Not So Wild Wild West

The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rignts on the Frontier by Terry L. Anderson and Peter J. Hill (Stanford University Press, 2004)

The term, Wild West, invokes an image of gunfighters in cow towns ready to shoot at the least provocation. The Not So Wild Wild West puts a damper on such a simplistic image by showing how people in the West of the late 1800s actually cooperated to a large extent in accomplishing what was needed to live and prosper apart from government control. For me, the first couple of chapters proved somewhat difficult to read since the authors used a number of economic concepts to explain their approach. I'm not an economist so it took me some time to reach a modicum of understanding. The book gives more balance to the popular image of the Old West, using statistics and applying free market analysis to reveal the American west as it really was. Old West afficianadoes should benefit from its contents.

5th Roundup

+The Wild West History Association's 5th Annual Roundup takes place August 1 through 4, 2012 at the Prescott Resort in Prescott, Arizona.
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Tentative Schedule(all events at Prescott Resort, unless noted otherwise)
Prescott Resort, www.prescottresort.com, 1-800-967-4637
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Wednesday, August 1
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Board Meeting
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Registration in lobby
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Vendor Set-up
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Opening Reception
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Thursday, August 2
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Vendor Set-up
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Registration
8:30 - Opening ceremonies, Color Guard, Arizona Rough Riders; Mayor Marlin Kuykendall
9:00 - Bill O'Neal "The Arizona Rangers"
9:35 - Charlie Herner "Arizona Rough Riders"
10:10 - Morning break and visit vendors
10:30 - John Langellier "Indian Scouts in Arizona"
11:05 - Melissa Ruffner, "Sheriff George Ruffner"
11:40 - Awards luncheon
1:00 p.m. - Roy Young "The U.S. Marshals of Arizona Territory - Brief Biographies"
1:35 - Anne Collier "Mary Catherine Haroney Cummins aka Big Nose Kate"
2:10 - Erik Wright "An Arizona Trifecta: The Murderers of James Leavy"
2:40 - Afternoon announcements and visit vendors
2:45 - Rest of afternoon free
7:00 - "An Evening With..." (Honoree to be announced)
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Friday, August 3rd
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Vendor Set-up
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Registration
8:30 a.m. - Announcements
8:40 - 8th presentation
9:15 - 9th presentation
9:50 - Morning break and visit vendors
10:30 - Bob Palmquist "John Behan and Virgil Earp in Prescott"
11:05 - 11th Presentation
11:40 - Announcements and visit vendors
12:00 p.m. - Lunch on your own
1:30 - Meet at Sharlot Hall Museum for tours, book signings, one-act plays: Jody Drake (Sharlot Hall),Wyatt Earp (Wyatt Earp)
5:00 - Evening free
7:00 - Panel Discussion (Topic to be determined)
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Saturday, August 4th
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Vendor Set-up
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Registration
8:30 a.m. -Announcements and Annual WWHA Business Meeting
8:45 - "The Last Roundup" - WWHA Memorials
9:00 - Lee Hanchett "The Black Canyon Stagecoach Robberies"
9:35 - 13th presentation
10:10 - Morning break and visit vendors
10:30 - Jinx Pyle "The Pleasant Valley War"
11:05 - Jayne Peace Pyle "Women of the Pleasant Valley War"
11:40 - Announcements and visit vendors
12:00 p.m. - Lunch on your own and afternoon free
12:30 - 2:00 - Vendor's dismantle, silent auction begins set-up
5:30 - Reception, Cash Bar, Silent auction opens
6:30 - Annual Banquet, entertainment, President's awards, live auction, and more
8:30 - Special Activities
(all events at Prescott Resort, unless noted otherwise)

2nd Annual Wild West History Roundup

Dan Patterson, WWHA photographer, with wife, Rita.

2nd Annual Wild West History Roundup

The second annual Wild West History Association Convention meets July 15-19 in San Antonio, Texas. Meetings will be held in the historic Menger Hotel nearby the Alamo. The opening reception will be at the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum. The Texas Ranger Museum is also nearby.

