For 150 years, people living and working in and around the Stockyards District in Fort Worth, Texas, seem to have been born with a double dose of resiliency, possessing a particular attitude that comes to the surface when someone tells them something cannot be done.

In 1876, when the Texas and Pacific Railroad stopped just shy of the city limits, the people of Fort Worth—spawned from an Army outpost nearly 30 years before—knew they needed that railroad. In response to that need, everyday citizens rolled up their sleeves and laid the last 36 miles of track themselves.

For nearly the next century, the growing cattle industry was king at the Stockyards. From the trail driving days when Fort Worth was the perfect stopover for drovers taking their herds north to Abilene, Kan., to the era of big-time, on-site meat processing by the Armour and Swift companies, the Fort Worth Stockyards was a burgeoning, thriving hub of activity and commerce.

According to an excellent book, The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, the deadliest plague in history—1918-1919—started in Haskell County, Kansas, and one man, Dr. Loring Miner, knew firsthand about it, because many of his patients were dying, but no one would listen.

He issued a warning, published in Public Health Reports to alert health officials to this new outbreak and it is the first reference to the outbreak...

As the shadowy figure entered the darkness of the anteroom, he could hear actor Harry Hawk reciting his soliloquy on the theatrical stage below. The man in black opened the door to the presidential box and found himself standing behind its four unsuspecting occupants. Raising the single-shot pistol to his victim’s head, he pulled the trigger at point-blank range. In the ensuing chaos and brimming smoke from the black powder explosion, the perpetrator...

In his 1907 autobiography, cowboy Nat Love recounts stories from his life on the frontier so cliché, they read like scenes from a John Wayne film. He describes Dodge City, Kansas, a town smattered with the romanticized institutions of the frontier: “a great many saloons, dance halls, and gambling houses, and very little of anything else.” He moved massive herds of cattle from one grazing area to another, drank with Billy the Kid and participated...

After 50 years in professional rodeo, Dayton native Mutt Neuman has a few stories to tell.

Neuman prefaces many conversations with “Let me tell you a story," before launching into tales from his many years as a bull rider, bull dogger, bull fighter, racehorse and rodeo bull raiser, and rodeo promoter.

At 73, Neuman shows no signs of...

INSP is proud of our U.S. military forces, and we commend all who served to protect and defend our nation, past and present, in The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

Let’s take a look at a few INSP stars who put on the uniform before they put on their costumes in Hollywood. We invite you to share stories and photos to honor the veterans in your life in the comments below.