They didn’t call it the Wild West for nothing! America’s frontier days were a whirlwind of change as settlers pushed westward into untamed lands. Imagine a place where gunfights weren’t just movie scenes, outlaws often held sway in newly formed towns, and saloon brawls or high-stakes gambling were just part of a Tuesday. It was a pioneer’s life, full of grit and the unexpected.
It’s no surprise, then, that this era of westward expansion is packed with tales that will make your jaw drop. We’re talking about everything from bold adventures and shocking acts of violence to outright bizarre occurrences. The West was truly won in ways that are hard to grasp today.
Think beyond the usual stories of Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid. The frontier was home to little-known Civil War battles, whispers of UFO encounters (seriously!), tales of rumored cannibals, and even an attempt to use camels for transport. Get ready to explore ten of the most surprising and strange stories from the Old West. Let’s saddle up!
10. The Civil War Stretched to New Mexico
When you think of the Civil War, images of Gettysburg or Sherman’s March likely come to mind, all on the Eastern Seaboard. But did you know a crucial skirmish happened far out west, in New Mexico? This battle was incredibly important for the future of westward expansion.
In late March 1862, New Mexico was vast, untamed territory. However, its northern part offered access to southern Colorado’s rich mining areas in the Rocky Mountains. Controlling New Mexico meant a clear path to California. So, while distant from Southern plantations, its strategic value for the future of slavery and the nation was immense.
Both Union and Confederate forces recognized this. Despite few troops stationed so far west, they knew securing this land was vital. Thus, on March 26, 1862, the Battle of Glorieta Pass began. Though involving only about 2,500 soldiers, it was a pivotal early moment in the war.
Initially, Texas Confederates gained an advantage, nearly decimating a Union contingent. But after several days of fierce fighting, a determined group of New Mexico Volunteers scaled the cliffs of Glorieta Mesa. Achieving the high ground by surprise, they cornered a large, now-vulnerable Texan force below.
The Union ultimately won this bloody battle, and later, the war. While often overlooked in history books, Glorieta Pass was a key turning point. Had the Confederates prevailed, they could have easily pushed westward, potentially invading Arizona and claiming lands in Mexico. With no opposition, California and its valuable coastline would have been next. What a different history might have been written!
9. Cowboys Reported Seeing Aliens
We often associate UFO sightings and alien abduction tales with more recent times, as technology advanced. However, claims of unidentified flying objects have been recorded for centuries, and they were surprisingly not unheard of in the Wild West!
One of the most prominent Western alien encounters was reported in 1896. In Lodi, California, a Civil War veteran and journalist named H.G. Shaw claimed he and a friend witnessed a group of extraterrestrials. Shaw described them in the local newspaper as “7 feet tall and very slender with small hands, fingers without nails, and feet twice as long as normal and functioned similar to a monkey’s feet.”
Shaw even theorized about their origin, writing in the Lodi News-Sentinel, “Those we beheld were inhabitants of Mars… sent to the earth for the purpose of securing one of its inhabitants.” Sound familiar? Those modern alien abduction narratives had to start somewhere!
This wasn’t an isolated incident. A year after Shaw’s sighting, residents of Aurora, Texas, reported seeing cigar-shaped flying objects overhead. A few months later, some townsfolk even claimed a UFO “slipped from the heavens and exploded in the middle of the town.” While skeptics dismissed it as a meteorite, rumors of an alien visit persisted for years. Life in the remote West certainly fueled some imaginative observations, whether born of isolation or actual strange encounters. Even today, the West, with areas like Roswell and the Marfa lights, remains a hotspot for alleged extraterrestrial activity.
8. Rumors of Crazed Cannibals in Nevada
According to legends passed down by Native American tribes in what is now Nevada, a fearsome tribe of red-haired giant cannibals once roamed the area. These giants, known as the Si-Te-Cah by the Northern Paiute tribe, supposedly terrorized local bands thousands of years ago. Imagine fiery-haired, human-eating giants – a truly terrifying prospect!
The Paiute claim these cannibals consumed a fibrous water plant that gave their hair its distinct red color. They were said to have hunted humans across the high deserts long before settlers arrived from the east. Thankfully, the Paiute say they eventually put an end to this menace.
Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, a Northern Paiute activist and archivist, documented these oral traditions. She wrote that Paiute warriors managed to trap the Si-Te-Cah in a large cave and then set the entrance ablaze, ensuring the cannibals perished inside. Hopkins even mentioned a family heirloom, a dress trimmed with reddish hair, supposedly from this vanquished tribe, referred to as a “mourning dress.”
While these legends are ancient, modern historians offer a more grounded perspective. It’s plausible a tribe with common red hair genetics existed in the region. However, they were likely not giants, perhaps just slightly taller than average for the time. Or, more likely, centuries of oral storytelling exaggerated their features. Regardless, the legend of Nevada’s hungry giants remains a vivid part of Paiute lore.
7. A Feud That Rivaled the Hatfields and McCoys
The infamous Hatfield and McCoy feud is legendary, but the Wild West had its own equally brutal, if not more extensive, family conflict. In post-Civil War Texas, the Sutton and Taylor families harbored a deep-seated animosity.
The feud ignited in 1866 when Buck Taylor killed a Sutton ally. It escalated two years later with the deaths of Taylor and another man, Dick Chisholm, during a contentious horse sale. The Taylors, fiercely proud Southerners still bitter about the Confederacy’s defeat, dug in their heels. The Suttons, conversely, aligned with local Texas militia and state police focused on Reconstruction. By 1869, William Sutton, the family patriarch, had even taken control of the police, conducting raids against Taylor-sympathizing cattle rustlers.
For the next five years, DeWitt County, Texas, became a battleground. Other families were forced to choose sides, risking death regardless of their allegiance. Senseless violence and skirmishes became commonplace.
By 1874, the death toll was so high that the Texas Rangers intervened. They struggled for months to quell the violence. The feud only began to slow by late 1875, not due to successful negotiations, but because the most aggressive members on both sides had mostly been killed. Several more murders occurred in the following years, though at a dwindling rate. By the late 1870s, at least 22 Taylor family members and 13 Suttons, along with numerous friends and allies, had perished. The legal battles stemming from the violence continued for another two decades before a semblance of peace returned.
6. Oregon’s Complicated Stance on Slavery
As the Old West was settled, slavery remained a contentious issue, particularly in the South. Before the Civil War, newly forming Western states grappled with their own stances on the matter.
Oregon, for instance, established its provisional government in 1844. The state decided against slavery, and a founding figure, Peter Burnett, drafted an amendment to prevent it. The bill declared slavery illegal in Oregon. Families bringing slaves into the state were given three years to “remove them out of the country.” If not removed within that timeframe, the enslaved individuals would be declared free.
However, there was a shocking catch. Section 6 of Burnett’s bill mandated that any formerly enslaved individuals freed in Oregon had to leave the state immediately. The penalty for non-compliance was brutal: the bill became known as “Peter Burnett’s lash law” because it ordered freed Black individuals remaining in Oregon to be whipped “not less than twenty or more than thirty-nine stripes.” Essentially, Burnett aimed to make it illegal for Black people to live in Oregon.
By 1849, this interpretation was law. While it’s unclear if any freed slaves were actually lashed under this provision, the bill effectively barred Black people from settling in the new state. Burnett feared that Black settlers would “instill into their minds feelings of hostility toward the white race.” Astonishingly, this exclusion law remained on Oregon’s books until 1926.
5. Camels Once Roamed the American West
Long before the Transcontinental Railroad connected the nation, some believed camels were the key to westward expansion. Yes, camels! While horses were iconic to Western culture, camels could carry heavy loads for miles and were theoretically suited to the arid conditions of the American West, given their desert ancestry.
In the 1840s and 1850s, supply trains began using camels for shorter journeys across various regions, from Texas to Washington. By the late 1850s, Edward Fitzgerald Beale led several dozen camels on a 1,200-mile trek from the Midwest to a destination north of Los Angeles, capturing pioneers’ attention.
Confederate Major Henry Wayne optimistically stated, “Americans will be able to manage camels not only as well, but better than Arabs, as they will do it with more humanity and with far greater intelligence.” Despite the era’s casual racism, his statement highlighted the belief in camels’ potential for Western travel.
In 1857, the U.S. government purchased hundreds of camels for logistical use and pastured them in Texas. They were somewhat forgotten until the Civil War. Confederate forces in Texas rounded up these animals, forming what became known as the Camel Corps. Some camels delivered mail, others were sold for war funds. One, Old Douglas of the 43rd Mississippi Infantry, famously died in the siege of Vicksburg. Ultimately, the Camel Corps wasn’t a resounding success; camels proved too slow and temperamental. Horses and mules remained superior. However, for years afterward, tales of wild camels, like the infamous Red Ghost of Arizona, circulated. These feral camels eventually died out, fading into a curious footnote of Western history.
4. The Enduring Mystery of Lost Mines
While tales like that of the Red Ghost camel blended fact with fiction, no frontier myths are more captivating than those of lost mines and hidden fortunes. The West was largely settled due to gold and silver rushes, drawing countless hopeful prospectors.
