Free Republic

A teenage farm boy is about to get a killer education Close to a half million boys under the age of 18 were involved in both the Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War. Some historians believe as many as 100,000 Union soldiers were 15 years of age or younger. Although statistics are not available for the rebel forces, it is believed the South had a similar proportion of underage soldiers. What is shockingly clear is that the boys who were exposed to the horrors of war in the four years of unbridled bloodshed were hardened and trained to...

The tragedy at Goingsnake left 11 men dead—and a lot of questionsCherokee outlaw Ezekiel “Zeke” Proctor lived a traditional Cherokee life, which put him in direct opposition with his tribal kinsmen, the Becks.Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society Ezekiel Proctor was a Cherokee and proud of it. “Zeke” had walked the Trail of Tears from Georgia to the Indian Territory when he was a seven-year-old boy in 1838. He clung to the Cherokee language, culture and customs. He dealt with White folks, but he didn’t have much use for them. In 1872, the prosperous farmer and local lawman had a...

Legislation introduced in the Tennessee state legislature this month is raising alarms from the state's police union and gun control advocates who say it could turn the streets into the "old West." Two bills in the state assembly and state senate, HB 254 and SB 2523, would amend Tennessee law and designate "a person who has been issued an enhanced handgun carry permit" as a member of law enforcement. MORE: America has a gun violence problem. What do we do about it? "As introduced, expands the definition of 'law enforcement officer' to include a person who has been issued an...

The Old West: When men were men and women knew their place How many times have we heard men declare of the days of the old West, ‘men were men and women stayed at home and knew their place’? This is a common refrain after folks watch a movie based on the period. A peek behind the myths reveals difficult and trying lifestyle most modern men would never concede to and when a seeming minor health issue that would be easily cured today would take lives by the thousands. The ‘cool’ concept of a man that stands tall for all...

Was Chief Sitting Bull a Catholic convert? Did he convert William “Buffalo Bill” Cody? That was the scuttlebutt around Catholic circles this past week. From stories, to blogging, to Catholic radio shows, to postings from Facebook friends, I heard it multiple times. As a student of the Old West, having read numerous accounts of Sitting Bull and a resident of the once vast Dakota Territory, I thought it unlikely. But was it possible that Sitting Bull was a full member of the Catholic Church? ...

Rio and the Old West How Rio copes with murderers. How the Old West coped with them. By Julio Severo Nevertheless the title, the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has nothing to do with the American Old West. Not because there was no violence in the Wild West. There was, but not as much as one sees in Rio in the 21st century. Injustice that has been plentiful in Rio was not plentiful in the Wild West. Just like in Rio, all the outlaws in the Old West carried weapons for their crimes. But, very differently from Rio, in...

The Four Toughest Men of the Old West In compiling this list, I’ve given myself more latitude then usual—from the post- Lewis and Clark era into the early days of the 20th century. I would not want to neglect one of these men and have his shade come after me in the next life. --David Penzel =============================================================================================================== HUGH GLASS:In 1823, while a member of a trapping expedition led by Andrew Henry, Hugh Glass was mauled by a sow grizzly. His back and scalp were torn apart and one leg was broken. Because they were in Indian country, and because it...

Two guns owned by Mexican folk hero Pancho Villa up for auction Wednesday, November 7, 2007 Associated Press SAN ANTONIO – Whether or not Pancho Villa is remembered as an infamous outlaw or a revolutionary hero, everyone agrees that the folk hero of the 1910 Mexican Revolution always carried guns. Now two of those firearms, and one that belonged to frontierswoman "Calamity Jane," will be up for bidding in an auction beginning Saturday in Fredericksburg. The auction is open for public preview on Friday. "He always carried a gun to the day of his death and he didn't care what...

On This Day In History November 8, 1887 Doc Holliday dies of tuberculosis On this day, Doc Holliday--gunslinger, gambler, and occasional dentist--dies from tuberculosis. Though he was perhaps most famous for his participation in the shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, John Henry "Doc" Holliday earned his bad reputation well before that famous feud. Born in Georgia, Holliday was raised in the tradition of the southern gentleman. He earned his nickname when he graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in 1872. However, shortly after embarking on a respectable career as a dentist in Atlanta, he developed...

October 26, 1881 The Earps shoot it out at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona After years of feuding and mounting tensions, on this day in 1881, the “law and order” Earps and the “cowboy” Clanton-McLaurys engage in their world-famous shoot-out near the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, leaving three men dead and three more wounded. Both sides in the conflict were ostensibly looking for revenge for what they perceived as malicious attacks and insults, but on a larger level the conflict revolved around which side would control the fate of Tombstone and Cochise County. That hot Arizona day, the...

