Old Photographs

04/26/2026

OTD in 1976, Rick Monday, a veteran of the U.S.
Marine Corps Reserve, grabbed an American flag from two protesters who had run onto the field at Dodger Stadium and attempted to burn it.

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04/19/2026

120 years ago San Francisco was leveled to ruins. Among the rubble were more than 3,000 souls who perished.

04/13/2026

April showers bring May flowers, but sometimes they can also bring flood waters. Such was the case as documented in this 1918 photograph from Richwood West Virginia.

03/19/2026

Wyatt Earp was born on this day in 1848…

Wyatt Earp was born 178 years ago today in Monmouth, Illinois.

In 1882 he spent his last birthday in Tombstone grieving the loss of his younger brother Morgan who was murdered hours earlier right in front of him. In the coming days he would es**rt Morgan's body and other family members out of Arizona, assemble a posse of trusted confidants, and kill the men he felt were responsible. He's known as a law man, but he put justice and avenging the death of a brother ahead of the law. Such events are part of the controversial legacy of the man whose name is still talked about today.

03/08/2026

"Texas-Indian War Trophies” (1880) is a rare direct look an an assortment of weaponry critical to the story of southern Plains Indian life. Photographer unknown.

"Texas-Indian War Trophies” (1880) is a rare direct look an an assortment of weaponry critical to the story of southern Plains Indian life. Photographer unknown - from my personal collections.

02/27/2026

On the anniversary of his death in 2003, we can’t help but think we could all use a little more Fred Rogers in the world today.

02/16/2026

Rest in Peace Mr. Duvall.

I'm saddened to report, legendary actor Robert Duvall has passed away. His beloved Gus McCrae lives in the hearts of fans along with his many other meaningful roles. Mr. Duvall was 95 years old. Rest in peace, good sir.

02/13/2026

Long time friend of the Earps and former Tombstone resident Bat Masterson wrote a first hand description of Wyatt Earp…

Long time friend of the Earps and former Tombstone resident Bat Masterson wrote a first hand description of Wyatt Earp.

"Wyatt Earp is one of the few men I personally knew in the West in the early days, whom I regarded as absolutely destitute of physical fear. Wyatt Earp’s daring and apparent recklessness in time of danger is wholly characteristic; personal fear doesn’t enter into the equation."

Wyatt … "was not one of those human tigers who delighted in shedding blood just for the fun of the thing. He never, at any time in his career, resorted to the pistol excepting in cases where such a course was absolutely necessary. Wyatt could scrap with his fist, and had often taken all the fight out of bad men, as they were called, with no other weapons than those provided by Nature. There were few men in the West who could whip Wyatt in a rough and tumble fight 30 years ago, and I suspect he could give a tough youngster a hard tussle right now, even if he is sixty one years of age." (Wyatt being 60 years old at the time this was written in 1908.)

"He always arrayed himself on the side of law and order, and on a great many occasions, at the risk of his life, rendered valuable service in upholding the majesty of the law in those communities in which he lived. Wyatt’s reputation for courage and coolness was well known to many of the citizens of Dodge City—in fact it was his reputation that secured for him the appointment of Assistant City Marshall. I have known him since the early 70’s and have always found him a quiet, unassuming man, not given to brag or bluster, but at all times and under all circumstances a loyal friend and an equally dangerous enemy."

02/05/2026

Twenty one years after Doc Holliday died, old west legend Bat Masterson wrote this article about him…

Twenty one years after Doc Holliday died, old west legend Bat Masterson wrote this article about him published in "Human Life" magazine:

"Holliday had a mean disposition and an ungovernable temper, and under the influence of liquor was a most dangerous man. In this respect he was very much like the big Missourian who had put in the day at the crossroad groggery and, after getting pretty well filled up with bug juice of the moonshine brand, concluded that it was about time for him to say something that would make an impression on his hearers; so he straightened up, threw out his chest and declared in a loud tone of voice, that he was a bad man when he was drinking and managed to keep pretty full all the time. So it was with Holliday."

"Physically, Doc Holliday was a weakling who could not have whipped a healthy fifteen-year-old boy in a go-as-you-please fist fight, and no one knew this better than himself, and the knowledge of this fact was perhaps why he was so ready to resort to a weapon of some kind whenever he got himself into difficulty. He was hot-headed and impetuous and very much given to both drinking and quarreling, and, among men who did not fear him, was very much disliked."

"He possessed none of the qualities of leadership such as those that distinguished such men as H. P. Myton, Wyatt Earp, Billy Tilghman, and other famous western characters. Holliday seemed to be absolutely unable to keep out of trouble for any great length of time. He would no sooner be out of one scrape before he was in another, and the strange part of it is he was more often in the right than in the wrong, which has rarely ever been the case with a man who is continually getting himself into trouble."

02/04/2026

DID YOU KNOW….

There were no numerical limits on European immigration to the US in 1900. Instead, laws targeted “undesirables” — people with contagious diseases, mental illness, criminal records, or those deemed likely to become “public charges.”

*We never have and never will post AI images.

02/03/2026

Legendary Buffalo Bill Cody learned plains Indian sign language as a teen and actually used it out of necessity to communicate into his last years.