Old West
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 Tawny A Dog of the Old West by Thomas C Hinkle 1943 Hardcover $4.99 Time Remaining: 28d 6h 46m Buy It Now for only: $4.99 |
 OPEN RANGE CATTLE American Old West INDIAN WARS Apache SIOUX Cheyenne RED CLOUD $24.39 (5 Bids) Time Remaining: 1d 8h 41m |
 Remnants of the Old West Harriett Farnsworth 1965 Death Valley CA Arizona $8.95 Time Remaining: 13d 23h 11m Buy It Now for only: $8.95 |
 OLD WEST Indian Pioneer TOURIST GUIDE Railroad Massacre GOLD RUSH Civil War RARE $158.05 (11 Bids) Time Remaining: 9h 9m |
 In The Old West by Ruxton Western Fiction D J Hard Cover 1st $9.99 Time Remaining: 14d 20h Buy It Now for only: $9.99 |
 ANTIQUE Rare 1867 OLD WEST EMIGRANT TOURIST GUIDE Beyond The Mississippi $99.00 Time Remaining: 9h 11m |
 The Journals of Lewis and Clark SCARCE Old West 1953 INDIANS Native Americans $13.99 Time Remaining: 8h 22m Buy It Now for only: $13.99 |
 Old PACIFIC COAST SOUVENIR 1888 Stagecoach TRAVEL VIEWS Railroad WESTERN WEST $3.25 (3 Bids) Time Remaining: 4d 6h 41m |
 Old West Book Charles Siringos West Famous Cowboy Lawman Writer Bio w Jacket $12.00 Time Remaining: 27d 6h 9m Buy It Now for only: $12.00 |
 THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS PLAINS NATIVE SIOUX ART PLAINS OLD WEST INDIAN $1.25 (2 Bids) Time Remaining: 1d 8h 26m |
 PORTRAIT OF THE OLD WEST HB ILLUS WESTERN ARTISTS 1952 $15.99 Time Remaining: 24d 1h 21m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 Antique OLD WEST Photo Guide RAILROAD Tourist INDIAN Buffalo Bill NATIONAL PARKS $154.00 (14 Bids) Time Remaining: 1d 8h 41m |
 Stories of Old West Pioneer Prostitutes Brothel Risque $10.95 Time Remaining: 13d 2h 45m Buy It Now for only: $10.95 |
 BUFFALO BILL WILD WEST Indian War CUSTER SITTING BULL Old CROCKETT Daniel BOONE $16.00 (12 Bids) Time Remaining: 4d 8h 20m |
 The Jesuits and the Indian Wars of the Northwest RARE 1st ed Old West INDIANS $39.99 Time Remaining: 28d 5h 21m Buy It Now for only: $39.99 |
 Famous Indian Chiefs RARE 1917 Native Americans OLD WEST INDIANS $24.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 7h 51m |
 ANTIQUE OLD WEST PHOTO ALBUM CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD SAN FRANCISCO YOSEMITE $250.00 Time Remaining: 25d 4h 13m Buy It Now for only: $250.00 |
 Shotguns On Sunday by Joseph E Doctor 1958 True Story of Old Wests Last Badman $6.99 Time Remaining: 1d 8h 12m |
 The Wonderful Country Old West Story by Tom Lea $5.59 Time Remaining: 21d 21h 20m Buy It Now for only: $5.59 |
 1961 Book The Old West In Fiction by Irwin R Blacker HC First Printing No Res $0.99 Time Remaining: 1h 45m |
 Buffalo Bill King Old West Biography of William Cody by Leonard Goodman 1955 $9.50 Time Remaining: 23d 4h 21m Buy It Now for only: $9.50 |
 RARE 1949 LIMITED EDITION THE KILGORE JOURNAL 1850 SLIPCASE CALIFORNIA OLD WEST $24.50 Time Remaining: 1d 6h 42m |
 OLD JULES COUNTRY MARI SANDOZ AMERICAN WEST 1965 $9.99 Time Remaining: 27d 20h 42m Buy It Now for only: $9.99 |
 4 Centuries on the Rio Grande History of El Paso and Juarez RARE Old West $19.99 Time Remaining: 7h 53m |
