Episodes

Henry Newton Brown was an orphan from Missouri who rode with Billy the Kid during one of the bloodiest range wars in American history. He helped ambush Sheriff William Brady, fought Buckshot Roberts at Blazers Mill, survived ...

Join me as we examine five of the most dangerous and overlooked figures in Old West history. First up is Jesse Evans, the New Mexico outlaw who rode with Billy the Kid, helped spark the Lincoln County War, and then vanished w...

Rufus Nephew, better known as Climax Jim, was a cattle rustler, serial jail breaker, and possibly one of the most entertaining characters you'll ever come across in Old West history. Born in Washington, D.C., in 1876, he some...

Kentucky-born Confederate guerrilla Champ Ferguson used the chaos of the Civil War to settle personal grudges along the Tennessee border, racking up a body count that included his own neighbors and dozens of wounded soldiers....

The Mason County War, also known as the Hoodoo War, was one of the bloodiest feuds in Texas history. In 1875, a conflict over cattle rustling in the Texas Hill Country escalated into a full-blown war between hill country ranc...

Hey, Josh here, with the Wild West Extravaganza. I just wanted to touch base and issue a very quick correction. On the most recent episode – The Insane Life of Billy Brooks – I misattributed many of the quotes. My main source...

In 1872, the violent cattle town of Newton, Kansas, appointed a twenty-two-year-old buffalo hunter named Billy Brooks as its town marshal. It would prove to be one of the most eventful and short-lived law enforcement careers ...

On April 9th, 1892, one man stood alone against 50 hired killers in the wilds of Johnson County, Wyoming. His name was Nate Champion, and what he did over the next twelve hours would go down as one of the greatest last stands...

Did Doc Holliday say, “I’m your huckleberry” or “I’m your huckle bearer?” Or is the whole debate built on nothing more than an internet myth? Join me today as we break down the famous line from Tombstone to hopefully separate...

Should Billy the Kid’s body be exhumed? In today’s episode, we break down the evidence surrounding Billy’s death at Fort Sumner, as well as the two failed attempts to dig up the Kid: the 1961 court fight between Lincoln and F...

In late January 1882, Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo came within mere seconds of turning the streets of Tombstone into a slaughterhouse. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed, and both men were arrested before a shot was fired; a ne...

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Did PTSD exist in the Old West, and if so, did it contribute to the violence of the frontier? Join me as we explore how trauma affected soldiers and civilians alike long before the condition had a name, from Civil War veteran...

We’ve all seen Tombstone, but how much do you really know about the origins of the Clantons? Or to be more specific, how much do you know about the family patriarch, Newman “Old Man” Clanton? Is it true he was really the mean...

Rube Burrow began as an honest cowboy and farmer with every intention of living a simple life. Born in Alabama in 1855, he built a family and worked the land until sickness, failed crops, and tragic loss pushed him past the b...

When did the Old West truly begin, and when did it finally come to an end? Some trace the Wild West’s start to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, while others think it was much late,r as cowboys started trailing herds out of Tex...

When most folks think about the Old West, they almost immediately envision daring lawmen and bloodthirsty outlaws. But did you know that the frontier was filled with ordinary people who also lived truly extraordinary lives? T...

At just 21 years old, Dan Bogan was already facing a death sentence. After a drunken rampage in Texas ended in murder, he and his partner were found guilty and ordered to hang, but Dan wasn’t the type to go quietly. In a chao...

Did Bounty Hunters really exist in the Old West, or is that just another invention of Hollywood? The truth is a lot more complicated than the movies make it seem. Law enforcement in the Old West was patchwork at best, often m...

Barney Riggs was one of the Old West’s most notorious and controversial gunfighters. Born in Arkansas in 1856, Riggs moved to Texas as a child, where violence quickly became a family tradition. At just 18, he killed a friend ...

Who was the deadliest gunfighter of the Old West? Legends like Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid, and Jesse James all have larger-than-life reputations, but the truth is often a lot messier. Join me as we break down the facts a...

On June 27th, 1874, a handful of buffalo hunters found themselves surrounded by hundreds of Comanche at a place called Adobe Walls. Outnumbered more than twenty to one, the odds of survival looked slim. Nevertheless, it was h...