Turn to page 26.

The latest issue of True West magazine features an article I wrote about the Massacre at Bear River (a subject I have written a lot about) and Sagwitch, the Shoshoni leader who managed to hold the survivors together and maintain the very lifeblood of the band.

The United States Army slaughtered some 250 to 350 children, old folks, women, and men on January 29, 1863 on the banks of the Bear River in Cache Valley. Colonel Patrick Edward Connor, the man behind the massacre, estimated 164 Shoshoni survived. That survival was tenuous, given that the army destroyed their lodges, pilfered or ruined food stores, stole the horse herd, and left them to die in sub-zero cold.

Sagwitch, wounded in the hand and having a horse shot out from under him, managed to escape the slaughter and, later, led his people to a future much different than any of them could have imagined.

Read about it in the November 2018 issue of True West. If you’re not a subscriber, pick up a copy from a newsstand. Then turn to page 26.

A celebration among the saguaros.

Not long ago I had the privilege of attending the Tucson Festival of Books. It’s the only event I’ve seen that attracts hundreds of thousands of people who share a love of books and reading. Display tents line the University of Arizona mall several rows deep, filled with all kinds of vendors and publishers and booksellers and others, most book-related.

A large meeting room filled to hear a panel discussion featuring Bob Boze Bell, author, illustrator and Executive Editor of True West magazine, and author and retired rancher Alan Day. I filled the third seat at the table. Bell, a raucous raconteur, kept the audience laughing as we three exchanged stories of how our experiences growing up in the West contributed to and affected our writing.

Later, I conducted a workshop on opportunities in and approaches to Western writing for a small group of aspiring authors.

All in all, a worthwhile trip with lots of Arizona scenery and sightseeing stops along the way. Besides, the weather down there was a lot warmer than what we left behind and what we came home to.

If you’re able, plan a visit to next year’s Festival. A full slate of lectures, panel discussions, books signings, and other presentations by authors of every type of book imaginable, including writers who are household names. If you love books, you’ll love the Tucson Festival of Books.

Porter Rockwell pulls the trigger in True West.

The latest issue of True West magazine (May 2017) is on newsstands. Most fans of the Old West are familiar with this colorful, lively publication that chronicles all kinds of people and events from our history.

In this issue you’ll find “Utah Bloodbath,” an article I wrote about Porter Rockwell’s pursuit and shooting of Lot Huntington, and the suspicious deaths of Huntington’s partners in crime after Rockwell turned them over to the Salt Lake City police. Robbery, horse stealing, and the brutal beating of Utah’s governor all led up to the shootout and are reported in the story. As is usually the case with history, many details are sketchy and accounts differ. But the article attempts to present events as recorded in contemporary sources. 

Porter Rockwell was one of the Western frontier’s most feared and respected gunmen, but his place in history in no way reflects his fame and infamy in his day. Perhaps this article in this influential magazine will help bolster his memory.

Recommended reading in True West.

The November issue of True West magazine is now on newsstands everywhere. For this issue, Senior Editor Stuart Rosebrook asked me to recommend some “must read” books for the “Building Your Western Library” feature.

So I did.

The books aren’t the normal fare for many readers of Westerns. But every one is a remarkable read and well worth a place on any bookshelf. There’s a novel, a work of “creative nonfiction,” a collection of poetry, a nonfiction book, and a dictionary.

No, I’m not going to tell you what they are.

If you don’t subscribe to True West ( www.truewestmagazine.com ) run down to the nearest newsstand and pick up a copy. There’s lots of good reading in the magazine—as well as in the books I recommend.