Uno Behind The Hoosegow And How Do You Turn This Train Around?

 March 25, 2026

   Woke up with a couple of realizations. The first is how wonderful my friends are who read this blog and contribute their advice so freely—and so boldly! ha. You don't hold back and that is why I love you all. See, below.

Early Morning Uno

Uno sitting among the flowering agaves

behind the pumphouse which is disguised as a Mexican Juzgado, or, in American slang, Hoosegow

(jailhouse).

   Here are just a few of the responses I have been getting on how to make sure the magazine survives beyond the reign of the 66 Kids.

The History of Our Future, Part II

The Searchers article was excellent (March-April, 2026). It was the first article I read in that issue. I would love to see more Making Of stories concerning classic westerns. With the below picture being shared 250,000 times I think those are numbers you can't ignore. 

—Mark (True West Maniac #235), Phoenix, Arizona

The Searchers Cast & Crew at Monument Valley

(Yes, Mark is correct. This photo was shared 250,000 times on Facebook)

Too Much Billy the Kid?

   In my opinion, True West needs to stop this nonsense of every few issues being about Billy the Kid.  Enough.  EVERY SINGLE ISSUE SHOULD BE ABOUT BILLY THE KID.  Let’s be real…who cares about the Earps?  They had a shootout in a corral—big deal!  Doc Holliday?  Just a dentist with tuberculosis.  As for Jesse James…unless we’re talking about the time he and Billy met…yawn.  And don’t get me started on John Wesley Hardin, the Daltons, the Youngers, Black Jack Ketchum….  Nah.  The Kid is obviously the star of Old West history and deserves ALL of the attention.

—Lori Goodloe, President Billy the Kid Outlaw Gang, Phoenix, Arizona

Preserve Or Die But Please Increase The Type Size

   If we don't start preserving the West, there won't

be much left to write about so I would like to see a bit more coverage on the victories in that line.  Also keep covering unique controversial material like the Mormon story of recent vintage; and those tragic yet dramatic tales of the Mexican Revolution and the Indian Wars.  Those folks had a lot of sand. 

   On the other hand you simply have to increase your type size. I have had several friends let their subscriptions go because they can't read the small type.

—Lynda A. Sánchez, Lincoln, New Mexico

Go Younger Old Man

True West needs to focus on more cutting-edge articles with genuinely fresher subject matter. Getting rid of the pointless Classic West feature would create more room. There is a whole younger generation of historians out there digging up new stories and details on a frequent basis. Some of the boomers need to start taking a backseat to their fresher work. The magazine also needs to keep a sharp eye on pop-culture and cash in on any successful new Westerns that make waves like we did with American Primeval. The reality is that much of the boomer readership is dying out (Chuck Norris just checked out) and TW needs to get a little hipper to start appealing to a younger variety of readers—no more of this Jamie Foxx (Django) and Johnny Depp (Dead Man) are "too hip for the room" bullshit.

                                                  — James B. Mills, Dapto, Australia 

Editor’s Note: Dapto is Aboriginal and means “plenty water”

"How about the age-old strategy of: write sh*t your readers want to read? And if you do a good job, they pay you."

—Jeff Lawson, new owner of The Onion which he and a partner rescued from the grips of private equity