Dr. History's Tales of the Old West

1868, General George A. Custer led the 7th Cavalry in a surprise winter attack against Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle and h... Read more

A small group of mountain men were trapped by a band of Blackfeet indians. It looked like the end, as they were outnumbe... Read more

A legend in the Old West, with more movies, books, and magazine articles than any old west character but how many did h... Read more

The first Thanksgiving. Squanto, an english speaking Indian, taught the Pilgrims how to grow their own food and helped t... Read more

Early ranchers put up with Indians, rustlers, squatters, drought, killing winters and prices that went up and down. Ric... Read more

Born Robert Leroy Parker, his grandparents left England, joined a Mormon handcart company and settled in Southern Utah. ... Read more

The Law and Pinkertons were after them, so they left for South America. They bought a large ranch, but couldn't avoid ro... Read more

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous song, "Christmas Bells" and how "Silent Night" came to be written and sung. Gate 67 ... Read more

John Colter's horse was stolen by some Teton Sioux indians, this could have been the end of the expedition. Chief Black ... Read more

Mountain man, scout, guide and war hero, his name was enough to prevent Indians from attacking. He fought with and again... Read more

He was never a chief, but led many war parties into Mexico and the U.S. This old warrior finally surrendered and lived ... Read more

Was there a coward in the Alamo? Moses Rose made the difficult decision to leave rather than face certain death and was... Read more

At age 56 he was considered the greatest scout in the West. He also told some tall tales around the campfire Learn more... Read more

He explored most of the West, fought in the Mexican and Civil wars, discovered gold, ran for President and died poor. On... Read more

He became famous for 30 seconds at the Gunfight at the OK corral. But what happened in his later years. He traveled all... Read more

Organized in 1823, they had a questionable reputation, but survived off and on for many years. Re organized for good in... Read more

There was competition between fur trappers, until it came to fighting Indians. Struck in the head and with two arrows in... Read more

Cowboys lived by a strict code of the West, they were hard working and loyal. They faced danger from rattlesnakes, bad ... Read more

He was elected to represent all free-roaming Sioux and defeated the best army in the world at the Battle of the Little ... Read more

The mid 1800's saw large numbers of settlers and others moving into Indian Territory. Broken treaties and invasion caus... Read more