 BRET HARTES STORIES OF THE OLD WESTWESTERNS1940HCDJ $14.99 Time Remaining: 25d 4h 10m Buy It Now for only: $14.99 |
 TEN YEARS IN THE SADDLE 1851 1862 Old West History Illustrated $24.95 Time Remaining: 4d 1h 14m Buy It Now for only: $24.95 |
 VINTAGE COMET PAPERBACK CHILD BOOK TAWNY A DOG OF THE OLD WEST COLLIE 1947 $2.99 Time Remaining: 6d 4h 52m |
 Golden Library of Knowledge Indians and the Old West Story of 1st Americans $8.99 Time Remaining: 9d 22h 3m Buy It Now for only: $8.99 |
 VINTAGE LOG BOOK OLD RECORD BOOK BLUEFIELD WEST VA 1940S $12.99 Time Remaining: 1d 3h 1m Buy It Now for only: $14.99 |
 Legends of the Old West 5 Volume Set Easton Press 1992 Leather Like New $450.00 Time Remaining: 25d 3h 38m Buy It Now for only: $450.00 |
 BOOT HILL HISTORIC GRAVES OF THE OLD WEST FLORIN HISTORY HB Book $9.99 Time Remaining: 1d 2h 3m Buy It Now for only: $12.99 |
 Artists Illustrators Of The Old West $26.00 Time Remaining: 11d 23h 23m Buy It Now for only: $26.00 |
 ROAD AGENTS TRAIN ROBBERSOLD WEST CRIMEROBBERYBANDITSHCDJ1973GOLD MINES $19.99 Time Remaining: 20h 22m |
 VTG PULP FICTION BOOK NOVEL RAW PASSION PIN UP ART COVER EXPLOITATION OLD WEST $14.99 Time Remaining: 21d 2h 52m Buy It Now for only: $14.99 |
 Patent SALOON Design Old West Bar Rothschild 1893 599 $12.65 Time Remaining: 16h 6m Buy It Now for only: $13.95 |
 ANTIQUE OLD WEST PIONEER TOURIST GUIDE INDIAN WAR PACIFIC RAILROAD CALIFORNIA $450.00 Time Remaining: 4d 18h 28m Buy It Now for only: $450.00 |
 Major Horace Bell ON THE OLD WEST COAST 1930 1st edition $25.00 Time Remaining: 1d 1h 11m |
 1951 1st Cowboy Fisherman Hunter by Mersfelder Old West History $26.95 Time Remaining: 4d 1h 10m Buy It Now for only: $26.95 |
 ANTIQUE US Wild Old American West BUFFALO Hunting Photo WESTERN Book CAMP Scout $10.51 (6 Bids) Time Remaining: 9h 16m |
 Time Life Books Library of the Old West Gunfighters $3.77 Time Remaining: 10d 18h 8m Buy It Now for only: $3.77 |
 1st HC Harry Leon Wilson Lions of the Lord A Tale of the Old West 158434 $13.97 Time Remaining: 1d 11h 10m Buy It Now for only: $35.00 |
 The Old West Time Life The Trailblazers 1973 Copy $4.50 Time Remaining: 22d 1h 17m Buy It Now for only: $4.50 |
 1947 The New Worlds Foundations In The Old West And West Hardcover NICE $19.99 Time Remaining: 21h 40m Buy It Now for only: $23.00 |
 TIME LIFE BOOKS THE OLD WEST THE PIONEERS $9.95 Time Remaining: 4d 20h 44m Buy It Now for only: $9.95 |
 MICHAEL M HICKEYS JOHN RINGO The Final Hours A Tale of the Old West Signed $119.99 Time Remaining: 22h 37m |
 The Canadians Old West Time Life Book $4.99 Time Remaining: 5d 7h 4m Buy It Now for only: $4.99 |
 LOOK AGAIN landmark architecture of downtown Toledoold west end PB 1973 Ohio $19.99 Time Remaining: 1d 8h 42m |
 1948 Old Oregon Trail American Home Builders Indians Old West History $19.95 Time Remaining: 4d 1h 10m Buy It Now for only: $19.95 |
 David A Dary ENTREPRENEURS OF THE OLD WEST 1986 $15.00 Time Remaining: 1d 1h 5m |
 Time Life Books Library of the Old West Fortyniners $3.77 Time Remaining: 10d 18h 4m Buy It Now for only: $3.77 |
