Dr. History's Tales of the Old West

Columbus, Cortes and other explorers brought sheep to the Americas. The California gold rush miners needed food; sheep was the answer. "Uncle Dick" Wootton bought 9,000 sheep, after a fight with a Ute Chief and crossing the Sierra Nevadas he made a $50,000 profit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was leader of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. He stared down a grizzly bear, recovered stolen horses from Shoshone Indians, escaped from some Gros Ventre warriors, escaped from Blackfeet warriors. Later he guided wagon trains and was an agent for the several Indian tribes and died at the age of fifty-five. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He made a lot of money with his Wild West Shows, but always seemed to be short on money. He thought mines would be easy money, it wasn't. He poured a lot of money into several mines, none of which ever produced a profit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1852 the first attempts to transport goods up the Colorado River to Fort Yuma failed. Capt. George Johnson succeeded with the General Jesup, then added a second stern-wheeler. He discovered the Colorado River could be navigated 400 miles upriver from Fort Yuma. He retired a wealthy man. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He taught himself to walk the high wire and hired on with a circus. His career took him around the world riding hot air balloons, walking tightropes, parachute jumps and high diving into nets. He was shot down in a hot air balloon serving in the Spanish-American War. He was the star attraction for thousands with his daring high wire acts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A cry for help caused Harry Penol to find Frank Fosterson, trapped under a ton of rock. Penol carried him to Salmon Idaho, but it was too late. Before Fosterson died he told Penol there were five sacks of gold in the cave which had a very rich vein of gold. Penol returned the next year but was never able to find the lost gold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Once the richest mining town, the boom didn’t last. The citizens decided to build an ice palace to make money. Under one roof, an ice-skating rink, two ballrooms, a band, a restaurant, food concessions, paintings, sculptures, curling contests, speed skating, dance contests and ice hockey tournaments. It was a financial failure and with an early warm weather left it a pile of watery mush. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The blizzard of 1888 struck in the afternoon while children were still in school. Some miracles occurred that saved lives. Unfortunately, over 200 people perished. Seven year old Martha tells her story of survival and the tragedy of the death of a baby. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1866, the 136 foot long, 300 ton stern wheeler steamboat, the Shoshone, was built near Fort Boise. The owners wanted to supply men and goods to the gold fields. Hells Canyon proved hazardous, but she made it to Lewiston and down the Columbia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Virgil joined a posse in Prescott, Arizona. He helped take down two outlaws with sharpshooting from his Winchester rifle. That was the beginning of his experience in law enforcement. A year later he rose to fame with his brothers in a gunfight at the OK corral. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Muliti-Millionaire and Mayor of Leadville, H. W. Tabor, only hired Marshals who lived by his rules until he hired Marty Duggan. He arrested one of the Mayor's cronies and threatened Tabor to put him in jail for attempted bribery. Duggan brought peace and respectability to Leadville. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The story behind the songs, "God Bless America," "My Country Tis of Thee," "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Hail Columbia" and "The National Anthem." As we sing our National Anthem we can picture Francis Scott Key on board the British ship sending bomb after bomb at our flag and how he described to the prisoners on the ship that "the flag was still there." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kidnapped at age four, he lived among the Shoshone Tribe and was a favorite of Chief Washakie. He learned how to hunt with bow and arrow and took part in their rituals. At age nine he was reunited with his family at Fort Bridger. He stayed out west, married and had thirteen children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

March 1806 the Corps headed up the Columbia River. The Skillets, Shahaptian Tribes, Walla Wallas and Nez Perce all helped until they crossed the Bitteroots and Rockies. The expedition continued to explore on their way arriving in St. Louis September 23, 1806 to great celebrations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They just missed a trading ship for the return trip. Fort Clatsop was a fifty by fifty foot stockade with seven cabins. They had shelter and plenty of game to hunt. They learned how to make moccasins, buckskin clothes and storing food from the nearby Clatsop Indians. On March 18, 1806 they prepared for the return journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Pacific Plateau System of trade among tribes was effective for tribes from the Rockies to the Pacific coast. It was the end of the trail, but Lewis and Clark found the Pacific coast to be a cold, wet place. Thirty-three individuals would spend a wet, isolated winter together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After 3714 miles they reached the Columbia River. The faced miles of dangerous rapids and had to portage around some while riding through others in their dugout canoes. They met different tribes that were harvesting salmon that could be processed and preserved for several years. They still had challenges to reach the Pacific. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wetxuiis lived among the whites, so when Lewis and Clark stumbled upon some Nez Perce, she convinced Chief Twisted Hair that they were good people and should not be killed. The near starved and exhausted expedition was fed camas and meat by the Nez Perce and were able to continue their journey. The journey may have ended there were it not for the intervention of Wetxuiis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ezra and wife Eliza were part of the 1852 emigration to Oregon Territory. In 1906, 76 year old Ezra retraced his Oregon Trail journey with oxen and a covered wagon. He placed historical markers on his route. In 1910 he did it again, both times took 2 1/2 years. A self appointed spokesman for the thousands who traveled the Oregon Trail, he wanted to keep the history alive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They tried to be humane in legal hangings. The rope had to be 1 and 1/2 inches thick, soaked, dried, and softened. There was a formula with the weight of the victim to show how far he was to be dropped. The “hangman's knot" would only slip one way and could not be loosened. Mistakes were made. Blackjack Ketchum’s head came off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Too many single men in the West and too many single Women in the East. The answer was personal ads in newspapers. It was a leap of faith. Most wrote letters for one or two years, but usually married within one or two days of meeting. Most were successful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joe Wolf was a promoter and con man. He advertised a great Spanish bullfight complete with the world’s greatest bullfighter, Cavlos Garcia, a lady bullfighter, Cazadoro fighting bulls and a sharp shooter. At showtime, there was no lady bullfighter, only Texas longhorns, an unknown bullfighter who had to chase the steer who refused to fight. Wolf was arrested, eventually left town without paying his debts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Qumran Caves contained the Dead Sea Scrolls. Masada’s defenders committed suicide rather than be taken Roman prisoners. A beautiful valley where David killed Goliath. And Jerusalem where Jesus walked, the synagogues where He taught, His tomb after the crucifixion, Gethsemane, Golgotha, the Wailing Wall and the Temple Mount. So many experiences and not enough time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The trip of a lifetime, Cairo and the pyramids, the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, King Tut’s mummy, the temples of Ramses the II, the Nile River, the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee and of course Jerusalem and the many sites mentioned in the Bible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As successor to his father, he had more influence and authority than any living Sioux Chief. In 1895, the most powerful leaders were Crazy Horse, Red Cloud and Young Man Afraid. On several occasions he prevented conflicts between the military and his people. He was a great leader and a friend to the white authorities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He arrived in Deadwood as a prospector, but soon turned to gambling. At the No.10 Saloon, he didn’t take his usual stool at the card table. Jack McCall had lost big to Wild Bill the night before. Without warning, he pulled a six shooter and shot Wild Bill in the back of the head and was eventually hung. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He began his practice at Fort Halleck as post surgeon, Dakota Territory. He cared for soldiers, emigrants, scouts, freighters and locals. He developed an amputation method called “disarticulation,” amputating the limb at the joint. A strong advocate for clean water and a central sewer system in Laramie and one of the founders of the Laramie Presbyterian Church. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Potawatomi’ left their reservation to hunt buffalo to prepare for a hard winter. After a successful hunt they camped near a small new community of freed slaves who were destitute, no food or shelter. They fed the people, helped build shelters, then split all their food and buffalo robes with them. They would not have survived without the kindness of the Potawatomi Prairie Band. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Born into slavery, once free he headed west. He joined the Rocky Mountain Fur Company along with Hugh Glass and Jim Bridger. He married a Crow woman and lived with the Crow band for several years. He was in California for the gold rush, blazed trails across the Rockies and Sierra Nevada’s. He achieved as much or more than his white counterparts and is now being recognized for his accomplishments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Young Mohave boys were encouraged to race each other to prepare to be a runner. The runners enabled small bands to communicate and trade with each other. They could run 100 miles in 3 hours, 200 miles in 24 hours, even out run a horse over a long distance and go four days without food. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marshal Dyer charged the government for cows and seed potatoes, the prisoners did the work, then sold it back to the government. Sheriff Johnny Behan testified against the Earps. Pinkerton Detective Tom Horn was caught robbing a faro game eventually hung for killing a rancher’s son. Most lawmen served honestly and with integrity facing danger and poor pay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Almy coal Mine Number 5 had water, methane gas, explosive dust and the danger of cave-ins and fire. Although they used the most modern safety equipment at the time, in 1895 two explosions destroyed equipment and instantly killed sixty-two miners. Some suffocated, burned or were killed by flying debris or concussion. The mine closed in 1909. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A robber and killer, he was caught and after three attempts he was finally hung. His remains were found in 1950 in a whiskey barrel. His fame came from the fact that his skull and “strange” shoes are in one museum, his skull cap and shackles he wore are in another museum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Black with white tufts of hair at the bottom of his legs, Steamboat was a magnificent horse. So powerful at unloading riders, they called him the “Outlaw Horse.” Some say his image is on the Wyoming license plate. One of only five horses named to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Native Americans lived there for thousands of years. Mountain men, trappers and fur traders followed by “Bachelor settlers” prospectors, immigrants, runaways, and refuges from the law. The last of the old west, these people endured hardship but used the natural resources to make a living. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Native Americans rounded up rattlesnakes, put them in a pen, then prodded them to strike a piece of liver to inject the venom. They pushed their arrow and lance tips into the liver to get the poison. There were many ideas how to treat snake bites, some worked, some didn’t. Today, getting to a hospital is the most important. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Native Americans all knew where they came from as these stories passed down from generations. There is a strong spiritual bond with the “Creator”, “The Master of Life”, the “Great Spirit” or “Wakan Tanka”. Most tribes believed their land was the center of the world and was a sacred place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The fifty soldiers at Fort Hill in Los Angeles were surrounded by five hundred native Californians. Lean John was chosen to ride for help. A horse was shot out from under him, he still rode over 500 miles, in five days on ten horses. The fastest ride from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Christmas Message. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pioneer Christmas was a special occasion, trees were decorated with popcorn, pinecones and ribbons. All gifts were handmade, Christmas eve was spent going to church, Christmas day was a day of good food and spending time with family and friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1894 Emilie Tremblay was living with her husband in a one room sod-roof cabin in the Yukon. As the only woman, she decided to make Christmas dinner for the local miners. Stuffed rabbit, roast caribou, beans, potatoes, sourdough bread and butter, with cake and plum pudding for dessert1. She remembers it as the best time she ever had. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Three German prospectors claimed to have a good gold find on the Snake River near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They conned John Tonnar into funding the venture and being a partner. There were arguments, the three miners were found dead. Tonnar was suspected, arrested, but found innocent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hidden in Targhee National Forest is stolen treasure, buried by the outlaws who usually came to a bad end. Jim Locket and his gang were all caught and paid the price after burying their loot. A young man buried his stolen treasure, but died at the end of a rope. Some has been found, but more lies undisturbed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nellie Burgess drew on forty acres along the Snake River and called it the Rainbow Ranch. She planted a garden and trees, hauling water by bucket from the river. Along with the other homesteaders, they built a church and improved on their homes and ranches. It grew into the small Idaho community of King Hill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Butch Cassidy carefully planned the robbery, arranged for horses and supplies and with help from other gang members made his escape from a sympathetic posse. He even rescued a stray dog. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Also called the "Sheepeaters." They lived high in the Rockies, were excellent hunters, well dressed and fed. They were a peaceful tribe, but became extinct due to smallpox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jake was a failure at being a rodeo star, so decided to be a rodeo clown. He had a trick mule, dog and skunk and once butted heads with a bull which left both knocked out. He brought a lot of applause and laughter with his act and retired at age 72. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Known as the Grey Fox, he had a habit of always getting caught when he committed a crime. He also managed to escape from prison several times, but eventually died in prison. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They said Henderson Luelling was crazy to think he could take a heavy wagonload of fruit trees to Oregon. He made the trip, started the Luelling and Meek Nursery and sold grafting shoots all over Washington, Oregon, and California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Because of a huge demand for feathers, Arizona ranchers imported ostriches in 1883. They were cheap to raise, ate less and produced $30 a year in income. The feathers were cut and sold at a huge profit until it became unfashionable to wear feathers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices