Tex Ritter Western #31

Sagebrush's circus past comes up when the town gets excited about the big show rolling into town—and he's got a story to tell about his old job under the big top. It turns out his role in the circus was a lot less glamorous than the fellas expected, leading to a punchline that lands right on time.

Tex Ritter, the Prairie Ranger, takes on an assignment to infiltrate a new frontier town plagued by a mysterious band of outlaws who strike fast and vanish without a trace—so he poses as a traveling guitar player to get close to the truth. When Tex himself is caught up in a robbery and chased to a strange, rocky stretch of land marked by a bent pine tree, he realizes the bandits are disappearing in the same impossible way, and he's determined to crack their secret before the next robbery hits.

Buffalo Bull thinks he's found the perfect mark when he convinces a gullible rancher that an ornery goat is actually a brilliant animal—and he's got quite the tall tale to prove it. This humorous Western yarn spins a wild yarn about a goat who outsmarted a train, all in service of making a quick five bucks.

This non-fiction feature traces the evolution of the cowboy saddle from its Mexican vaquero origins to the modern American designs of the 1950s, breaking down each component—horn, fork, cantle, fenders, and stirrups—and explaining how each serves both practical and decorative purposes. From the narrow old-style forks that gradually widened for comfort to the sturdy bronc rider's design, you'll discover how a saddle's construction reflects the demands of ranch work, roping, and riding rough country.

Tex Ritter, the fearless Prairie Ranger, rides into Big Bend to investigate the disappearance of Sheriff Curley Walker and finds the town ruled by the ruthless Blackton—a man who owns nearly everything and isn't afraid to use violence to keep control. When Tex discovers that an innocent man named Jim Carson is about to be lynched for a murder he didn't commit, he steps in to demand a fair trial, but soon learns the real killer may be much closer than anyone suspects. As Tex works to uncover the truth and save Carson's life, he'll need all his quick draw and cunning to take down Blackton's stranglehold on Big Bend.

When Old Smokey orders a five-cent sarsaparilla from the saloon's tough bartender Killer Kole, a dispute over change spirals into a brawl that draws in unexpected allies. This 1955 yarn proves that sometimes standing up to a bully costs more than spare change—in laughs and bruises alike.

This non-fiction piece traces how the railroad transformed the American West, reshaping everything from frontier settlement and law enforcement to cattle commerce and locomotive engineering. Through a series of vignettes—from the rise of vigilante committees against frontier vice to the practical innovations of desert rail travel—the story captures the era when steel rails became the spine of western civilization. A fascinating snapshot of how one invention rewrote the rules of an entire region.