 1917 LEATHER American West Indians CALIFORNIA Yellowstone Park 300 Old Photos $44.00 Time Remaining: 23d 18h 30m Buy It Now for only: $44.00 |
 GUNS OF THE OLD WESTBY CHAPELHC1961RIFLESPISTOLSHISTORYPHOTOGRAPHS $19.99 Time Remaining: 20h 36m |
 The Deaths of the Bravos by Myers HB 1962 Old West W7 $11.50 Time Remaining: 8d 47m Buy It Now for only: $11.50 |
 TRAINS OF THE OLD WEST Brian Solomon 1997 Metro 1st ed 2nd pr HC DJ FINE VG+ $9.99 Time Remaining: 22h 16m |
 Time Life Books The Old West The Miners Padded Leather Cover $6.99 Time Remaining: 20d 20m Buy It Now for only: $6.99 |
 1956 CROSSFIRE LOUIS TRIMBLE BANTAM BOOKS WESTERN RANGE WAR OLD WEST $0.99 Time Remaining: 1d 3h 40m |
 Philo Whites Narrative of a Cruize in the Pacific Old West Publishing Co Ltd $11.24 Time Remaining: 13d 9h 38m Buy It Now for only: $11.24 |
 SIGNED 1981 Old West book REFLECTIONS OF THE GUNFIGHTER by Jim Easterbrook $2.98 Time Remaining: 1d 8h 28m |
 THE MEXICAN WAR TIME LIFE THE OLD WEST SERIES $19.99 Time Remaining: 6d 17h 29m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
 1974 TIDES FROM THE WEST CHINA CHINESE History 1842 1941 CHIANG Old HCDJ RARE $9.99 Time Remaining: 1d 7h 39m |
 Ladies of Negotiable Virtue Old West Prostitution Saloons Brothels Floor Plans $29.95 Time Remaining: 1d 11h 16m Buy It Now for only: $29.95 |
 Doctors of the Old West by Robert F Karolevitz $7.99 Time Remaining: 21h 32m Buy It Now for only: $8.99 |
 LIFE AMONG THE APACHES Leather Classics of Old West $49.99 Time Remaining: 26d 6h 57m Buy It Now for only: $49.99 |
 67 OLD WEST MAGAZINEGHOST TOWN ISSUESUMMERTAYLOR OUGHTON COVER ARTGOOD COND $3.99 Time Remaining: 4d 23h 44m Buy It Now for only: $5.99 |
 Old West Bordello Brothel Prostitute Dictionary $10.95 Time Remaining: 5d 6h 4m Buy It Now for only: $10.95 |
 Old Rare Books Gods Gambler Dr R Frederick West 1964 signed by author $8.99 Time Remaining: 4d 5h 31m |
 1961 LORD OF BEASTS The Saga Of Buffalo Jones 1st Old West History $16.95 Time Remaining: 4d 1h 12m Buy It Now for only: $16.95 |
 THE OLD WEST BY TIME LIFE 3 BOOKS THE RANCHERS THE GAMBLERS THE ALASKANS $5.95 Time Remaining: 2d 4h 37m |
 Antique OLD WEST Photography INDIANS Yellowstone YOSEMITE Tourist RAILROAD Photo $875.00 Time Remaining: 6d 5h 10m Buy It Now for only: $875.00 |
 VINTAGE BOOKS FROM THE OLD WEST CROOKED TRAILS LITTLE BIG HORN $19.99 Time Remaining: 2d 22h 5m Buy It Now for only: $27.99 |
 Havasupai Indians Journal Nation of the Willows SCARCE 1882 Old West Indians $11.99 Time Remaining: 20d 8h 19m Buy It Now for only: $11.99 |
 THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS AND THE OLD CLIPPER SHIP HC BY JERRY WEST 1956 IST ED $2.99 Time Remaining: 1d 11h 55m |
 American West Magazine Western Americana History Volume 1 Number 1 OLD 1st ISSUE $10.00 Time Remaining: 12d 2h 27m Buy It Now for only: $10.00 |
 Old Bullion Benton Senator From The New West $17.95 Time Remaining: 4d 9h 34m |
 2 SCARCE Native American INDIAN Books Old West Indian Wars CUSTER $13.99 Time Remaining: 20d 1h 22m Buy It Now for only: $13.99 |
 Time Life Books Old West Leatherette The Trail Blazers 1974 $6.99 Time Remaining: 6d 17h 31m Buy It Now for only: $6.99 |
 The Old West Time Life Books Lot of 11 Great Fathers Day Gift $8.99 Time Remaining: 4d 2h 18m |
 1971 1st EDITION BOOK THE ART OF THE OLD WEST ROSSI326 $20.00 Time Remaining: 17d 22h 37m Buy It Now for only: $20.00 |
 Indians The Old West by Anne Terry White 1958 $1.99 Time Remaining: 5d 7h 36m |
 Classics of The Old West ELDORADO Bayard Taylor Vol1 Time Life Books $6.85 Time Remaining: 24d 7h 10m Buy It Now for only: $6.85 |
 The old West THE INDIANS BY editors of TIME LIFEBOOKS with text by H Horn $10.00 Time Remaining: 5d 21h 54m |
 ON THE OLD WEST COAST BY LANIER BARTLETT $9.95 Time Remaining: 8d 4h 44m Buy It Now for only: $9.95 |
 The old West THE GREAT CHIEFS by editors of TIME LIFEBOOKS with text by H Horn $10.00 Time Remaining: 5d 22h |
 1884 Antique Old West Railroad Stage Overland Pioneer Tourist Guide WITH MAP $595.00 Time Remaining: 19d 3h 36m Buy It Now for only: $595.00 |
 The Old west The Pioneers Time Life Books 1974 $3.49 Time Remaining: 6d 4h 33m |
 Time Life Books Library of the Old West Indians $3.77 Time Remaining: 10d 18h 9m Buy It Now for only: $3.77 |
 The Old west The Gunfighters Time Life Books 1974 $3.49 Time Remaining: 6d 4h 36m |
 OLD MOTHER WEST WIND THORNTON W BURGESS HB DJ $29.00 Time Remaining: 8d 5h 53m Buy It Now for only: $29.00 |
 LEATHER GUNS OF THE OLD WEST MINT NR $9.99 Time Remaining: 6d 5h 37m |
 The Vigilantes Of Montana By Prof Thos J Dimsdale Time Life Classics Old West $19.99 Time Remaining: 2d 3h 58m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
 1947 1st ed William Henry Jackson PICTURE MAKER OF THE OLD WEST NR $9.99 Time Remaining: 6d 6h 52m |
 GUNS OF THE OLD WEST NRA CLASSICS LIBRARY BRAND NEW $14.99 Time Remaining: 26d 7h 6m Buy It Now for only: $14.99 |
 old vintage book east o the sun west o the moon $12.50 Time Remaining: 6d 4h 39m |
 1976 THE LOGGERS TIME LIFE BOOK OLD WEST LEATHER LOGGING OLD TOOLS VINTAGE $9.99 Time Remaining: 4d 6h 28m Buy It Now for only: $9.99 |
 OLD BARTHOLOMEWS STANFORDS ROAD MAP CARDIGAN AND SOUTH WEST WALES 1930s $11.85 Time Remaining: 8d 20m |
 TIME LIFE BOOKS THE OLD WEST THE RAILROADERS $9.95 Time Remaining: 4d 5h 55m Buy It Now for only: $9.95 |
 Pistol Pete Veteran of the Old West Signed Copy $167.00 Time Remaining: 8d 20h 41m Buy It Now for only: $325.00 |
 RARE 1st Edition LEAVENWORTH TRAIN Old West JOE JACKSON $25.00 Time Remaining: 24d 6h 14m Buy It Now for only: $25.00 |
 1945 Old Mother West Wind Thornton Burgess HB DJ illustrated Cady colour plates $1.56 Time Remaining: 9d 20h 52m |
 WEST VIRGINIA BLUE BOOK 1948 1952 2 OLD BOOKS GOVERNMENT MILITARY JUDICIAL ETC $26.00 Time Remaining: 2d 7h 11m Buy It Now for only: $26.00 |
Old West
Wild West Lives on at California's Ghost Towns
The Wild West and the mining of the late 1800’s are a rich part of California’s heritage, and what better way to experience the past than to visit California’s ghost towns? The Golden State’s ghost towns are more about history than spooks, and you’ll spend hours exploring every nook and cranny of sometimes dusty old buildings in various states of disrepair or restoration. Here are two distinct examples to get you started.
