Latest Texashistory Podcast Episodes
Soapy Smith | King of the Frontier Con Men
The Wild West Extravaganza - November 29, 2023 18:52 - 52 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratings“It’s just as easy to make big money as little money. In my profession, a hundred dollars is just chicken feed. We think in thousands, not tens. Experience has taught me that it is as easy to separate a sucker – the right sucker – from five thousand dollars as from fifty. We always offered our se...
Harry Tracy | Desperado (Part 2)
The Wild West Extravaganza - November 22, 2023 10:00 - 44 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsThis is Part 2 and the final installment in the series on Harry Tracy. In the previous episode we discussed Tracy's early life, his various scrapes with the law, and his dramatic prison escape. On today's episode we'll follow Tracy as he eludes the authorities, culminating in his ultimate showdow...
Billy the Kid (COMPILATION)
The Wild West Extravaganza - November 17, 2023 21:26 - 4 hours ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsIn the summer of 1881, Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett. The lawman had been on the hunt ever since Billy broke out of jail in Lincoln and finally caught up to the bandit at Old Fort Sumner. It was around midnight, and Pat was waiting inside Pete Maxwell’s darkened bedroom...
Harry Tracy | The Last of the Wild Bunch (Part 1)
The Wild West Extravaganza - November 15, 2023 03:39 - 42 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsConsidered by some to be the last of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, Harry Tracy blasted his way out of prison in the summer of 1902. What followed was one of the most desperate man hunts in all of U.S. history. Over the course of the next two months, Tracy would lead hundreds of lawmen, including th...
Bass Reeves | Lawman (Part 2)
The Wild West Extravaganza - November 08, 2023 10:00 - 50 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsMake no mistake about it, the exploits of escaped slave-turned-lawman Bass Reeves are legendary. Described in the papers of his day as a holy terror and one of the greatest manhunters to ever grace Indian Territory, Bass Reeves served as a deputy U.S. Marshal for over three decades; routinely tr...
Bass Reeves | Lawman (Part 1)
The Wild West Extravaganza - November 01, 2023 09:00 - 37 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsMake no mistake about it, the exploits of escaped slave-turned-lawman Bass Reeves are legendary. Described in the papers of his day as a holy terror and one of the greatest manhunters to ever grace Indian Territory, Bass Reeves served as a deputy U.S. Marshal for over three decades; routinely tr...
This is NOT Doc Holliday
The Wild West Extravaganza - October 21, 2023 17:28 - 17 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsThere are many purported photos of the legendary Doc Holliday but only two are authenticated. This is a VISUALY DEPENDENT episode. Check the video out here: https://youtu.be/FvIDvi5NdMo?si=P1mn9Byw4Lte9Vun Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com...
Uncontacted
The Wild West Extravaganza - October 16, 2023 09:00 - 27 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsThere’s just something about uncontacted tribes that’s always piqued my curiosity. Perhaps you’ve heard of Ishi, who, as the last of his people, emerged from California’s Sierra foothills in the summer of 1911. It’s estimated that Ishi was around 50 years of age and spent the vast majority of his...
Wild Bill Hickok
The Wild West Extravaganza - October 11, 2023 09:00 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsJames Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok was the epitome of the Wild West. Soldier, spy, scout, gambler, lawman, and yes – gunfighter. Friends with other Old West legends like Buffalo Bill Cody, Kit Carson, Calamity Jane, and George Armstrong Custer, Hickok also brushed shoulders with his fair share of no...
Johnny Ringo's Mysterious Fate
The Wild West Extravaganza - October 04, 2023 09:00 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsThe mysterious, oftentimes sullen gunfighter Johnny Ringo celebrated July 4th, 1882, by going on a bender. And judging by the liquor bottles stashed in his saddlebags he wasn’t planning on the festivities ending any time soon. Few days later Ringo shows up at a ranch about 20 miles to the north a...
