Old West Facts and Trivia

Old West Facts & Trivia

Henry Starr

The last Old West outlaw of renown to die “on the job” was Henry Starr, who began his career as a bandit in 1893 and led a gang of mounted outlaws for more than twenty-five years. Starr’s career finally ended on February 18, 1921, when he was shot to death trying to rob a bank in Harrison, Arkansas.

During these old west times a gunfighter was also known as a “leather slapper,” a “gun fanner,” “gun trapper," “bad medicine,” “curly wolf,” and a “shootist.”

The telephone was invented in 1876. The first community to have a telephone after the White House telephone was installed was Deadwood, South Dakota.

According to eye witnesses, Wild Bill Hickok could hit a dime tossed into the air nine out of ten times; he could knock an apple from a tree with one shot and then hit the apple again with another bullet before it hit the ground, all at 25 paces.

Cowboys driving cattle to the market could expect to make between $25 and $40 per month. A Trail Boss might make as much as $125 per month.

In addition to Christianity and horses, the Spanish conquistadors brought something else to the American Indians. The number of Native Americans living in New Spain decreased from around 11 million in 1520 to about 6.5 million by the 1550's. thanks to measles, cholera, and other diseases imported from Europe.

Doc Holliday claimed he almost lost his life a total of nine times. Four attempts were made to hang him and he was shot at five times.

For acts of bravery during service with the U.S. Army in the Indian Wars, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1872. But in 1917, the year of his death, it was withdrawn because of his status as a civilian scout.

Sometimes cowboys referred to beans as "Deceitful Beans" because they talked behind your back.

Doc Holliday claimed he almost lost his

life a total of nine times.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

Theodore Roosevelt was sent to live in North Dakota for health reasons. He fell in love with the West and wrote a book titled "Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail" before becoming a US president. The book was illustrated by famous Western artist Frederick Remington.

The famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral did NOT occur at the O.K. Corral. When the Earps and the Clantons shot it out in Tombstone, Arizona in 1881, their famous battle took place in a vacant lot between Fly’s Photograph Gallery and the Harwood house on Tombstone’s Fremont Street. The O.K. Corral was located nearby, however, and somehow its name became attached to the famous shootout.

The famous Lewis and Clark expedition covered 7,789 miles. Thomas Jefferson estimated that the trek would cost $2,500, but, in fact it cost $38,722.25.

Tombstone, Arizona in 1882

Annie Oakley's sharp shooting abilities made her one of America's first female "super-stars."

This image available for photographic prints and

downloads HERE!

Annie Oakley, who’s real name was Phoebe Anne Mozee, never lived farther west than Ohio.

Only one man was ever killed in a gunfight with Wyatt Earp while he was in Dodge City, Kansas. On July 26, 1878, a drunken cowboy named George Hoyt traded shots with Earp and lost.

"Keep your ear to the ground" referred to the practice of plainsmen listening to the ground to hear hoof beats. It became the westerner's warning to stay alert.

It was estimated that 90% of women living in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1876 were prostitutes.

Kit Carson was described by a relative as “being unafraid of hell or high water”, as reliable as “the sun comin’ up” and with morals as “clean as a hound’s tooth.”

Judge Roy Bean faced elections every two years and won every time, except in 1886 and 1896. In 1898, to ensure re-election, he stood outside the polling place with a sawed-off shotgun, taken an informal survey of voter preferences.

Whiskey had a number of names during the days of the Old West including bottled courage, bug juice, coffin varnish, dynamite, fire water, gut warmer, joy juice, neck oil, nose paint, redeye, scamper juice, snake pizen, tarantula juice, tonsil varnish, tornado juice, wild mare's milk.

The most publicized woman of the Old West, Calamity Jane, was little more than a camp follower of gunmen, a one-time bordello tart and, in later years, a hopeless alcoholic.

The first indoor toilet installed in the White House was when John Quincy Adams became president in 1825. Causing some debate and many jokes, it gave rise to the slang term of "Quincy" for an indoor toilet.

Charles Goodnight, on his first cattle drive to Colorado invented the chuckwagon by revamping an Army surplus wagon. Devising the cowboy version of meals on wheels, the wagon was complete with compartments for bacon, beans, coffee, spices, flour, and liquor.

The first gold rush in the United States was not the California Gold Rush of 1849. Rather, it took place across northern Georgia in 1828. It was here that mining terms such as bonanza, gold digger, placer, gold region, and gold belt were coined.

After surviving decades of notorious outlaws, retired U.S. Deputy Marshal and Cromwell, Oklahoma marshal, Bill Tilghman was shot and killed by a corrupt Prohibition Officer in 1924. He was 70 years old.

Among the vast number of items that Meriwether Lewis supplied the Lewis and Clark Expedition with was 193 pounds of dried "portable soup" to be eaten when fresh game was scarce. To this day, nobody knows exactly what went into the "portable soup," but Lewis greatly believed in its nutritive value. To say the least, it would become the most hated thing by the men on the expedition.

Continued Next Page

Bill Tilghman

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >>

From the Rocky Mountain General Store

RV & Camping Books - Legends of America and the Rocky Mountain General Store provide our RV and camping enthusiasts with a number of books specifically for the lifestyle. Find campgrounds, boondocking locations, dump stations and more. To see this varied collection, click HERE!