Dr. History's Tales of the Old West

To become a widow along the trail could mean being left behind or worse. Help and compassion would only go so far. Widows driving the wagon might lose an unattended child to accidents. Disease also took its toll on the children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stephen Meek convinced a wagon train to let him guide them on a short cut across Oregon to the Dalles. Within days it went bad. Feed and water were scarce. Hard sharp rocks cut the animals feet. The immigrants soon realized Meek was lost. A typhus outbreak began to take lives. Abandoned and starving, it fell to Mose Harris to lead a rescue party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...

Dr. Marcus Whitman and some friendly New Perce Indians helped prevent the hostile Walla Wallas from attacking their wagon train. On reaching the Columbia River, she joined her husband in taking the cattle over the Cascade Mountains. Their food was stolen, a blinding snowstorm nearly froze them, cold and starving they finally made it to Oregon City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch...

Mildred Douglas was a champion bronc rider and appeared in films. Kitty Canutt, nicknamed "Diamond Girl" because she had a diamond set in a tooth, would sometimes pawn to pay her entry fee. Pearl Biron was a master of the Australian bullwhip. Bonnie Gray could perform the "under the belly crawl" stunt. Mamie Francis and her horse jumped from thirty feet into a tank filled with water. Learn more ab...

Cowboys have been killed bulldogging, but that didn’t stop 138 pound Eloise "Fox" Hastings from competing against men. She traveled with Wild West shows throughout the country riding and roping. She suffered concussions, broken legs, crushed ribs and fractured arms, but said, "I like the thrill when I match my 135 pounds against a half ton of brute force." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit p...

America's first cowgirl. There wasn't a horse she couldn't ride. She performed at age 13 in her father's wild west show, but she wanted to compete in steer roping. She competed against men, including Will Rogers. She drew large crowds wherever she performed her riding and roping skills, including steer roping which she often won. She was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Learn more a...

Mackenzie abandoned the river and began the trek westward. Some Carrier Indians agreed to guide the group. They meet the friendly industrious Bella Coola tribe, who agreed to guide them the rest of the way. Trouble began when they met the Bella Bella tribe who attacked and tried to kill them. They reached the Pacific, and after 74 days and 1,200 hundred miles returned to the fort where they began....

Washington Irving caused a lot of excitement about the Northwest with his book. The North West and Hudson's Bay Companies established the fur trade in Canada. Pond was a celebrity with a violent temper, but a frontier genius who blazed trails across half the continent and set up as a fur trader. He also led an expedition discovering an enormous region full of fur bearing animals.  Learn more about...

In 1789 he set out to reach the Pacific by way of the great "River of the West" but failed. In 1793 he made a second attempt with ten men and a dog in a single canoe. Some of the rivers were impassable, but they portaged around the rapids. They crossed the continental divide, low on rations, they set out on foot to reach the Pacific. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adcho...

His book, "The White Indian Boy," relates his experience of running away to live with Shoshone Chief Washakie. He witnessed a battle between the Shoshone and Crow tribes with many killed. He nearly had his leg amputated by the medicine man. He was a pony express rider, blacksmith, carpenter, rancher, prison guard, prison inmate, trader, trapper and "frontier doctor." Learn more about your ad choic...

Sometimes it was luck, others a knowledge of geology and some it was buying the right stock. Eilley Orum, the Queen of the Washoe made millions but died poor. Four Irishmen became the Kings of the Washoe, earning $138 million form two mines and millions more investing in the right stock. All four died wealthy leaving millions to family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/ad...

"High grading" was the practice of workers stealing a few pounds of high-grade ore to sell to crooked assayers. Professional gamblers rushed to each new strike to relieve the workers of the hard-earned money. Women were scarce on the mining frontier, but when they showed up, they were treated with extreme respect.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There was always a way to cheat potential buyers of a non-productive mine. From dishonest assayers, to salting a mine with gold or silver from another mine, to selling worthless stock. Some owners assessed the stockholders on played out mines that never produced. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With more steamers on the rivers, it was the perfect place for professional gamblers. Unwary passengers with rolls of money were the perfect victims for the crooked gamblers. Cheaters were sometimes caught and kicked off by the captain. James Bowie caught a cheater, and with the use of the knife he was famous for, taught the crooks a lesson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.c...

The games always involved gambling. How many arrows could be in the air at one time. Throwing a pole through a moving hoop. "Double ball" was played by the women as well as foot races. Husbands and wives could wager all their spouses belongings, sometimes losing it all, which could cause some serious discussions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Native Americans would gamble for religious purposes as well for entertainment. They could lose all their worldly goods with a roll of the dice, the guess of who holds a bean or a game called “ball play”, similar to lacrosse. Gambling between tribes has been going on for centuries before the white man showed up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Molly Brown visits us from beyond the grave for a person-to-person interview. The Lady from Leadville, married Johnny Brown, became amazingly wealthy and traveled the world. She tells us of her experience on the Titanic. She always was there to help those in need. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Almost everyone gambled in the old west, from kids to the old folks. Fortunes were won or lost with the toss of the dice or turn of a card. Gamblers could be found in large or small towns, mining camps, rail workers camps, anyplace where a few men wanted some excitement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The railroads needed settlers to fill the land. They spent a lot of money promoting the land, even sending people to Europe to entice them to come to America. Towns needed a railroad spur to ensure they town would grow, some did, others just disappeared. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Southern Pacific encouraged settlers to farm and improve on their land grants with the understanding they would be able to buy it for from $2.50 to $5 per acre. When the railroad raised that price to $25 and $35 an acre, the farmers revolted. They were being evicted from the land they had worked for years. In the end the railroad won. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/...

From silent movies to the modern, John Wayne stands out as the most famous star. He started as a prop boy and extra, but with the help of John Ford he made the step from B movies to the big screen. John Wayne and hundreds of other Hollywood cowboys made history and brought the old west alive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In its first year, 150,000 passengers rode the Transcontinental Railroad from Omaha to Sacramento, that number rose to a million. Some traveled for a vacation, others to a destination. Comfort varied between first class with beds and exotic food to the emigrants who brought their own food and sat the whole journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gary Cooper was a top male box-office attraction and could star in westerns or modern movies. Fans expected death -defying deeds as well as a hero with high moral standards. John Ford created the “epic” western high budget movies like “Stagecoach” which rescued an actor named John Wayne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Early movies needed a hero, Gilbert Anderson became Broncho Billy and made a sequel a week, making $50,000 per show. Bill Hart became a clean-cut hero creating the look of the Old West. Next, Tom Mix was a good athlete and did his own stunts while dressed in all white hat and clothes. By 1925 he was making $17,500 a week and was a star to millions until he died in a car wreck. Learn more about you...

The film industry began in the early 1900’s. Cowboys found less work on ranches, but could make more money being extras and stunt doubles in early Western movies. It could be dangerous work, but some went on to become movies stars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices