Dr. History's Tales of the Old West

Dirty, dangerous and slow, thousands traveled by stage. Despite robbers, Indians and narrow roads, the real terror was accidents, sometimes caused by careless drivers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Indians attacked the freight wagon, the military escort abandoned Joe and Mac. Muleskinner Joe held off the attack as Mac rode for help, but would they get there in time? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Known as the "King of Bears", Idaho Jack was big, smart and dangerous. Swartz didn't want to kill this legend; he wanted to outsmart and capture him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was the blacksmith at the Rock Creek Station and rumored to be a horse thief. A detective found enough evidence, so it was decided that Dave Simpson must hang. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whipsaw, an old trapper, took in a captive 2 year old Pawnee Indian boy. Named “Little Cayuse” he had an acute sense of alertness that enabled him to warn of approaching danger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1900 miles of bandits, Indians, blizzards and deserts were challenges faced by these daring and brave young men. A financial failure, it lasted only 18 months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Chilcoot Pass was the route many miners took to the gold fields. They carried the required 2000 pounds of supplies and had their own form of justice for thieves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1851 the Grosh brothers discovered the Comstock Lode. This led to the greatest Nevada boomtown ever, Virginia City. Huge veins of silver and gold produced millions for many of the owners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harry Longabaugh, alias Bob Evans, Tex McGraf or Hiram Bebee, he fought for Pancho Villa, served in World War I, joined a gang with John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, and Pretty Boy Floyd. After killing Marshal Lon Larsen in Utah, he died in 1955 in the Utah State Prison. Was this the real "Sundance Kid"? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Were Butch and Sundance killed in Bolivia? Not according to his sister Lulu, his father, his brothers and more witnesses who met him long after he was supposed to have been killed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The outlaw years, robbing banks in Telluride, Montpelier, Castle Gate, the UP train and Winnemucca. Butch, Sundance and Etta Place left for South America to try to begin a new life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Born Robert Leroy Parker, his grandparents left England, joined a Mormon handcart company and settled in Southern Utah. Oldest child of Maxi and Annie Parker, Butch met outlaw Mike Cassidy and began his career as a bank robber and outlaw. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A land rush was an exciting race to claim a lot in a new town. The general store, or "shebang", was the life of the town, where goods could be purchased, including prefabricated homes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With a rifle, six-shooter, ammunition, horse and blanket, these men faced some of the worst outlaws. The pay was poor, some rode both sides of the law, but most were faithful brave men doing their job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Towns by the thousands sprang up across the west, some prospered and grew. They attracted butchers, bakers, merchants, doctors, but the editor of the newspaper was most important. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He spent time in jail for cattle rustling and robbing a bank. So how did this man become President of the very bank he helped rob, and became a stalwart citizen? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Violence was not uncommon in the small gold rush towns, but the Triskett Gang were thieves and murderers. Frontier justice put an end to their rein of terror. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fires, snags, sand bars and exploding boilers were just some of the dangers for steamboats on the treacherous Missouri River. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The outlaw horse had never been ridden and had killed two men. The pride of the ranch depended on Shorty and his bronc riding ability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Setting broken bones, gunshot wounds, amputations, appendectomies, tracheotomies and even brain surgery was performed by skilled surgeons in the homes of pioneers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was handsome, pleasant, a perfect gentleman but deadly with a six-gun. He rode both sides of the law, rustled a few cows, killed a few cowboys and died the way he lived. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steamboat races on the Sacramento River was a popular pastime. The captains would do anything to win, including ramming and shooting at the the other boat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who was this man and how did he become petrified? Is it General Meagher or Antelope Charley? This rare specimen made a lot of money for the owners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Malee, daughter of a Creek Indian Chief, was known as Florida's Pocahontas after saving the life of a soldier. She was the only woman in US history to be awarded a special medal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Salt beef, salt pork, beans, bread, hardtack, cornmeal mush all washed down with black coffee and they did their own cooking. Food shortages were common, along with moldy, rancid and spoiled meat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lost Creek Mine seemed to bring nothing but bad luck and for some a curse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vaughan was a mix of gunplay, murder, livestock rustling and occasionally a good citizen. The old gunfighter's body, scarred by thirteen bullet wounds, died falling off a horse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Captain John Gunnison was on a surveying mission in Utah Territory. A wagon train of Missourians, determined to kill Indians, and Pahvant Indians bent on revenge ended in tragic death on both sides, including Gunnison. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Early travelers faced choking dust, mud, insects, bad weather, not enough food, sickness and often death. Travelers preferred treatment from traders and mountain men. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 1600's, the Spanish enslaved local natives for mining gold. One man discovered gold, but was shot and killed. Before he died, he told a local cowboy where to find the treasure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ouray, a skilled hunter and fierce warrior, negotiated treaties and was known as the "Peace Chief". Chipeta, his wife, was respected and loved by her people and was known as "Queen of the Utes". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid lived here along with 100 to 200 outlaws from 1880 to 1910. No sheriff or posse dared enter the hideout where an army of killers and robbers were living. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some men carried the secret location of their rich finds to their graves, and yet over a billion dollars in gold and silver came from mines in Idaho, some of which were accidentally found. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Born the daughter of Chief Winnemucca, Sarah was a guide and interpreter for the army. She spent her life trying to get sufficient food and clothing for her people living on reservations with dishonest Indian agents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nearly eaten by a bear, chased by Indians, he hid in a cave, nearly drowned, treed by wolves and near starvation, he was rescued by two trappers. Mountain man and trapper, Tom, finally made it to the annual rendezvous in Pierre's Hole. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over 10,000 sheep and one man were killed during Oregon's sheep and cattle wars. The sheep shooters took an oath of secrecy to join the brotherhood of sheep haters hoping to drive sheep out of the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Dude Wrangler, Jack Potter's Courtin', How Many Cows?, Young Fellers, Reincarnation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg saw thousands killed or wounded. Kirkland, became known as "the angel of Marye's Heights," as he bravely carried water into no-man's land to give relief to wounded soldiers from both sides. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Majete Wildlife Reserve, Mount Mulanji, Monkey Bay and Lake Malawi, and amazing wildlife. The Dzaleka Refugee Camp with 7,000 people just trying to survive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A beautiful green country, thousands of acres of maize, tea, tobacco, macadamia nuts. 24 hour stay in a village eating, sleeping and dancing with these great people. This is the first time the village has done this. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a long trek and hearty meal of hardtack and salt pork they slept in a tent with twelve other soldiers. Water was sometimes strained through their sock causing various forms of intestinal distress (originally recorded 3/12/13). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Life was rough for the cavalry, they faced Indians, bad weather, heat and lack of proper food. They took good care of their horses, carried their own gear and many hours in the saddle could cause "serious" discomfort (originally recorded 3/5/13). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ned Christie, son of a Cherokee Chief, had money and education. He decided robbing banks, trains and stealing horses was a better vocation, until he met Heck Bruner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nancy Kelsey was the first white woman to cross the Sierra Nevadas. She walked barefoot carrying a baby and was an inspiration to her fellow travelers. Nellie Chapman was the first licensed dentist in the Old West. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She was an Indian Princess, daughter of the Chief of the Powhatans. She saved John Smith, helped keep the peace and supplied the colonists with food, she played a major role in the "Miracle of Jamestown". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All was not work for the pioneers. Jollification was the term used for any excuse to dance, celebrate, have quilting bees, barn raising, candy pulling and just getting together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Buffalo Bill, Wyatt Earp, Pat Garrett and Bat Masterson were buffalo hunters. Ranchers were glad to have more feed for their cows, for the Indians it was a tragedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before politics he tried cattle ranching and was successful for awhile, but severe losses ended his cattle business. He gained fame in Cuba with his "Rough Riders" and eventually became our 26th President. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After 1600 miles fighting battles, hunger and cold, Chief Joseph surrendered. His famous words, "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Attempts at peace failed after a white flag of truce was ignored. After the Battle of White Bird Creek and the Clearwater, the military realized they were fighting brave skilled warriors fighting for their families. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices