Wild West

11 Stories

It's One of the Last Great Robbery Tales of the Wild West

Rhema Sayers recounts a failed 1900 train heist at Medium, with surprise twists

(Newser) - The story of the last train robbery in the Old West has everything a novelist or screenwriter could conjure—gunfights, posses, cool facial hair, betrayal, redemption, plus some unexpected twists. It also offers an appropriate closing act for an era where the line between lawman and outlaw was often slim,...

'Most Iconic Treasure of Early Western History' for Sale

Pat Garrett shot Billy the Kid with revolver that is now going up for auction

(Newser) - The firearm that ended one of the most famous chapters in the history of the Wild West is expected to sell for millions of dollars at an auction in Los Angeles next month. Sheriff Pat Garrett used the single action Colt revolver to shoot Billy the Kid in Fort Sumner,...

Wild West-Obsessed Pa. Ex-Mayor Faces Trial

1.8K artifacts were seized

(Newser) - Former Harrisburg Mayor Steve Reed was a man with a bold vision: Building one of the country's finest Wild West museums in Pennsylvania. But while the Democrat spent years searching the West for artifacts and brought about 10,000 of them back, the museum never got built and he...

She Robbed a Single Stagecoach, Became Infamous

The 'Bandit Queen' was a media sensation

(Newser) - You've heard the story before—a girl is born wealthy, rebels and runs away as a teen, gets mixed up with drug dealers and pimps, and finds herself in and out of prison by 30. Only this story is more than 100 years old, and the woman, Pearl Hart,...

Oops: Real Bullets Fired in Wild West Re-Enactment

2 injured in mix-up at the OK Corral

(Newser) - Two people were hit with real bullets during a gunfight re-enactment in the Old West town of Tombstone that was supposed to involve blanks. The shooting occurred Sunday afternoon as two actors in the Tombstone Vigilantes group engaged in a standoff as they re-enacted an episode from the Arizona town...

Billy the Kid May Finally Get His Pardon

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will decide by year's end

(Newser) - One of Bill Richardson’s last acts as New Mexico governor could be pardoning Billy the Kid . He’s reviewing a petition to pardon the famed outlaw—killed in 1881 after reportedly killing 21 men—which is based on the claim that Governor Lew Walllace promised the Wild West folk...

Billy the Kid Deserves a Pardon
 Billy the Kid 
 Deserves a Pardon 
opinion
Jul 14, 2010 1:56 PM CDT

Billy the Kid Deserves a Pardon

New Mexico reneged on a deal and should make things right

(Newser) - Make no mistake: Billy the Kid was a "cattle rustler and a stone-cold killer" who single-handedly murdered four men and played a role in the deaths of scores of others, writes Mark Lee Gardner in the Los Angeles Times . But New Mexico owes him a pardon over a long-ago...

Street Theater Sparks New Showdown at OK Corral

(Newser) - The Old West town of Tombstone, Ariz.—scene of the shootout at the OK Corral—is still swarming with gunmen. Actors, to be sure, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t bitter rivalries. Since a professional troupe rolled into town and started drawing tourists from the main drag...

Grand Canyon Is No Disneyland
 Grand Canyon Is No Disneyland 
Jul 1, 2008 6:15 PM CDT

Grand Canyon Is No Disneyland

It takes 6,000 workers to keep park visitors safe

(Newser) - Every day from before dawn until around midnight, a staff of thousands unites to keep the Grand Canyon in good condition and its 4.4 million annual visitors safe. NPR travels to the iconic destination to see how it works. "I hope that you are not imagining a pony...

Why 'Cowboy' Shouldn't Be Political Insult
Why 'Cowboy' Shouldn't Be Political Insult
opinion
Jun 23, 2008 2:22 PM CDT

Why 'Cowboy' Shouldn't Be Political Insult

Label for 'reckless' President maligns real cowpokes

(Newser) - The word “cowboy” doesn’t deserve the derogatory treatment it’s received in recent years, Elmer Kelton writes in Texas Monthly. With critics labeling President Bush’s foreign policy “cowboy diplomacy,” the term that was once a sign of respect is now used to evoke a "...

32 Bison Shot to Death in Colorado
32 Bison
Shot to Death
in Colorado
Mar 21, 2008 9:12 AM CDT

32 Bison Shot to Death in Colorado

State authorities investigating possibly illegal hunt

(Newser) - Hunters shot to death more than 30 bison on a Colorado ranch, and state authorities are  investigating whether they had the right to do so, the Denver Post reports. It's legal in the state to hunt bison on private land with the owner's permission, but the scope of the carnage...

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