On This Day In History August 2, 1876 : Wild Bill Hickok is murdered "Wild Bill" Hickok, one of the greatest gunfighters of the American West, is murdered in Deadwood, South Dakota. Born in Illinois in 1837, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok first gained notoriety as a gunfighter in 1861 when he coolly shot three men who were trying to kill him. A highly sensationalized account of the gunfight appeared six years later in the popular periodical Harper's New Monthly Magazine, sparking Hickok's rise to national fame. Other articles and books followed, and though his prowess was often exaggerated, Hickok...

With Mother's Day approaching, Shaun Kranish needed a gift, so he strapped on his unloaded semiautomatic 9 mm pistol and left his Rockford home to do some shopping. During his May 2006 trip to CherryVale Mall in Cherry Valley, Kranish put the 15-round magazine into a separate pouch on the holster, where he could easily reach it if necessary. Kranish, 21, picked up some tea for his mother, ate pizza at the food court, then noticed two security guards warily following him. Taken into custody, he was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a felony.

On This Day In History July 21, 1865: Wild Bill Hickok fights first western showdown In what may be the first true western showdown, Wild Bill Hickok shoots Dave Tutt dead in the market square of Springfield, Missouri. Hollywood movies and dime novels to the contrary, the classic western showdown--also called a walkdown--happened only rarely in the American West. Rather than coolly confronting each other on a dusty street in a deadly game of quick draw, most men began shooting at each other in drunken brawls or spontaneous arguments. Ambushes and cowardly attacks were far more common than noble showdowns....

On This Day In History July 19, 1879: Doc Holliday kills for the first time Doc Holliday commits his first murder, killing a man for shooting up his New Mexico saloon. Despite his formidable reputation as a deadly gunslinger, Doc Holliday only engaged in eight shootouts during his life, and it has only been verified that he killed two men. Still, the smartly dressed ex-dentist from Atlanta had a remarkably fearless attitude toward death and danger, perhaps because he was slowly dying from tuberculosis. In 1879, Holliday settled in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he opened a saloon with a...

A nation which is able to confront an enemy is a nation which knows where she comes from. Learn the US history without politically correctness and revisionism. You have been told that the US cavalry constantly massacred innocent Native Americans in their villages, because of a "genocidal" expansion. It is a lie. The war on the Great Plaines was complex, and most of the time, the story behind the "politically correct myth" is much more illuminating. Watch this video. Learn your history, see where you come from. And fight politically correctness at home.

Dodge City's own James ‘Dog’ Kelley The unbearable truth about Paddy By Kathie Bell Assistant Curator, Boot Hill Museum, Inc. Early Dodge City was known for the buffalo and later for its cattle drives, but did you know Dodge had its very own bear? Paddy's life in Dodge City was short. He was captured as a black bear cub in Indian Territory – what is now known as Oklahoma –and brought to Dodge City in 1880. He was given to mayor and restaurateur James "Dog" Kelley. Kelley was an avid hunter who had served under General Custer. In appreciation for...

Back in the saddle again The Pony Express returns to Wyoming By Becky Orr rep6@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle When Stanley Bean led Apache into a gallop, the pair came close to making the 21st century disappear. Cars and the semi-trailers that sped past them on U.S. Highway 26 near Torrington took a back seat to the rhythmic thud when Apache's hooves sank into the damp grass alongside the road. Bean, 59, has worked in ranching for 40 years. He lives in Riverton and was one of the riders in this year's Pony Express re-ride. On a hazy Tuesday...

There's no physical evidence that the family who gave the Donner Party its name had anything to do with the cannibalism the ill-fated pioneers have been associated with for a century and a half, two scientists said Thursday. Cannibalism has been documented at the Sierra Nevada site where most of the Donner Party's 81 members were trapped during the brutal winter of 1846-47, but 21 people, including all the members of the George and Jacob Donner families, were stuck six miles away because a broken axle had delayed them. No cooked human bones were found among the thousands of fragments...

William Preston Longley went by several names during his 27 years as one of the most vicious murderers and racists of the American West. Aliases included Wild Bill, Rattling Bill, Tom Jones, Jim Paeeson, Jim Webb, Bill Black, Bill Henry, and Bill Jackson. Longley was a ruthless murderer, killing his first man at the age of sixteen. Growing up with strongly held racist views, he was adamantly opposed to the government’s Reconstruction policy, a view that would lead to enough trouble that he would eventually be hanged. William Longley was born at Mill Creek, Texas to Campbell and Sarah Longley...

Corbis SygmaFew buildings in this 1881 photograph of Tombstone are still standing. TOMBSTONE, Ariz., Aug. 3 - George Spangenberg sold weapons to both Wyatt Earp and the gang he faced at the O.K. Corral. Today visitors can see the G. F. Spangenberg gun shop - "Est. 1880," according to its sign - standing on Fourth Street. Well, actually, the shop was established only 16 years ago to cater to tourists and has no connection to the gunsmith whose name it borrowed. "We don't say it's the same shop," said Jim Newbauer, a manager of the store, which is across...