by Jeffery W. Mckelroy When we think of the Old West and westward expansion of the United States, we seldom think of the Pacific Northwest. I think most people tend to think of the striking images from old cowboy movies of wide-open desert terrain and brutal heat. The Pacific Northwest is just as important in…

by Jeffery W. McKelroy If you travel just a few miles northwest of Preston, Idaho along Highway 91 you will arrive upon the site of the Bear River Massacre. In terms of brutality and overall numbers of those killed, it was much more brutal than the better-known Battle of Wounded Knee, but because it took…

by Jeffery W. McKelroy   Virginia City, Nevada   Virginia City embodies the Old West of our childhood dreams. Surrounded by rocky barren hills, the town has retained the look and feel of a turn of the century mining town. While walking down its dusty old streets it is easy to imagine the Lone Ranger riding…

by Jeffery W. McKelroy After leaving Placerville, I headed east over the mountains along the El Dorado Freeway to what was for many pioneers the last stop on their journey west before crossing the mountains into California and a new life. Although, if you reached this place at the wrong time of year it would…