The Scandalous Life of Lola Montez

The great writer Aldous Huxley said, “When you met Lola Montez, her reputation made you immediately think of bedrooms.”

Born in1818 in Limerick, Ireland, Lola was the daughter of an Irish soldier and a Spanish beauty. Her father was Ensign…

Wild West Pugilists

Life on the Western Frontier was not only hard and dangerous, but frequently boring. Miners, cowboys, pioneers, and lumberjacks were all desperate for entertainment.

Nothing quite created the spectacle and excitement as a boxing match between two trained pugilists…

Apache Horses

It was Coronado who brought the first horses into the land of the Gran Apacheria. We have no record of what the Apache thought at…

The Man Who Killed Santa Claus

Santa Claus was killed in 1932 in Mesa, Arizona. Naturally this tragic event took place during the Great Depression. The horrific occasion was witnessed by hundreds and in fact was the climax of a Christmas parade. Traumatized children broke into uncontrollable sobbing as the tears fell like…

York The Bear God

In 1819, the third largest city in North America was destroyed by a dragon. The third largest city in North America in 1819 was a Mandan village along the Missouri River, which ranked behind Philadelphia and Boston in population but ahead of New York City.

Poker Alice

Alice Ivers was born in Sudbury, England in 1851. Her family left England for the United Stated while Miss Alice was still a teenager. The family ended up in Colorado which was experiencing a mining boom. Mr. Ivers’ pretty young daughter soon got married. Alice Ivers married a mining engineer named…

Jaguars and Santa Claus

December 24, 1912, Oracle, Arizona

Navajo Codetalkers

In the heart of downtown Phoenix, on the corner of Central Avenue, there is a statue dedicated to the Navajo Code talkers of…

A Thanksgiving Tale

I was wondering if anybody would mind if I told them a Bible story. Not a story from the Bible but a story about the Bible…

Denver’s First Christmas

1858 was the first Christmas in the tiny mining camp of Denver and the only children who lived there, perhaps a…