Investigating History
The Navajo War of 1913
- Published May 13, 2013
- Written by Mark Boardman
After the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, the so-called end of the Indian Wars, cultural clashes between whites and American Indians still took place.
The Fighting Parson’s Fallout
- Published April 15, 2013
- Written by Mark Boardman
For many American Indians, events of the past—even the distant past—are as real and present as something that occurred yesterday.
The Sand Creek Massacre is one of those. For one church denomination, that long-ago tragedy still resonates today.
Lord of Lightning
- Published June 12, 2012
- Written by Mark Boardman
Strange things seem to happen in the Colorado mountains.
Alferd Packer “et” some of his traveling buddies there in the early 1870s, and it’s where socialite “Baby Doe” Tabor froze to death in a broken down cabin near a played-out mine.
Soapy Smith’s Legacy
- Published March 18, 2013
- Written by Mark Boardman
In September 1897, Jefferson Randolph Smith arrived in Skagway, Alaska, to make his fortune. Most people headed north to strike it rich in the gold fields. Smith had other ideas.
Sizing Up
- Published April 30, 2012
- Written by Mark Boardman
There are a lot of tall tales about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. This is not one of them.
The Elusive Outlaw
- Published February 11, 2013
- Written by Mark Boardman
I first read about Tap Duncan when I was eight years old.
My parents gave me a book about Old West outlaws, lawmen and gunfighters (which I loved then and still do), and in a section about the Wild Bunch was the name Tap Duncan. He’d been mistaken for Kid Curry (or vice versa), which suggested Tap had run with a tough crowd.
Sauerkraut Scout
- Published April 16, 2012
- Written by Mark Boardman
Karl May was a man of many parts, to say the least. Part Zane Grey, part P.T. Barnum, part Soapy Smith, part Walter Mitty, part Nietzsche, part Billy Graham and just maybe part madman.
Men Behaving Badly
- Published January 08, 2013
- Written by Mark Boardman
A lot of folks out there are investigating history—and that’s a good thing, or else this column would not exist and yours truly might be out of a job.
But few of them happen to chance upon undiscovered materials. Even rarer is the case of two people independently finding the same historical fact.
One recent example of this involves the 1907 Arizona Rangers General Orders written by Capt. Harry Wheeler.
Unsinkable Margaret Brown
- Published March 13, 2012
- Written by Mark Boardman
On April 15, 1912, the brand new passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg.
Burns’s Biographer
- Published December 10, 2012
- Written by Mark Boardman
I knew better than to play cards with historian Mark Dworkin. He had the ultimate poker face.
During a trip to Georgia, several years ago, we had a chance to visit Susan McKey Thomas, Doc Holliday’s cousin. Her father Thomas was Doc’s uncle, but he and Doc were about the same age, so they were close friends as kids. Mark and I were excited to hear some family stories.
Butch Cassidy Wannabe
- Published January 10, 2012
- Written by Mark Boardman
Butch Cassidy is dead. William T. Phillips is dead.
Gold Rush Genealogy
- Published November 05, 2012
- Written by Mark Boardman
More people are getting into investigating history.
Their family history, that is. Not necessarily this column. Drat.
Butch & Sundance—and Rolla
- Published November 08, 2011
- Written by Mark Boardman
The old Bob Seger song claimed that Rock ‘n’ Roll never forgets.
The Skeleton Dance
- Published October 02, 2012
- Written by Mark Boardman
We are rough men and used to rough ways,” said Bob Younger, after he was captured for his role in the foiled bank raid in Northfield, Minnesota.
Nobody had it rougher than Clell Miller. That’s not just because the James-Younger Gang member died during that Northfield robbery. The last 136 years haven’t been too kind to his skeleton either.
A Grave Matter
- Published October 04, 2011
- Written by Mark Boardman
The Dalton Gang’s gravesite is not exactly front and center, which is strange when you consider it’s one of the big tourist attractions in Coffeyville, Kansas.
The Great Artist Duel
- Published September 02, 2012
- Written by Mark Boardman
One of the best Wild West shoot-outs involved two Eastern artists. Instead of facing each other in the street, Charles Schreyvogel and Frederic Remington had it out in the newspapers.
Survivors of an Old West Shoot-Out
- Published August 28, 2011
- Written by Mark Boardman
The Westerns often had it wrong.
Hardin Goes to Blazes
- Published August 06, 2012
- Written by Mark Boardman
In the late summer of 1895, El Paso, Texas, was John Wesley Hardin’s town.
A few months earlier, the attorney had been brought in to help his infamous in-law Jim Miller fight an assault with intent to kill charge.
“Most Interesting Spot”
- Published July 28, 2011
- Written by Mark Boardman
The sign above the building front is optimistic, to say the least: Most Interesting Spot. Where Real Indians Trade.
A Bonanza Paradise
- Published July 10, 2012
- Written by Mark Boardman
“Fortune smiled the day we filed the Ponderosa claim” was one of the coolest introductions to a TV show ever.
The Last Train to Boothill
- Published June 27, 2011
- Written by Mark Boardman
Just after midnight on March 13, 1912, on a lonely stretch of tracks in southwest Texas, a train sat silently in the darkness.
