Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Unveils New Trump-Approved Exhibit: Kanye www.quillbilly.com/smithsonian-...

No More AP Book Reviews www.quillbilly.com/no-more-ap-b...

Standing for Nothing www.quillbilly.com/standing-for...

What We Stand to Lose at Dinosaur www.quillbilly.com/what-we-stan...

The Mundane Hulk www.quillbilly.com/the-mundane-...

What We Were Taught www.quillbilly.com/what-we-were...

Tin Jesus on Horseback: Buffalo Bill’s Bitter Business and Personal Feuds Buffalo Bill Cody was a legend, but legends are not built alone. His rise to fame depended on key business partnerships, yet those partnerships were often fraught with conflict.

On February 14, 1884, Theodore Roosevelt suffered an unimaginable tragedy—losing both his wife and mother on the same day, in the same house.

Episode 4 of 6 in a series on the 1862 Dakota War I wrote for Legends of the Old West. youtu.be/IVRTtGbTJz0?...

On the morning of August 18, 1862, Dakota warriors launched a devastating attack on the Lower Sioux Agency, igniting the Dakota War. For years, the Dakota had endured broken treaties, starvation, and the callous exploitation of corrupt traders.

On January 10, 1917, 108 years ago today, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody died. The shadow his life and legacy cast over the popular understanding of the American West is immense. Westerns aren't set in the American West; they're set in Buffalo Bill's Wild West.

On the evening of September 18, 1854, a large group gathered at Major M.P. Rively’s store on Salt Creek, near Leavenworth, Kansas.

I’m nervous about New Year’s. I guess I have Auld Lanxiety.

Images like this have recently made the rounds on social media, with claims that they depict “Wild Bill” Hickok and “Buffalo Bill” Cody. However, these images are not authentic photographs—they are AI-generated renderings that bear little resemblance to the historical figures they claim to portray.

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West presented itself, both in Europe and in America, as an authentic historical exhibition, showing the “Drama of Civilization” as it unfolded in the frontier West. Central to this story, and to the Wild West, were the show’s Lakota performers.

5 authors I’ve read 5 or more books by: Edward Abbey Bill Bryson Kurt Vonnegut Piers Anthony Christopher Moore

Doc Holliday Bourbon captures the Wild West vibe, but the label features a misidentified photo often mistaken for John Henry Holliday. Dive into the true story of Doc, the photo’s origins, and why preserving his authentic legacy matters. #WildWest #DocHolliday open.substack.com/pub/matthewk...

Hollywood has never made a love story better than this one. He was a cowboy and she was a ballerina. John Baker Omohundro grew up in a fine southern plantation home in Palmyra, Virginia, and Giuseppina Antonia Morlacchi was born in Milan, Italy.

Hollywood has never made a love story better than this one. He was a cowboy. She was a ballerina. matthewkerns.substack.com/p/the-cowboy...

Last year, nearly five million tourists visited Yellowstone National Park. When Texas Jack Omohundro led the Earl of Dunraven and his friends through the park 150 years ago, in 1874, they were the only ones there. This is Jack's account of that trip. matthewkerns.substack.com/p/texas-jack...

128 years ago, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West visited Chattanooga, Tennessee. matthewkerns.substack.com/p/when-the-w...

Three newly identified images of Texas Jack Omohundro in November 1872, just a month before he and his friend Buffalo Bill Cody left the prairie to star in the stage show that would make them legends. open.substack.com/pub/matthewk...

Defying Death and Shaping a Nation: Unraveling the Riveting Journey of Theodore Roosevelt, the Indomitable Cowboy President. matthewkerns.substack.com/p/it-takes-m...

The chill New England winter of 1868 was set ablaze when Morlacchi introduced America to the fiery Can-Can dance, inflaming the passions of Puritan Boston. matthewkerns.substack.com/p/the-scandalous-can-can

The star of the first American stage western wasn't a lawman, cowboy, or gunslinger—it was a beautiful Italian ballerina. Wooed by aristocrats & robber-barons, she instead fell in love with her cowboy costar. matthewkerns.substack.com/p/the-peerless-morlacchi

In the 1860s Eastern tourists headed west, eager for a glimpse at the frontier. They wrote home about the animals, the landscapes, and men who knew how to leave an impression—men like Wild Bill. matthewkerns.substack.com/p/the-law-in-hays

The world's most famous ballerina, Giuseppin Morlacchi, wanted $500 a night to perform in America in 1867. John De Pol, manager of Banvard's Museum in New York City, thought she was worth the money. matthewkerns.substack.com/p/morlacchi-is-coming

150 years ago, on October 3, 1874, Kintpuash and two of his Modoc tribesmen were executed, the tragic end of a saga of resistance, resilience, and a desperate fight for their ancestral lands. matthewkerns.substack.com/p/the-execut...

In 1890, Texas Jack Jr. showed up in Sydney to demonstrate life in the American West. Bush poet Henry Lawson was not impressed. open.substack.com/pub/matthewk... #TexasJackJunior #AustralianHistory #TexasJack