Jacquelina Biggs King: Cherokee Woman Now Recognized in Arizona

Women Writing the West’s “Hottie Historian,” Janelle Molony, has recently brought long-overdue attention to Jacquelina "Lina" Biggs King, a Cherokee-descended Arizona pioneer interred in Phoenix’s oldest cemetery. Entrance to Phoenix's Pioneer & Military Memorial Park. (Janelle Molony 2026) Entrance to City Loosley Cemetery at the Pioneer & Military Memorial Park. (Janelle Molony 2026) This April,Continue reading "Jacquelina Biggs King: Cherokee Woman Now Recognized in Arizona"

New Release: “In the Scent of Horses, Hay, and Old Barns” by Pamela Galbreath

In early autumn 1958, thirty-two-year-old Eleanor Fracker Smith left her family roots in Massachusetts and moved to southeast Wyoming, holding to her life philosophy that “people can do without a lot of things, but no one should have to live without horses.”  Settling on the wind-swept prairie west of Laramie, Ellie bought horses she couldContinue reading "New Release: “In the Scent of Horses, Hay, and Old Barns” by Pamela Galbreath"

Juneteenth: A Bibliography

Juneteenth: a few references on the Black experience in the American West By Leslie Budewitz (Originally published June 19, 2025, on the author’s blog) Juneteenth—the commemoration of the day news of the end of slavery reached Galveston, Texas—is a day to celebrate Black history in the United States. And while we often think of historyContinue reading "Juneteenth: A Bibliography"

Primary Sources: Not Just for Fact-Finding

By Sheila Quinn Charming, But Insufficient Many of us are inspired to write family stories. Motivated by duty, nostalgia, or a desire to set the record straight, we feel set about recording the history of our ancestors. I inherited suitcases full of photographs, letters, maps, receipts, and even locks of hair from three generations ofContinue reading "Primary Sources: Not Just for Fact-Finding"