True West Magazine
Possibly identified in 2012 as Alonzo F. Thompson of Company C, 84th New York Infantry Regiment, (earlier known as 14th Regiment New York State Militia). The young soldier is wearing a Union zouave uniform with bayoneted 1855 rifle musket with initials A.T. on stock.
– Courtesy Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, Library of Congress/Source: Martinez, Ramona. “Photo Mystery Solved, Then Doubted, Then Deciphered, Thanks to Readers”; http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2012/04/17/150801239/ –
The young men of a divided nation answered the call of war 160 years ago, and their youthful visages before going to battle still haunt us today.
True West Magazine
Across the West, historic hotels, guest ranches, lodges, restaurants and saloons eagerly await patrons.
On a recent trip from Arizona to Washington, I stayed overnight at national chain hotels, local Airbnb cottages and condos and a historic hotel. Everywhere I spent the night on the way to and from Seattle, the owners were welcoming and helpful, the properties were clean and up-to-date and the neighborhood restaurants and shops were eager for visitors to return. In Nevada, Oregon and Washington, every business was set and ready for visitors, and every proprietor was holding onto the deep-seated hope that the pandemic restrictions would be lifted and the business of tourism could return to their establishments and communities.
True West Magazine
Franciscan Brother Simeon Schwemberger began his passion for photography of the Four Corners region after his discovery of a surplus large-format 5×7 glass-plate camera at the St. Michaels Mission near Window Rock, Arizona, in 1901. His poignant 1908 photo of a public Jemez Pueblo ceremony in New Mexico reflects his sensitivity for the Native peoples he photographed.
– Courtesy Library of Congress –
For millions of would-be travelers to the American West, 2020 will be remembered as the year that might have been. For those who did venture out West this past year, spontaneity and flexibility were the watch-words for successful heritage travel experiences. While many museums, restaurants, saloons, historic sites, parks, lodges and hotels are still following ever-changing safety guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic, intrepid Western travelers quickly realize great photo opportunities, hikes, roadside rests and spontaneous, seize-the-moment experiences.
True West Magazine
William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s diverse Wild West cast, 97 of them American Indian performers (including Sioux leader Black Elk), paused for their portrait on the fog-shrouded deck of the SS Nebraska en route from New York to perform for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee at the American Exposition in London in May 1887. Cody’s Wild West performed over 300 shows from May to October and had a major influence on Europeans’ knowledge and passion for the cowboy, Indian and Spanish cultures of the American West.
– Merritt Van Wagner, Courtesy Library of Congress –
One hundred years ago, on June 20, 1921, boot maker Charles H. Hyer died in Olathe, Kansas. Mr. Hyer and his family had moved to the Eastern Kansas town in 1875. Hyer, who had learned shoemaking and leatherwork from his German immigrant father, taught leatherwork at the Kansas State School for the Deaf in Olathe. To make ends meet, he made boots and shoes at home. In 1876, he opened a boot s
True West Magazine
The late author-screenwriter Jeb Rosebrook, editor Stuart Rosebrook, Paul Andrew Hutton and True West’s Bob Boze Bell share a grand moment at the joint Arizona-New Mexico History Convention in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 2017, where Stuart had just moderated a panel discussion by Hutton and Bell on one of their research subjects, Mickey Free.
– Photo by Dorothy Rosebrook, Courtesy Paul Andrew Hutton –
Do you remember the first time you read Paul Andrew Hutton? He immediately captured my interest and imagination with his double-barreled literary prose and academic virtuosity in the pages of his first book,
Phil Sheridan and His Army (University of Nebraska Press, 1986; new edition, University of Oklahoma Press, 1999). Whether or not you were knowledgeable about General Sheridan before you read Hutton’s award-winning biography, this book hooked you and made you eager to read more history written and interpreted by Hutton. He was an academic historian who wrot