One of the most effective lawmen of the old west wasn’t Wyatt Earp or Wild Bill Hickok. It’s a Federal Marshall who worked out of Judge Parker’s court in Fort Smith, Arkansas. His job was hunting outlaws in the 75,000 square miles of Indian Territory - what is now the state of Oklahoma. This …
Could Farmers End Climate Change?
Cap-and-Trade was a controversial program invented some years ago as a way for big polluters to offset the damage done by their pollution. It’s had its problems being implemented, but It has also had some success in reducing carbon pollution. It works like this: the government sets how much pollution a company can release. If …
Basque Sheepherders in the West
Do you remember sheepherder wagons? I recall seeing them off in the distance, out on the prairie, in those Wyoming hills west of Cheyenne. They were found on open range around the west, on land where cows don’t do well but sheep thrive. That sheep wagon, with its white canvas top, was a beacon in …
Farming Has a Long History in the West
The mysterious cliff dwellings in the American southwest are fascinating places. They are historical registers that teach us just a little of ancient times, of people who were farming here long before Columbus. The people who lived here are the true founders of American agriculture. Some of these dwellings are very remote. A few, …
The Lesson from Washita
The story of the American west is a checkered one, with heroic struggles and devastating misdeeds. It’s war and peace on an immense scale, spanning a continent and hundreds of years. The men and women that built the west are made of the same clay and grit that we are - we are their …
