Every day we use words and phrases whose roots lie in the American West.  Words like “brand,” “maverick,” and “railroaded,” along with phrases like “climb down off your high horse” and “passing the buck” all grew out of the culture and experiences of those who resided west of the Mississippi.  These creative words and phrases […]

The great West that George Bird Grinnell first encountered in 1870 as a 21-year-old man was shortly to disappear before his eyes.  Nobody was quicker to sense the desecration or was more eloquent in crusading against the poachers, the hide-hunters, and the disengaged U.S. Congress than George Bird Grinnell, the “Father of American Conservation.”  Grinnell […]

In ancient times the lessons of life and guides to a moralistic life were taught via fables of ancestors and their adventures in a magical world fraught with monsters and heroes.  INYAHOSKIE is one of those heroes who sets out to explore the world and journeys to the Southwest where he encounters a rude and […]

Meet Teresa Urrea, a curandera (spiritual healer) and reluctant political figure. She was born in Sinoloa, Mexico, in 1873 to a fourteen-year-old Tehueco Indian in the employ of Tomás Urrea, a wealthy hacendado (owner of a hacienda). When she was 16, she lapsed into a cataleptic state that lasted over three months. Upon awakening, Teresa […]