On April 14, 1881 the rough and tumble boom town of El Paso, Texas was true to its wild reputation as the six-gun capitol of the world.
During the civil war, the manufacture of powder and explosives was often handled by the most vulnerable, young women and children, whose labor was needed when so many men had been sent off to war. On March 13, 1863, the confederacy experienced a munitions disaster, in the confederate capitol of Richmond.