Wild West

We share with you, our reader, a love of both history and the American West that makes our work a labor of love. Still, it is encouraging when peers recognize our efforts—and that brings me to our big news. Wild West contributor Matthew Kerns has earned two of the top writing awards in the Western history niche for his April 2022 cover story “‘Texas Jack’ Takes an Encore,” which relates the life story of pioneering cowboy celebrity John Baker “Texas Jack” Omohundro (see P. 11 for details). Kerns won both the 2023 Western Heritage Award for best magazine article from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and the 2023 Spur Award in the same category from Western Writers of America. The rare double win marks this magazine’s seventh lifetime Wrangler…

VISIT HISTORYNET.COM TRENDING NOW Was ‘Bleeding Kansas’ Really That Violent? The enduring image of this notorious pre–Civil War struggle is that it was unusually bloody. But the casualty numbers suggest otherwise. By Jerry D. Morelock historynet.com/bleeding-kansas-myth PLUS! Today in History What happened today, yesterday or on any day you care to search. Daily Quiz Test your historical acumen every day! What If? Consider the fallout of historical events had they gone the ‘other’ way. Weapons & Gear The gadgetry of war—new and old, effective and not so effective. HISTORYNET Now! Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter, delivered twice weekly, at historynet.com/newsletters…

[Re. “The Trial of Billy the Kid, by David G. Thomas, Autumn 2022:] The image on P. 51 of the Billy the Kid Gift Shop [the former Doña Ana County Courthouse] in Mesilla, N.M., centers on the front entrance, featuring a painting of saloon doors with people looking out as you look in. I did that painting when I was 19 and living in Tucson with other artists at the time. The owner, whose name I can’t recall, bought the wood to my studio at Las Canastas, on Prince Street, and I painted it there. There were two wooden panels, and the batwing doors were overlaid after he purchased the panels and returned to Las Cruces. He was clear about wanting the people to be looking out, as though over…

1 Wyatt Earp The “Lion of Tombstone” was over the hill, pudgy and graying when he headed for the Klondike in 1897, initially accepting a temporary stint as a lawman in Wrangell, Alaska (see related story, P. 20). He and a pregnant Sadie, his common-law wife, turned back at Juneau. A year later they again tried for the Klondike, setting out on the “rich man’s route” up the Yukon River from St. Michael, Alaska, before becoming iced in that winter with boxing promoter Tex Rickard and novelist Rex Beach. Finally giving up on the Klondike, the Earps joined the Nome Gold Rush, Wyatt and a partner opening the two-story Dexter Saloon. 2 Jack London If London hadn’t ventured north, he would have been forever linked to maritime literature for his 1904…

Michael Dante, 91, appeared in nearly 200 big- and smallscreen productions. Western film buffs would recall him best from such movies as Westbound (1959), with Randolph Scott; Apache Rifles (1964) and Arizona Raiders (1965), both with Audie Murphy; and as the title Blackfoot chief in Winterhawk (1975). Born Ralph Vitti (Dante picked his professional name after signing with Warner Bros.) in Stamford, Conn., in 1931, he started acting in the fourth grade and majored in drama at the University of Miami. Before moving to Hollywood, he played professional baseball in the Boston Braves and Washington Senators organizations. Nursing a shoulder injury, he took a screen test arranged by big band legend Tommy Dorsey and left pro ball. From 1994–2008 he hosted the radio series The Michael Dante Classic Celebrity Talk…

That was among several monikers attributed to dancer and vaudeville star Kathleen Eloise Rockwell (1880–1957), who, headlining as “Klondike Kate,” trod the rough boards of theater stages in post–gold rush Yukon Territory, Canada. Taken during her 1899–1902 heyday, this portrait of innocence proves only that appearances can be deceiving. Born in Kansas and raised in Washington, Kate was a flirt from an early age, enjoyed singing and dancing for older men, and was eventually expelled from boarding school. After failing to break into show business in New York City, she returned to Washington before venturing north in 1899. Kate reportedly sneaked into the Yukon, so the story goes, dressed like a boy. But it wasn’t boyish looks that got her notice as a member of the Savoy Theatrical Company in…