Texas Rangers vs Comanche | The Battle of Antelope Hills
The Wild West Extravaganza - September 27, 2023 09:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsIn early 1858, John “RIP” Ford led a detachment of Texas Rangers, along with their Native American allies, on a punitive expedition deep in the heart of Comancheria. Their mission was to catch the Comanche unaware and prove that they could strike them in their own backyard. What followed is known...
John Selman Sr | Killer with a Badge
The Wild West Extravaganza - September 20, 2023 10:00 - 27 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsIn the summer of 1895 John Selman Sr gunned down John Wesley Hardin. Considered one of the deadliest shootists of the Old west, Hardin killed his first man at the tender age of fifteen. In the decade that followed dozens of others would fall to the young man’s guns, including – if the legend is t...
Devil Canyon Shootout
The Wild West Extravaganza - September 13, 2023 10:00 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsIn the spring of 1905, a couple of down-and-out cowboys robbed a dice game in Winslow, Arizona. What followed was a literal pursuit to hell, a bloody gunfight, and an Old West Lazurus rising from the grave for one final sip of whiskey. Check out the website for more true tales from the Old Wes...
Ed Scarborough | The Skunk Fighting Arizona Ranger
The Wild West Extravaganza - September 06, 2023 10:00 - 21 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsEd Scarborough cut his teeth chasing outlaws like Black Jack Ketchum when he was still a teenager. He’d go on to become a deputy sheriff, constable, Arizona Ranger, and according to those who knew him, Ed was born to a saddle, an excellent marksman, and did not know the meaning of the word fear. ...
Wyatt Earp vs Comanche Jack
The Wild West Extravaganza - August 30, 2023 10:00 - 18 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsComanche Jack Stilwell worked as a teamster on the Santa Fe Trail, hunted buffalo on the southern plains, and participated in the famous Battle of Beecher Island – all before the age of 19 years of age. Jack continued scouting for the Army against the Cheyenne, Comanche, Apache, Kiowa, and Arapah...
On The Warpath | My Sixty Years on the Plains
The Wild West Extravaganza - August 29, 2023 10:00 - 27 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsWar is hell. I know that sounds cliché but there’s a simple, irrefutable truth in that short yet powerful statement, one that is unchanging through time. Although our modern weapons may not be the same now as they were in the past, the end result is the same. Death, dismemberment, chaos, and pain...
Harriet Tubman | Her Half of History
The Wild West Extravaganza - August 28, 2023 22:46 - 27 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsThis bonus episode comes to us from Lori Davis and her excellent podcast Her Half of History. Brand new episode of The Wild West Extravaganza still scheduled for Wednesday but I thought I'd go ahead and share this as well. Enjoy! This woman is a superhero. She escaped herself and then put herself...
Was Billy the Kid's Death a Hoax?
The Wild West Extravaganza - August 22, 2023 21:04 - 51 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsHow can we be so certain that Pat Garrett really killed Billy the Kid? Today we take a look at all of the evidence – the eyewitness accounts, official documentation, coroner’s jury report, etc. – all proving that Billy did indeed come to his demise at Fort Sumner in 1881. We also dispel a few myt...
Pat Garrett | Murder (Part 5)
The Wild West Extravaganza - August 16, 2023 11:55 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsFrom investigating the Fountain disappearance to working as Sheriff of Dona Ana County, and appointed as the Collector of Customs by Teddy Roosevelt himself, Pat Garrett seemed to be living up to the notoriety gained from killing Billy the Kid. Unfortunately it would all come crashing down. Just ...
Pat Garrett | The Vanishing of Albert Jennings Fountain (Part 4)
The Wild West Extravaganza - August 09, 2023 10:00 - 41 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsIn February of 1896, Albert Jennings Fountain and his 8-year-old son Henry vanished off the face of the earth, never to be seen again. The pair had been travelling near the present day white sands missile range in New Mexico when disaster struck; an abandoned wagon and blood stains the only clues...
