Welcome to the legends and lore of the Old West, as well as a few other enticing stories sure to delight you. It's been claimed that legends are nothing more than mysteries wrapped in riddles and cloaked in conundrums, that trying to locate a true root for any legend is sheer folly. True or not, the hunt is exhilarating. Nearly everyone loves legends, and who really cares if their origins can never be fully explained to the satisfaction of all? Theories abound, and that's just the way things are. To paraphrase Walter Lord, it is a fool, indeed, who professes to know all there is about the stories presented on these pages.
All legends are unique. They tend to be exaggerated beyond belief and attract people like magnets. Is there anyone who has not heard of Geronimo? Or Davy Crockett? How about George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn? Need a few examples from fiction? How about The Lone Ranger, or Tom Sawyer, or Long John Silver. Washington Irving even named one of his most enduring short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." How do we know Irving's story has no real basis in fact? He wove the tapestry so thick that it has withstood the ravages of time. Most storytellers do.
In these pages, you will meet some of the most fascinating legends in history. There's the greatest living legend in the American Southwest, border bandits, headless horsemen, and mini-bios galore. Answers do not come easily when legends are shrouded in superstition, folklore, and myth, and many will never be explained, but the ones you read here are sure to tickle your thirst for the truth.
Disclaimer: This is a repository for some of the most fascinating legends in history. We will not accept personal essays on any subject, as it is not our intention to be a public forum or discussion group. We want the legend, not someone's theory on it. We will credit the authors where known, but we are not the Internet Police. It is not our intent to verify the credentials of any writer, and we do not claim to do otherwise. We do strive for accuracy, but keep in mind that most of these stories have no real solutions. There are variants galore, given the age of the legends and the plethora of writers who have researched and expounded upon them. If you think something is wrong, rest assured that someone else thinks it is correct. Don't write and tell us to change something just because it disagrees with what you think you know. No one is an expert.
Based on feedback from educators, we will not include a Bibliography at the end of the stories, but we will also not accept a submission without one. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes the serious researcher, but it forces the "term-paper" student to do his own homework, which is what educators are asking of us.
We travel frequently, so updates will be sporadic.
The email hyperlink has been removed because of computer spam. You can physically type in the address, but computers will not be able to get to it.
basaranca@cox.net
Site last updated March 23, 2009