This Week in the West

Howdy folks, it’s the 28th of September 2026, and welcome to the 100th episode of This Week in The West.    I’m Seth Spillman, broadcasting from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.    Like any great journey into the American West, when we set out to make this podcast, we knew where we were going, but we didn’t know all the discoveries that lay ahead.    The goal on...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️Episode 91: Was Texas Jack the Original Cowboy Star? 📢 Episode Summary: Long before Buffalo Bill's Wild West became an international phenomenon, another frontier legend helped define how America imagined the West. This episode explores the life of Texas Jack Omohundro, a cowboy, scout, performer and member of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Gr...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 90: Wild Bill Hickok and the Original Wild West Shootout 📢 Episode Summary: The classic image of two gunfighters facing each other in the middle of a dusty Western street has become one of the defining symbols of the American West—but it was far less common in real life than Hollywood would have us believe. This episode explores the rare real-life confrontation...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 89: Everett Bowman, One of Pro Rodeo’s Founding Fathers 📢 Episode Summary: Everett Bowman is remembered as one of the most influential figures in rodeo history, not only for his remarkable success as a competitor but for helping transform rodeo into a professional sport. In 1936, after cowboys went on strike over inconsistent rules, unfair judging and poor treat...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 88: Richard King - From Stowaway to Ranching Legend 📢 Episode Summary: This week, This Week in the West tells the remarkable story of Richard King, whose journey from a poor Irish runaway in 1830s New York to one of the most influential ranchers in American history is one of the greatest success stories of the American West. After stowing away on a ship as a chi...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 87: The Finely Detailed Life of Western Artist Tom Lovell 📢 Episode Summary: llustrator and painter Tom Lovell became one of the most respected artists of the American West by combining meticulous historical research with exceptional storytelling. Although he grew up in New York City, his fascination with Native American history began in childhood museum visits...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 86: A German Duke Explores the Frontier  📢 Episode Summary: Born into European royalty in 1797, Duke Paul Wilhelm of Württemberg chose a life of exploration rather than courtly comfort. Inspired by the scientific curiosity of the age and the work of naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, he traveled to North America in 1822 and spent years exploring the Mississippi...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 85: Dispelling the Myths Surrounding Geronimo 📢 Episode Summary: Geronimo, born Goyahkla—or "One Who Yawns"—in 1829, grew up among the Chiricahua Apache in what is now Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico. His life changed forever in 1851 when Mexican soldiers attacked his camp and killed his mother, wife and children while he was away. The tragedy fueled a l...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 84: Louis L’Amour, The West’s Great Storyteller 📢 Episode Summary: Louis L’Amour became one of the most influential Western writers in history not because he imagined the West from afar, but because he lived much of it himself. Born in North Dakota in 1908, he spent his early adulthood traveling the American West, working as a ranch hand, miner, lumber camp labo...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 82: Andy Payne and the Brutal Craziness of the Bunion Derby 📢 Episode Summary: In this episode of This Week in The West, listeners travel back to 1928 for one of the strangest and toughest athletic events in American history: the Transcontinental Footrace, better known as the “Bunion Derby.” Created by sports promoter Charles C. Pyle, the race challenged nearly...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 81: Edward Borein and the Authentic West  📢 Episode Summary: This episode of This Week in The West explores the life and legacy of Western artist and cowboy Edward Borein, whose work helped preserve an authentic visual record of the American West. The episode opens with Borein’s early years in California, where he watched cattle drives as a child and quickly dev...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 80: Jim Shoulders, the Babe Ruth of Rodeo 📢 Episode Summary: This episode of This Week in The West explores the life and legacy of rodeo legend Jim Shoulders, often called the “Babe Ruth of Rodeo.” Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 13, 1928, Shoulders grew from a city kid with dreams of cowboy life into one of the most dominant athletes in rodeo history. The episo...

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 79: The Monumental Effort to Create the Transcontinental Railroad  📢 Episode Summary: This episode of This Week in The West commemorates the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The story opens at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory, where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met in a historic moment symboliz...