Western History Symposium and Book Exposition

This year's symposium, held November 12 thru 16, saw an added attraction: The unveiling of a seven-foot, eight-inch statue of Wyatt Earp created by Tim Trask. Dan Patterson took the following pictures during this year's events.

Bill O'Neal with Leon Metz
Terry "Ike" Clanton views new statue.
Cheryl Metz and Bill O'Neal
Wild West History Association President Bob McCubbin
Bob Alexander
Richard Lapidus
Jan Devereaux
Rita Ackerman
Elaine and Lindsay Bennett, Jan Devereaux, and Rita Patterson
Elise McChesney and Mike Tower
James "Texas Jack" Wright with Marshall Trimble, Bob Alexander, and Jan Devereaux
Steve Gatto, Linda Pardo, and Bob McCubbin
Marshall Trimble, Sunny and Dakota Livesay
Terry "Ike" Clanton
A crowd watches the unveiling of the Wyatt Earp statue.
Michael Hiebert next to the statue.
Dakota Livesay, Bob Alexander, and Steve Gatto
Fred Schoemehl
Bob Palmquist
Lt. Dave Bruce
Tombstone Historian Ben T. Traywick

Speakers, Awards, Tour, and Banquet

Tulsa, Oklahoma, Saturday, July 19, 2008
Oklahoma author Jim Fulbright spoke on "Lawmen, Cowmen, and Big City Dandies: The Volunteers of 1898," Jan Devereaux on "Lottie Deno," Corey Recko on "Samuel B. Axtel and the Colfax County War ," and Paul Cool on "Texas Ranger John B. Tays" in the morning sessions. Cool, commenting on history in general, emphasized that individuals and their decisions, as much as movements or forces, play a key role in the making of history.


Corey Recko






Paul Cool









WWHA presented awards to outstanding Western historians and authors at the luncheon. Awards included the following.

The President's Silver Star Award went to Ida Saunders and Karen Tanner. The Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Western History went to John B. Tanner, Jr. Best Book of the Year went to Corey Recko for Murder on the White Sands. Best Article of the Year went to Robin L. Andrews for "Belles of Tombstone." Leon Metz, Harold Edwards, Chuck Parsons, and Robert DeArment were inducted into the NOLA Hall of Fame.

Award recipients (left to right): Ida Saunders, Karen Holliday Tanner, John B. Tanner, Jr., Chuck Parsons, Corey Recko, Sharon Cunningham (for Robin Andrews), and Robert K. DeArment.

Following the Awards luncheon, Bill O'Neal spoke on "Caldwell, Kansas, 1871-1893 - The Wild West years of the Border Queen."

At 2:30 p.m. members left on buses headed to Gilcrease Museum. The museum displayed art of the Old West and picures and history of the Miller Brothers' 101 Ranch.

The evening banquet featured keynote speaker Michael Wallis, author of Route 66: The Mother Road and The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch and the Creation of the American West among many other books. He spoke on "The Real Wild West: 101 Ranch and the West of Myth and Reality."

After Wallis spoke, WWHA conducted its annual period costume competion.

Bus Tours

Tulsa, Oklahoma, Friday, July 18, 2008
Today WWHA members left on three tour buses which traveled to Claremore and Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and Coffeyville, Kansas.


+ At Claremore members toured the J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum. From there members went to Coffeyville where they visited the grave of Bob and Grat Dalton and Bill Powers as well as that of Frank Dalton before touring the Dalton Defenders Museum and viewing a re-enactment of the Dalton Raid which took place on October 5, 1892. After eating lunch in Coffeyville, members headed to Bartlesville and several miles beyond to Woolaroc refuge and museum.
+ Aside from one bus breaking down for awhile, all went well. Members returned to the hotel around 5:30.


That night members attended "An Evening with Robert DeArment." Bill O'Neal interviewed DeArment about his long and outstanding career as author of numerous non-fiction books on Wild West characters. DeArment's family attended the event.


+ The evening closed with a panel discussion about "Women of the Wild West." Sharon Cunningham moderated the discussion. Panelists included Ann Collier, Jan Devereaux, and Pam Potter.