'Brazen Bill' Brazelton By western author Nick Brumby “I die bravely, my God! I’ll pray till I die.” – The dying words of 'Brazen Bill' Brazelton William 'Brazen Bill' Brazelton was a stagecoach robber who operated in Arizona and New Mexico during the Wild West era. According to newspaper the Prescott Enterprise, Bill Brazelton was “the most successful ‘single-handed’ highway robber of modern

Conestoga Wagons By western author Nick Brumby  “A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It’s jolted by every pebble on the road." — Henry Ward Beecher It was the vehicle which built early America. The Conestoga wagon was the most popular transport vehicle of the American frontier during the 18th Century. Big, strong, and robust, it carried

'Wildcat' Kitty Leroy By western author Nick Brumby “Kitty had five husbands, seven revolvers, a dozen Bowie knives, and always went armed to the teeth.” — A Deadwood newspaper reporting Kitty Leroy’s death She was dancing professionally by the age of ten. By fourteen she was performing in dance halls and saloons and was a crack shot with a rifle. Kitty Leroy (1850

Chuckwagons and feeding cowboys By western author Nick Brumby "A cowboy is a person who would rather throw a bull than eat beans with his knife." – Charles Dorian Cowboys are tougher than rawhide, but after a long day in the saddle even the toughest cowpoke needs a good meal. Food was one of the few comforts a cowboy had when driving cattle north.

Colt Single Action Army revolver By western author Nick Brumby “God created men—Sam Colt made them equal.” —Old West wisdom It was carried by Custer’s men at Little Big Horn, was favored by generations of outlaws and lawmen alike, is Arizona’s official firearm, and is still being produced more than 150 years after its introduction. It’s fair to say that no gun in

The Red Ghost of Arizona Territory By western author Nick Brumby "When the rancher went out to examine the dead beast, he found strips of rawhide wound and twisted all over his back, his shoulders, and even under his tail." — New York Sun, early 1890s Courtesy: True West Magazine For decades after the Civil War a legend terrorized the Arizona

Belle Starr - the Outlaw Queen By western author Nick Brumby "I am a friend to any brave and gallant outlaw." — ‘Outlaw Queen’ Belle Starr She was known as the ‘Bandit Queen’ and the ‘Petticoat Terror of the Plains’. She married three different outlaws, spent time in jail for horse rustling, was friends with legendary outlaws Cole Younger and Frank and Jesse

Chief Touch the Clouds By western author Nick Brumby "An honorable and peaceable Indian, a man of good character, a very fine man, deprecated hostilities and was a peacemaker." — Interpreter Louis Bordeaux He was 6’9”, weighed 280 pounds, and was first cousin to Native American warrior legend Crazy Horse. Yet Minneconjou Teton Lakota Chief Touch the Clouds was also a legend in his

Scalping in the Old West By western author Nick Brumby “While no pain was perceptible, the removing of [my] scalp sounded like the ominous roar and peal of distant thunder.” — Josiah Wilbarger, scalped by Comanches It was the stuff of nightmares – having your scalp torn from your skull for it to be displayed as a trophy of war. Thousands of settlers,