This fencing material which was made out of twisted wire with spaced coiled barbs, turned the open plains of the West into enclosed pastures and forever changed the society and economy of the region. It was the invention of Illinois farmer Joseph Farwell Glidden who received his patent in November 24, 1874. Ranchers could now isolate their cattle and control breeding

 BIG FIFTY

This was a .50 caliber Sharps rifle used by professionals for buffalo hunting. It was 16 pounds unloaded, with three-quarter inch, 120-grain black powder cartridges loaded for differing ranges. 

DANIEL BOONE

Frontiersman Daniel Boone was born in 1734 in Pennsylvania. His family to North Carolina in 1750. He went to Kentucky in 1767 abd again in 1769. He was hired to blaze a new trail from Cumberland Gap, Virginia to Kentucky River which he did. He brought his wife and daughter with him and founded Boonesborough. In 1778 he was captured by the Shawnee Indians but escaped five months later.

He raced back to Boonesborough to warn of an imminent attack by a joint force of Brtish soldiers and Shawnees. His preservation of the fort (Boonesborough) proved vital to continued westward migration and settlement. During the Revolutionary War, Boone served as a lieutenant colonel of the Fayette County militia; he was also a legislator, county lieutenant and deputy surveyor. He was captured by the British in 1781 but later released. He died in 1820.

BOOT YARD OR BONE YARD

This was a cemetery, especially for those who died with their boots on; also: bone yard, bone orchard, grave patch.

 JAMES BOWIE 

James Bowie was a Kentucky born frontiersman, settler and adventurer-turned-soldier.  He  fought for Texas in the Texas Revolution of 1835-36 and died in defense of the Alamo, but at the time of the siege, he lay sick from typhoid pneumonia. He was killed when Mexican troops overran the mission. A special knife with an 18-inch blade and curved tip was named for him - the Jim Bowie knife. 

 BUFFALO SOLDIERS

This was the name given to the black soldiers of the U.S. army who fought Indians and policed the frontier in the years following the Civil War. The term was derived from the men's hair which the Indians thought resembled the fur of the buffalo.

Not all of the recruits were former slaves; most were free blacks of Northern parentage and many had served with distinction during the Civil War.

SAMUEL COLT

Colt was an inventor and manufacturer from Connecticut who patented his first revolver type handgun at his plant, Patent Arms Company in Patterson, New Jersey. His first pistol, marketed from 1836-42 was poorly made. Using the improvements offered by Captain Samuel H. Walker of the Texas Rangers, Colt produced his 1847 model, "The Walker Colt" which proved a great success. He received a government contract for 1,100 of the revolver for use in the Mexican War and thus was able once again to open a weapons plant, this time in Hartford, Connecticut. Gun sales soared , especially during the Civil War.

The next improvement was the move in 1873 from percussion cap-fired ammunition (loose powder and ball in a paper or linen cartridge) to newly invented metal cartridge containing its own primer and powder and bullet at the end of a copper or brass tube. The first pistol to fire this new ammo was called the "Peacemaker" and was often referred to as "the gun that won the West". Other inventions credited to Colt were a submarine battery used in harbor defense and a submarine telegraph cable.

1873 COLT PEACEMAKER

This .45-caliber has long been considered "the gun that won the West."   Noted for its power and reliability, it was the most popular full sized revolver of the late 1800s.  Turned out by the Colt Fire Arms Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut, it sold for $17 by mail order.  A classic single action revolver, it remains in production today. 

The model 1873 revolver, commonly known as the Colt Single Action, Peacemaker, or Frontier, was actually developed in 1872, based on the patents granted to Charles B. Richards and W. Mason. In 1873, the US Army adopted this revolver along with its black powder centerfire cartridge of .45 caliber, and issued it to troops in 2 models, the Cavalry model with a 71⁄2 inch barrel, and the artillery model with a 51⁄2 barrel. Both were chambered in .45 Colt (also known as .45Long Colt or .45LC).

Colt also initially produced the same gun in .44-40 WCF and .32-20WCF for the civilian market.  The company later added more modern chamberings similar to the .38 S&W Special (.38Spl), the .44 S&W Special (.44Spl), .357 Magnum, .22LR.  Civilian guns also were available in various barrel lengths, varying from 43⁄4 inches and up to 12 inches.

