Stories that Won the West with Jim Dunham (02-03-2026)

Stories that Won the West· looks at the events, characters and stories that took place this week in American Western History. It's our chance to put a weekly focus on stories from the Old West with host Jim Dunham and brought to us by the Booth Western Art Museum. 

On this week·s episode of ·Stories that Won the West·, we open with the birth of legendary Western Film director, John Ford. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, formerly ending the Mexican-American War. Utah becomes the 2nd territory allowing women the right to vote. Journalist Horace Greeley is born and coined the phrase, ·Go West, young man, go West!· Samuel Clemmens first publishes a piece under his pen name, Mark Twain. The female outlaw Belle Starr is killed in Oklahoma, shot off her horse by a shotgun blast. Ironically, she was killed one day before her birthday. Henry Longbow, AKA the Sundance Kid, gets out of jail and befriends Butch Cassidy, forming the outlaw band known as the Wild Bunch. San Francisco got 3.7 inches of snow. The first crime is committed by the Dalton Gang, robbing a train in California. Ironically, the career also ends as a Texas posse catches them and ends their crime spree six years after it started. Also this week, Daniel Boone was captured by Shawnee Indians, eventually becoming friends with them five months later. Charles Siringo is born in Texas, the writer of ·A Texas Cowboy.· Davy Crockett arrives at the Alamo. The last item, President Cleavland signs the Dawes Act, setting up land for the Indians outside of being on a Reservation.