Spurred West

04/19/2026

Spurred West had a great time at this year's A Taste of History. We educated a lot of people about local natives such as John Henry Holliday and Paden Tolbert. We want to thank all the volunteers and Griffin/Spalding Chamber of Commerce for putting on another fantastic event. We look forward to September 12 for the Doc Holliday Festival.

02/25/2026

Spurred West would like everyone to say a prayer for our dear friend, Jeff Shubert , and his family.

01/29/2026

If anyone lives south of Atlanta and is interested in joining our group, please DM us! We have some huge things happening this year, and we would love to grow in our numbers.

01/27/2026

11/07/2025

Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday had one of the most fascinating friendships in the Old West--one that took them through thick and thin. And a new book by Mark Lee Gardner focuses on that relationship.

The November Tombstone Epitaph has an excerpt from that trailblazing book, Brothers of the Gun: Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and a Reckoning in Tombstone.

Also, the lies and falsehoods told by lawman John Poe. An analysis of a classic Western. And we remember long-time Tombstone historian Ben Traywick.

tombstoneepitaph.com

10/16/2025

Samuel Hart & Company (Philadelphia & New York) - c1860 Hart’s Linen Eagle Playing Cards

09/27/2025

Yesterday, 100 students from Garden Lakes Elementary School in Rome, Georgia came face-to-face with four legends of Georgia history:

- Lawman and Texas Ranger Dick Ware (Rome)
- Gambler, gunslinger, and dentist Doc Holliday (Griffin)
- King of the Frontier Conmen Jeff “Soapy” Smith (Newnan)
- Preeminent Georgia grocer J. J. Maddox (Canton)

As the students filtered through Rotary Park in historic Downtown Rome, they were transported to the Wild West.

They learned about what life was truly like for these legendary Georgians before the Civil War, and how that conflict, the Reconstruction period, and other powerful forces drove them to seek a new life out West.

At the end, the students participated in Soapy Smith’s most notorious con, the “prize soap sale,” where buyers were promised hidden money inside select soap bars. Inevitably, Soapy’s own accomplices were the only ones to actually win any money!

Since we ran the game with candy instead of soap, the students weren’t too disappointed that they didn’t win the prizes!

Thanks so much to the Rome Area History Center for inviting us to join this fun field trip!

09/26/2025