Calico
Just about the time the drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas gets a little tedious, up comes the Interstate 15 exit to Calico Ghost Town – a stop worth making that will give you a chance to stretch your legs and learn a little California history at the same time.
This is a true ghost town, although not the scary type and really as much an amusement park as a historical dig. Some of the original town has been refurbished, some re-constructed, and some buildings created just for tourists. The town was carved out of the colorful hills of the Mojave Desert back in 1881 and today offers a fascinating glimpse of what life might have been like for the borax and silver miners of the 19th Century.
If Calico looks in some places a little like parts of Knott’s Berry Farm, it’s because Calico was once owned by Walter Knott, the popular amusement park’s founder. He gave the property to San Bernardino County in 1966 and it has since become a regional park complete with its own historian and many authentic buildings and furnishings. Mixed in with the history is a good deal of commerce – from eateries to crafts shops to gift shops – that caters to the busloads of tourists who find this a convenient stop half way between L.A. and Vegas.
This ghost town is not dusty and dirty like less developed places that still have dirt roads and sagebrush tumbling through town. The streets are paved, the trails are well-marked and the historical exhibits each have descriptions that help you get a sense of what you are seeing. The surrounding hills provide a scenic backdrop and you begin to realize this place was called Calico for a reason; blue, red, gray, green, vermilion, brown and yellow can be seen in patches along the craggy hillsides.
Like most ghost towns, Calico was once a bustling place where prospectors came to find their riches in the mines. Both silver and borax were taken from more than 500 local mines. This made it possible for the town to grow to more than 1,200 people and sustain many local businesses – including 22 saloons. When the price of silver was cut in half, the town’s hay days were over and the residents eventually moved away.
We spent a couple of hours in Calico, where Main Street is a pleasant walk of maybe four city blocks, each packed with historical attractions, stores and surprises. For example, you can visit the Calico Jail, where Calico’s gunfighters were hauled off to serve time. There is a visitor’s center that includes vintage photographs, historic newspapers and interpretive materials to help you understand the town’s history. There’s a place to do some gold panning and another called the Mystery Shack – as you might expect from a man named Knotts. Plan to have your lunch at Lil’s Saloon – nothing fancy to eat here, but just beyond those swinging saloon doors is a bar that looks like it came out of a Hollywood Western. And, yes, families are welcome.
There aren’t any true amusement park rides, but there is a coal train you can ride on a short loop while getting a history lesson from the train’s engineer. We also enjoyed stepping into a re-created mine shaft where you can get a sense of the darkness and claustrophobia under the mountain – and do it safely. There’s a house made of bottles and several other oddities that are fun to come across. You’ll see miners’ homes carved out of the hillsides, and a variety of free-standing Old West style buildings.
If you still need a little more help imagining what the Wild West was really like, the town’s modern day "gunfighters" will oblige with shoot-outs and demonstrations on Main Street.
The Calico Ghost Town is just northeast of Barstow and, because we were visiting in late afternoon, we decided to stay over. We were pleasantly surprised by the accommodations available at the new Holiday Inn Express which offered surprisingly upscale rooms and an overall feel that was modern and pleasing, with gorgeous desert views right out the window.
If you’re traveling by RV, Calico offers campsites right on the park property.
For more information on Calico Ghost Town, phone 1-800-TO-CALICO or visit www.calicotown.com.
Bodie
If you’re looking for a California ghost town that is a little less commercial, the state has helped to restore the town of Bodie on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada range. This one will be a little harder to get to and will require a lot more walking. But it will be worth it.
If you thought those underwater photos of the Titanic were at once haunting and mesmerizing, Bodie gives you the same feeling. Just as you imagined what life must have been like in those last fateful hours of the Titanic’s tragic maiden voyage, a look inside the many remaining buildings at Bodie will stir you to ponder just how life had been during those years back in the 1880s when Bodie was bustling with 10,000 souls.
In 1859, gold was discovered near this town by Waterman S. Body and townspeople paid homage to Body by naming the town after him with one slight variation: The residents were concerned that Body would be pronounced as it is spelled so they changed the spelling to Bodie.
As mining on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada went into decline, miners crossed the mountains to search for other sources of gold and, soon, with the discovery of such deposits as the famed Comstock Lode at Virginia City, this whole area east of the mountains began to surge with the influx of miners.
By all accounts, it was wild, raucous sort of existence during the 1880’s as miners and other residents indulged themselves at the 65 saloons that had sprung up all over town. Killings were said to be an almost daily occurrence. According to the park service, Bodie was also the scene of many robberies, stage holdups and street fights. Along Bonanza Street, Maiden Lane and Virgin Alley, ladies of the night set up a row of one-room cabins called "cribs."
Having read all the stories about Bodie, we were primed to see just what was left of this town and its colorful past. The country road to Bodie is clearly marked on US 395 just south of Bridgeport, and our anticipation grew with each of the 13 winding miles. Along the way we could see in our rearview mirrors the panoramic views of the Sierra range that became more and more spectacular as we climbed closer to Bodie’s 8,300-foot elevation.
Then, at the top of the grade and just around a corner, there stood Bodie. From a distance it didn’t look like a complete town but rather a lot of random out-buildings spread over a few modest hills. Then, as we came closer, the buildings began to take shape – a church and steeple at the edge of town, a few remarkably well preserved houses, and then a few larger Main Street buildings that looked like they had been built for a Western movie – except this was the real thing. This was a real town where real cowboys had real gunfights.
Maybe it’s because we’re more accustomed to visiting movie lots and fake western towns, but somehow we weren’t quite prepared for our first glimpse into one of these buildings – which happened to be the old Methodist Church. There, covered in a thick layer of dust, were the hand-carved pews, the pulpit and an ornate pipe organ. It seemed that, with just a bit of a scrub down, this church could be ready to host a congregation this coming Sunday.
And that’s when the Titanic effect started to kick in. We had come to see the buildings of a town that had its hay day more than a hundred years ago, but somehow we had not realized that this historic park was much more than a set of buildings – many of those buildings are, in fact, mini-museums still housing the artifacts of the day. In some cases, it looks like the residents just got up and left one day, but didn’t take anything with them.
To learn more about Bodie State Historic Park, call 760-647-6445 or visit www.parks.ca.gov. Online, you can also visit www.bodie.com, where the Friends of Bodie offer many more details about the town.
exit to Calico Ghost Town
About the Author
Cary Ordway is a syndicated travel writer, focusing on regional travel. Visit his websites if you need information on California travel or Pacific Northwest travel.
What made the old west movies so popular then and now?
I was just watching an episode of MASH where they watched "My Darling Clementine" and got to thinking what made these old west movies so popular back then and now
i think because there was hardly any law. the only person who had authority was the sheriff, and they were usually challenged in those films to duels. i think its the idea of a whole town of rebels (which had a romantic element about it - women love rebellious/hard to control men). so it draws in both a male and female audience. women swoon over the men, and men want to be like those in the films.
Real Wild West - 1of4