Pat Garrett | The End of the Kid (Part 3)
The Wild West Extravaganza - August 02, 2023 10:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsPat Garrett, along with deputies John W. Poe and Kip McKinney, make one final push into Fort Sumner in search of Billy the Kid. In doing so, they immortalize themselves. Also discussed in this episode is whether or not Pat Garrett was a coward. Was Billy the Kid armed when he met his end? How do ...
Pat Garrett | Pat vs Billy the Kid (Part 2)
The Wild West Extravaganza - July 26, 2023 01:47 - 40 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsPat Garrett is now the Sheriff of Lincoln County and he’s got one job – to put an end to his old friend, Billy the Kid. And you better believe he wastes no time in starting on the hunt. Aiding him in these efforts are Secret Service Agent Azariah Wild and Texas cattleman investigator Frank Stewar...
Pat Garrett | Origin Story (Part 1)
The Wild West Extravaganza - July 19, 2023 03:25 - 49 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsOn the night of July 14th, 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett killed Billy the Kid. In doing so he not only helped create a legend, but he also ensured that his legacy would forever be intertwined with that of the notorious outlaw. And let’s be honest – it ain’t that great of a legacy. Many consider Garre...
Scalping & Trading | My Sixty Years On The Plains
The Wild West Extravaganza - July 12, 2023 02:25 - 28 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsWho invented scalping? The Native Americans? Or did the Europeans introduce the atrocious behavior to the New World? The answer – like much of history – is complicated. In this latest installment of My Sixty Years, we join the young fur trapper William Hamilton as he, Old Bill Williams, and the o...
Old Solitaire | My Sixty Years On The Plains
The Wild West Extravaganza - July 02, 2023 20:24 - 21 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsBefore he became known as Old Bill Williams, the gaunt and scarred Mountain Man was a Methodist preacher who attempted to bring the gospel to the Osage people. Bill lived among the Osage, married into the tribe, helped them negotiate a treaty, and even translated the Bible into their language. It...
The Plainsman W.T. Hamilton | My Sixty Years On The Plains
The Wild West Extravaganza - June 28, 2023 02:02 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsIn the year 1842, a sickly 19-year-old named William T. Hamilton embarked on a journey to the Rocky Mountains accompanied by famed frontiersman Old Bill Williams. Over the course of the next several decades, Hamilton worked as a fur trapper, trader, lawman, guide, hunter, and scout. He’d ride wit...
The Execution of Cherokee Bill
The Wild West Extravaganza - June 20, 2023 22:49 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsThis is part 2 in a two-part series. Please check out the link below for the first installment. And please check out the book Cherokee Bill: Black Cowboy Indian Outlaw by Art Burton! Cherokee Bill, notorious outlaw of the Indian Territory, met his fate on March 17, 1896, when he was executed a...
The Execution of Cherokee Bill (Part 2)
The Wild West Extravaganza - June 20, 2023 22:49 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsThis is part 2 in a two-part series. Please check out the link below for the first installment. And please check out the book Cherokee Bill: Black Cowboy Indian Outlaw by Art Burton! Cherokee Bill, notorious outlaw of the Indian Territory, met his fate on March 17, 1896, when he was executed at F...
Cherokee Bill (Part 1)
The Wild West Extravaganza - June 13, 2023 23:40 - 43 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsDespite his young age, Cherokee Bill’s boldness and audacity surpassed that of many outlaws on the Western frontier, making him a truly exceptional badman. What set Bill apart, first and foremost, was his status as an African American residing in the Indian Territory. Additionally, he was a Nativ...
The Outlaw Cherokee Bill
The Wild West Extravaganza - June 13, 2023 23:40 - 40 minutes ★★★★★ - 56 ratingsDespite his young age, Cherokee Bill’s boldness and audacity surpassed that of many outlaws on the Western frontier, making him a truly exceptional badman. What set Bill apart, first and foremost, was his status as an African American residing in the Indian Territory. Additionally, he was a Nat...
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