During the period from 1873 and until 1893, the US Army bought about 37,000 Colts of both models. Commercial production was ceased in 1941, with the outbreak of the World War II, with about 370 000 guns having been made in all.   Then, in 1956, Colt brought the Single Action back into production due to the popular demand by the TV and film industry for "Wild West" era guns.  

The "First Generation" Single Action Colts were the ones made from 1873 until 1941 (serial numbers below 357860 and with no letters).  Colts made from 1956 until another cease in production in 1974 are called  "Second Generation" (serial numbers in the range from 0001SA to 73319SA).   Yet a “Third Generation”  Single Action Army models (.45 Colt, .44 Special, .44-40 and .357 Magnum) were offered in 1976 after the company developed newer equipment and production techniques.   Once again, in 1981, Colt dropped production, and for some time these legendary revolvers were available only as an expensive collectibles.  At the present time, Colt again offers these guns as regular products, in the .45LC, .357Mag and .44-40, and in all standard barrel lengths.

Comanche - The Horse That Survived the Battle of Little Bighorn

Comanche was known as the sole survivor of General George Custer's command at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876.

The mustang was born about 1862, captured in a wild horse roundup, gelded and sold to the U.S. Army Cavalry on April 3, 1868, for $90. He was a bay, just over 900 pounds, stood 15 hands high with a small white star on his forehead and became the favorite mount for Captain Myles Keogh of the 7th Cavalry. Comanche participated in frequent actions of the Regiment and sustained some 12 wounds as a result of these skirmishes.

Two days after the Custer defeat, a burial party investigating the site found the severely wounded horse and transported him by steamer to Fort Lincoln, 950 miles away, where he spent the next year recuperating. Comanche remained with the 7th Cavalry and was never again ridden under orders excusing him from all duties. Most of the time he roamed the Post freely, visiting the flower gardens often. Only at formal regimental functions was he led, draped in black, stirrups and boots reversed, at the head of the Regiment.

When the Cavalry was ordered to Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1888, the elderly horse, still in moderate good health, accompanied them and continued to receive full honors as a symbol of the Little Bighorn tragedy.  Finally, on November 7, 1891, about 29 years old, Comanche died of colic.

The officers of the 7th Cavalry, wanting to preserve the horse, asked Lewis Lindsay Dyche of the University of Kansas to mount the remains: skin and major bones. Comanche is currently on display in a humidity controlled glass case at the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, Dyche Hall, Lawrence, Kansas.

DEAD MAN'S HAND

A poker hand consisting of a pair of aces and a pair of eights. Traditionally, Wild Bill Hickok was holding this hand when he was shot dead by Jack McCall. Some sources dispute the hand, saying that it really contained two jacks, not aces and two eights.

THE DRAW

Drawing your gun "border style" consisted of pulling your pistol, worn backward in the holster, by putting your arm across the front of your body. This fancy stuff was popular down around the Mexican border.

GUNFIGHT AT O.K. CORRAL

The legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral occurred at about 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, October 26, 1881, in a vacant lot (lot 2, in block 17) behind a corral, in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.   At that time, a corral was like a livery stable.  Some of the fight also took place on Fremont Street in front of the vacant lot.  About thirty shots were fired within thirty seconds.  During the battle, the three Earp Brothers: Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil, along with their friend, Doc Holliday fought against the McLaury Brothers: Frank and Tom, and their cowboy friend, Billy Clanton. 

The conflicts leading to the gunfight were complex.   Both sides were in opposition due to a variety of concerns: politics, business, as well as other ideological factors.  The Earps were viewed by their enemies as badge-toting bullies who ruthlessly enforced the business interests of the town, while the McLaurys, the Clantons and their cowboy friends were viewed by their enemies as cattle rustlers, thieves, and murderers. 

The instigating factor leading to the shootout was the arrest by Virgil Earp and later release of Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury for carrying firearms within the city limits.   After they were disarmed and released, the two men joined Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury, who had just arrived in town. The men gathered at the OK Corral.

Virgil Earp now decided to disarm Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury and recruited Wyatt, Morgan and Doc Holliday to help him in this dangerous task.  Sheriff John Behan was in town and when he heard what was happening he raced to Fremont Street and urged Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury to hand over their guns to him.  They replied: "Not unless you first disarm the Earps".

Behan now headed towards the advancing group of men. He pleaded for Virgil Earp not to get involved in a shoot-out but he was brushed aside as the four men carried on walking towards the OK Corral.  When they reached the four men, Virgil Earp said: "I want your guns". Billy Clanton responded by firing at Wyatt Earp. He missed and Morgan Earp successfully fired two bullets at Billy Clanton. Meanwhile Wyatt Earp fired at Frank McLaury. The bullet hit him in the stomach and he fell to the ground.   Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury were both unarmed and tried to run away. Clanton was successful but Doc Holliday shot McLaury in the back. Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury, although seriously wounded, continued to fire their guns and in the next couple of seconds Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday were all wounded. Wyatt Earp was unscathed and he managed to finish off Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury.

Sheriff John Behan arrested Virgil Earp, Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday for the murder of Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury and Frank McLaury. However, after a 30 day trial Judge Wells Spicer, who was related to the Earps, decided that the defendants had been justified in their actions.

In the 1950s, this 30-second gunfight came to be known as the “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” after a movie title.  It has been the subject of many books and movies ever since. 

GUNFIGHTER

Other names for gunfighter included gunslinger, gunman, shootist, pistoleer.  Some believe the term "gunslinger" to be a more modern term.  We do know that Bat Masterson used the term "gunfighter" in the newspaper articles he wrote about the lawmen and outlaws he had known. 

The names were given to men in the American Old West who had gained a reputation as being dangerous with a gun.  Often "gunfighter" was applied to men who would hire out for contract killings.   But, a gunfighter could either be an outlaw or a lawman depending on the chore at hand.  Outlaws most often engaged in murder or robbery, while a sheriff or lone avenger faced or tracked down the outlaw and brought him to justice, either legally or by execution. 

 PONY EXPRESS

The Pony Express, which brought faster mail service from the East to California, was the brainchild of William Hepburn Russell who was a partner in the West's largest wagon-freight operation called Russell, Majors and Waddell. When the Butterfield Overland Mail Operation (St. Louis to San Francisco, a 2,800 mile route that dipped south to El Paso) was suspended in 1861, Russell convinced his partners to develop a new and simpler route from a staging area in St. Joseph, Missouri to San Francisco, using express riders to cover the ground in half the time than the Butterfield route.

There was a $600,000 government contract at stake, so the partners took the bait and issued Russell the credit to establish his Pony Express. Then, out came the ads for young, skinny fearless riders, "Orphans preferred". Russell hired 80 such men from the hundreds of responses. The riders received a Bible, a pair of Colt revolver and $125 a month to ride at high speed through some of the roughest and most dangerous terrain known to man. One hundred ninety stations in 5 divisions were established, 40 to 100 miles apart depending on the terrain, complete with bunk beds and feeding facilities; relay stations were established every 10 to 20 miles with small shelters, horses and stables.

On April 3, 1860, the Pony Express was formally begun - a 2,000 mile trek from St. Joseph to San Francisco. The sender had to pay $5 per half-ounce plus the regular 10-cents in U.S. postage. The Pony Express lasted 19 months and became a very expensive operation for Russell and his partners. When the transcontinental telegraph reached California, the Pony Express was discontinued. But it had successfully carried 34,743 pieces of mail. Its most celebrated rider was William F. Cody.

RODEO

Rodeo is supposed to come from a Spanish word "rodear" which means "to encircle" and of course the Rodeo grew out of normal cattle ranch activities. Even before there were Rodeos for spectators, cowboys got together to test each other in contests related to their ranch and cattle work. Probably the first Rodeo (which wasn't called that as yet) was supposed to be held in Pecos Texas probably to celebrate the 4th of July. The first exhibition to offer "prize money" was held in Prescott, in the Arizona Territory on the 4th of July, 1888.

The cowboy riding and roping events of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show and other traveling shows became so popular that many western towns created annual Cowboy Tournaments (Round-ups and Frontier Days, etc) such as the Calgary Stampede started in 1912, and as Cheyenne Wyoming has done since 1897. The actual term "Rodeo" was first given to cowboy exhibitions in 1916 and the first indoor Rodeo was held at the Stockyards Coliseum in 1917 at Fort Worth, Texas.

Early Rodeos had Chuckwagon races, and Markmanship contests much like the format of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows, but in 1929 the Rodeo Association of America was formed in Salinas, California, and most of the events became standard as we know them today. Some of the great names in Rodeo are Enos "Yakima" Canutt, (later to become a Hollywood stunt man) Will Rogers of Oklahoma, bronco rider Casey Tibbs of South Dakota (who was the model for the statue outside of the Rodeo Hall of Fame) and bull rider Jim Shoulders of Henryetta, Oklahoma.

JOHN B. STETSON

This famous designer of the "Trademark" western hat that bears his name, was born in Orange New Jersey on May 5, 1830. His "Stetson Hat" has defined the look of the cowboy for many years. Stetson came from a family of Hatters (people in the hat business) and went out west for the first time for health reasons.

However, in 1865 he opened a one-man hat factory in Philadelphia, but sales were poor so rather than just copy other hat styles, he started to design his own. He was forced to make another trip out west for health reasons, and wound up in Colorado. This led him to design a western hat, after he saw the distinctive hats worn out west. He then returned to Philadelphia and his plant began to manufacture "Cowboy Hats" the business grew and by 1906 was producing two million hats a year.

He was a philanthropist who gave a lot of money to Baptist Churches and causes. He died in DeLand, Florida on February 18, 1906, and by that time had taken such an interest in the DeLand Academy, in the form of buildings and money, that they changed the name of the institution to the John B. Stetson University.

Levi Strauss (1829-1902)

Levi Strauss was one of the best-known beneficiaries of California's gold rush economic boom. He was born in Bavaria and came to San Francisco in 1850, one of the thousands hoping to stike it rich.

He was trained as a tailor and planned to manufacture tents and wagon covers for the Forty-niners, but found no market for these items. So instead, he used the stout canvas he had brought with him to make very durable pants which miners found perfect for their line of work. He quickly began selling these "wonderful pants of Levi's" as fast as he could make them.

Strauss opened a factory at 98 Battery Street in San Francisco and began adding copper rivets at the stress points in his pants. He then switched from canvas to a heavy blue denim material called “genes” in France, which became "jeans" in America. The company Levi Strauss founded remains one of America's leading apparel manufacturers, and even today, the garment he created, still known as "levis", represents the lifestyle and spirit of the American West: egalitarian, utilitarian and independent.

Following his success in the clothing business, he branched out to serve as a director of an insurance company, a utility company, several banks, and in a variety of charitable organizations. He died in San Francisco in 1902.

TEXAS RANGERS

These were Indian fighting militiamen who were established in a Texas area that was freed of Mexican rule. After Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana overthrew the Constitution of 1824, the Rangers organized themselves into a broader band whose intent was to seek restoration of the Constitution. Thus, "The Texas Rangers" was formally organized into a force of three 56-men companies to be deployed on the Indian frontier to protect the Texas citizenry against Indians and Mexican raiders.

Some of the most prominent rangers included: Ben McCulloch, the Tennessee frontiersman and friend of Davy Crockett's, William A.A. "Big Foot" Wallace, John Coffee "Jack" Hays. It was Hays who helped the Rangers earn their reputation for brutality during the war, men with "uncouth costumes, bearded faces, lean and brawny forms, fierce wild eyes and swaggering manners...fit representatives of the outlaws which make up the population of the Lone Star State", according to Samuel Chamberlain.

After the Mexican War, the Rangers returned to patrol the new state of Texas, trying to end Comanche Indian raids. Captain John S. "Rip" Ford was the famous frontiersman who is credited with killing many Comanches. IN the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, the Rangers continued their pursuit of Indian raiders, outlaws, and cattle rustlers. They tracked the bandit John Wesley Hardin all to the way to Pensacola, Florida . The Texas Rangers were reorganized in 1935 as a branch of the Texas Department of Public Safety and remain active today as the oldest law enforcement agency in America.

Tombstone, Arizona
"The Town too Tough to Die"