By Jacquie Rogers The law was a bit sparse in the Old West, often not a lawman around for hundreds of miles. If a criminal knew how to live off the land and he owned a fast horse, he was pretty well guaranteed an escape. What’s a sheriff to do? In 1872, the Supreme...
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by Jacquie Rogers The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause. ~~Mark Twain Originally, therewerenopunctuationmarksorspacesbetweenwords But that was rather difficult to read. The Romans sometimes used a dot between words, which later changed to a space and became standardized with the printing press, as...
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by Jacquie Rogers So many people and events shape our lives. Sometimes it’s hard to put my finger on why some things interest me and some things just don’t. The Old West doesn’t just interest me, though—it fascinates me. I’m a bit obsessed, actually. To harken back (ahem, mumble-mumble) years to my childhood… Owyhee...
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by Jacquie Rogers People have been washing clothes (or furs) for a long time. Most sites say that humans finally got a clue that good hygiene made for better health. I’m of the opinion that people liked to be comfortable then as now. Their skin chafed and got rashes just like ours does, so...
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By Jacquie Rogers American stage and film actress Mae West was not only the first woman to make a million dollars in the entertainment business, her work rescued Paramount Studios from oblivion and debt. She was a formidable financial force and made a lot of money for a lot of people. “Any time you’ve...
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By Jacquie Rogers Rodeo is a modern sport and the only sport born in the United States that came from an industry–the cattle business. It’s only natural that after the chores are done, the cowboys have a little competition to see who could win bragging rights of being the best, and maybe earn a...
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by Jacquie Rogers Attention, Cave Persons! The summer blockbuster cave painting is coming your way soon. Roast your nuts and bring some bones to pick your teeth while you enjoy the latest offering from Norman Rockgood in the Cave of Lascaux. Yes, the pitchfork is missing. Ah, but ’tis true: throughout human history, we’ve...
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By Jacquie Rogers Tall tales aren’t anything new. The structure has been around for millennia, and many follow the same structure as the Greek myths. So from Ancient Greece, let’s climb into the time-machine and step into 19th Century America. The wild country and isolation of the North American west where each day brought...
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by Jacquie Rogers Communications has been a priority since the invention of larynxes. Long-distance communication could be achieved by yodeling, pounding on a drum, or some sort of visual signal. We’ve come a long way, baby. So let’s talk gadgets. The first effective long-distance communication method was developed by Samuel Morse in ~1835 to...
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by Jacquie Rogers Westerners bet on anything that moved–how fast it could go and how high it could jump. They had foot races, boxing matches, flea-jumping contests, frog-jumping contests, bear and bull matches, dog fights, cock fights, as well as cow-boy tournament events such as saddle bronc riding. While horse racing was wildly popular,...
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