must have had exceptional eyesight. Also, Annie encouraged women to compete with men. She started supporting her family by hunting and not only put food on the table, but saved enough to pay off her mother's house at the age of 15. She was quoted as saying "it felt so good to pay that off". Annie was far and away ahead of her time as far as women's achievements go.
.Click Picture!!!!..Annie
Oakley.another pic of Annie
Rode with Buffalo Bills Wild West Show. Once shot a
cigarett out of Kaiser Wilhelm's mouth. - see above drawing!
Annie was happily married and lived a long and good life.
Belle Starr - good friends to Cole
Younger and the James Gang.
Cattle Kate...she and her husband were
hanged for stealing cattle, but most historians think that they
were unjustly accused by ranchers who wanted their land and when
they refused to sell, they were killed. o, the LAST bandit to rob
a Stage. Pearl actually came to Deming, NM (my town) after
robbing that stagecoach. The press made much ado about her being
a woman and robbing the stagecoach for money to return home to
see her gravely ill mother. She was sent to a territorial prison
in Yuma, AZ, was there for 3 years of her 5 year sentence because
of all the trouble the press gave the authorities by wanting to
interview her, etc. and it is reported that she was pregnant by
one of the prison guards. History is unclear about what happened
to Pearl after that.
Calamity Jane - good shot, Rode with Buffalo Bill
Cody in his Wildwest show, became an indian scout, ,joined the
army and rode with Custer, decided to dress in men's uniform,
claimed to have had a child by wild bill Hickok and they are
buried next to each other. Calamity had an adventurous life, did
just about everything men did and then
some!-http://blackhills-info.com/calamity_jane/CALAMITY.htm -
great link to Calamity's story.
How about...some pictures of current New Mexico Cowboys & Cowgirls?????