Most who panned for gold found little, but the few who struck it rich fueled the dreams of others. This gave rise to legends of lost mines, stashed treasures, and undiscovered loot—miners supposedly hid their wealth from thieves, leaving it for future discovery.
While likely mostly false, these stories spread like wildfire. Decades after the rushes ended, tales of hidden riches continued to entice. The most famous, still attracting attention today, is the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine. Said to be located in the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix, it was supposedly first worked by a German immigrant, Jacob Waltz, nearly 200 years ago. Countless prospectors have searched for it; none have found it, and some have died trying. Many other alleged lost mines hold similar allure, including Idaho’s Wheelbarrow Mine, New Mexico’s Adams Diggings, Washington’s Janni’s Chimney, and Oregon’s Lost Blue Bucket Mine, continuing to fascinate treasure hunters.
3. The Unbelievable Crash at Crush
William Crush, a railroad executive with a flair for the dramatic, wanted to ignite public enthusiasm for rail travel at the close of the 19th century. In 1894, seeking to promote the new Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company, or “Katy,” he conceived a spectacular publicity stunt.
Crush organized a massive carnival in a temporary Texas town he named after himself. The main event? A deliberately staged head-on collision between two 35-ton train engines. This was prime entertainment in the Old West. And, financially, it was a huge success—except for the tragic human cost.
On the day of the event, “Crush, Texas” temporarily became the second-largest city in the state, with over 40,000 spectators. As promised, Crush sent two steam-powered trains hurtling towards each other at over 50 miles per hour. The impact resulted in a colossal explosion, sending steam, fire, and debris flying. Two people were killed, and hundreds were injured. However, thousands were reportedly impressed by the display of railroad power. One attendee, JC Deane, who lost an eye, received $10,000 from the Katy Railroad Company.
Initially horrified by the deadly outcome, the railroad fired Crush. But when they saw the immense public attention the event garnered, they quickly rehired him, apparently hungry for more. It seems the adage “no publicity is bad publicity” held true even then.
2. Gambling: A Respected Wild West Profession
From Las Vegas’s enduring allure to modern online sports betting, gambling has long been woven into American life. This was certainly true in the Old West. In a way, venturing West was a gamble itself, with pioneers risking their lives against numerous dangers. So, arriving in the West often meant one already had a taste for risk.
Once settled, card games became a common pastime and a way to earn a living. Gambling was so prevalent that it was considered a respectable profession. As one historian noted, “In the early West, gambling was considered a profession, as legitimate a calling as the clergy, the law or medicine.”
High-stakes games with large pots drew full-time gamblers across the West. These individuals traveled from town to town, earning their keep at the card table. Some resorted to cheating and elaborate schemes to fleece unsuspecting locals, quickly skipping town with their winnings before being discovered.
Out in California, professional gambling was almost a way of life. Card players flocked there throughout the 19th century, offering their skills for cash. For many, it became a destination in itself as they traversed the frontier, seeking fortune and excitement.
1. The West’s Wild and Perilous Whiskey
Alongside gambling, whiskey was a staple for many on the frontier. However, the whiskeys served back then were a far cry from what you’d find today. Their names alone hinted at their wild nature: Forty Rods, Tarantula Juice, and Taos Lightning. These concoctions were incredibly potent and often contained shocking ingredients—sometimes even poisons like strychnine.
Other liquors included additives like turpentine and tobacco oil. For many, the first shot was so harsh it necessitated a second just to wash it down and try to forget the taste. If one could stomach it, a couple of rounds would often lead to a chemical-induced stupor, only to repeat the cycle the next day.
This perhaps isn’t surprising from a logistical standpoint. Western saloons were often sparse, towns were far apart, and supply lines were unreliable. Crucially, there were no food or beverage regulations in the 19th-century West. Without rules dictating what whiskey should (or shouldn’t) contain, saloon keepers got creative—sometimes, a little too creative. But they certainly kept things interesting. Would you dare a shot of strychnine-laced whiskey? Thankfully, with the West long won, that’s a question you’ll likely never have to answer!
Conclusion
The Wild West was far more than cowboys and simple tales of heroism. It was a period filled with astonishing, peculiar, and sometimes unsettling events that often go unmentioned in popular history. From Civil War battles fought on unexpected frontiers and early UFO sightings to bizarre local legends of cannibals, ambitious (if ill-fated) experiments with camels, and whiskey potent enough to fell an ox, the true stories of the West are often stranger than fiction. These ten accounts offer just a glimpse into the truly wild and unpredictable nature of America’s frontier days, reminding us that history is always full of surprises.
What’s the strangest Wild West tale you’ve ever heard? Leave your comment below and share your thoughts!
