Legends of the Old West

David Crockett volunteers for the Texian army and is assigned to help protect an old Spanish mission called Mission San Antonio de Valero, better known as the Alamo. He arrives two weeks before the Mexican army led by President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, which has been marching to Texas to retake the city of San Antonio. For 13 days at the end of February and the beginning of March, 1836, Crocke...

David Crockett’s political career rises throughout the 1820s, but it begins to fall in the 1830s as he continually runs afoul of President Andrew Jackson. By the mid-1830s, he has heard so many stories about Texas that he has decided to try to build a new life on the new western frontier of the United States. When his political career ends, he starts the journey to Texas and he learns along the wa...

David Crockett becomes a skilled hunter at a young age in Tennessee before war returns to the young American nation. During the War of 1812, he joins thousands of volunteers from Tennessee who are sent south to fight in the Creek War. Crockett plays a role in the pivotal Battle of Tallushatchee, but he discovers that he disdains war. When he returns home, he begins a career in politics. Join Black...

As America’s war of independence drags on, Daniel Boone and the other settlers protect their towns from escalating attacks by the Shawnee. Boone becomes a captive of the Shawnee and faces betrayal by his friends as a result. But he remains an adventurer to the end when he leads pioneers farther west to the expanding edge of the American frontier. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeab...

During the American Revolutionary War, Daniel Boone helps blaze a trail to Kentucky called the Wilderness Road. He establishes settlements and leads a daring rescue mission to recover three girls who are kidnapped by the Shawnee. Then, he defends his settlement of Boonesborough against waves of Shawnee attacks. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingca...

As Daniel Boone grows up in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, he earns a reputation as a skilled hunter and marksman. He learns of a hunter’s paradise called Kentucky, but his first trip to the frontier leads to a lifelong blood feud with the Shawnee who lay claim to the land. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Ba...

In June of 1899, an outlaw gang robs a train outside of Wilcox, Wyoming. The gang is the Wild Bunch led by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The Pinkerton agency receives the assignment to stop the gang once and for all, and Charlie Siringo conducts a 4-year manhunt for the elusive thieves. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh.com/legends10fm Join Bla...

In the late 1880s, James McParland joins the Denver office and quickly becomes superintendent. With McParland at the helm, Charlie Siringo receives assignments involving labor unions in the West. In 1891, Siringo goes to the Idaho Panhandle with orders to infiltrate a local labor union in a case which would nearly cost him his life. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our...

Charlie Siringo grows up driving cattle in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. In the early 1880s, Charlie retires from the cowboy life, writes a book about life on the range, and moves to Chicago. But after the Haymarket Affair, Charlie decides on a career change and becomes an agent for the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Charlie moves to Denver and finds himself tackling political problems in Colorado...

After 20 years as a supervisor, James McParland yearns to get back into the field as a detective. He finds his chance in 1906 when the Pinkerton agency is hired to handle the assassination of Frank Steunenberg, the former governor of Idaho. During the case, McParland matches wits with famed attorney, Clarence Darrow. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh...

As the violence intensifies in Pennsylvania, James McParland decides its time to bring the Molly Maguire case to a close before he ends up dead. In the aftermath, McParland finds himself as one of the most revered detectives in the country. He receives a promotion to the Denver office, but he learns he needs to root out corruption before he can proceed with investigations. Thanks to our sponsor, H...

In the early 1870s, tensions between Pennsylvania coal miners and mine owners reaches a fever pitch. Poor working conditions for little pay results in a bitter dispute between labor and management. Making matters worse, a group of Irish immigrants called the Molly Maguires have taken violent measures against management. At the end of 1873, the Pinkerton Detective Agency is hired to spy on the Moll...

The race is finally over as both railroads make it to Promontory Summit. On May 10, 1869, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific meet in a massive celebration. But in the aftermath, Thomas Durant’s financial scheme is revealed and creates a major scandal. Meanwhile, with the nation now linked together, people begin to settle the west in record numbers, and alter the country forever.  Thanks to...

After surviving the chaos of the Hell on Wheels towns of Wyoming, the Union Pacific pushes into Utah. Once there, they call upon Mormon workers to help build through treacherous canyons as they inch closer to the finish line at Promontory Summit.  Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh.com/legends10fm Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable...

The Central Pacific moves out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and into the Nevada desert. No longer blasting through granite walls, the workers are able to make up for lost time as they battle scorching hot temperatures and cracked soil. But with the race in the back of his head, Big Four member Charles Crocker formulates a plan to set a record and make headlines. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh!...

After Thomas Durant lined his pockets for years, investors in the Union Pacific finally force a change in leadership. The pace of construction accelerates dramatically, but the Union Pacific now faces lawless and chaotic towns which pop up along its route. Robbery, murder, and vice of every kind plagues each town. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh.co...

As the Union Pacific begins construction across Nebraska, the Central Pacific faces an immediate obstacle: the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In order to bypass the formidable granite mountains, the Central Pacific calls upon Chinese immigrants to do some of the most dangerous tasks, including using nitroglycerin to blast tunnels through the mountains.  Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started,...

For decades in the early 1800s, engineers and merchants attempt to convince the United States to build a railroad that could link the east to the west. But it isn’t until the nation is thrown into Civil War that the government passes a bill to construct a transcontinental railroad. Two companies are formed: the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. The Union Pacific begins building west from Omah...

After the Battle of Ingalls in 1893, the Doolin Dalton Gang is on borrowed time. They perform a few more robberies, but then, one by one, gang members fall to bounty hunters or the U.S. Marshals.  Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Blac...

In the early 1890s, the Dalton Gang burns hot and bright in Kansas and Oklahoma, but then burns out quickly. After the disastrous Coffeyville Raid, Bill Doolin and Bill Dalton pick up the pieces and start a new gang. The Doolin Dalton Dang, also known as the Wild Bunch, robs banks and trains and quickly becomes the most feared outfit on the southern plains. In the process, the gang draws the atten...

Dave Rudabaugh, known as Dirty Dave or Arkansas Dave, flees a murder in Las Vegas, New Mexico and ends up in Fort Sumner after the Lincoln County War. He joins Billy the Kid’s gang just in time to be pursued relentlessly by Pat Garret, the new sheriff of Lincoln County. After Billy and Dirty Dave are captured, Dave escapes jail and runs south to Mexico for his last hurrah. Join Black Barrel+ for a...

LEGENDS OF THE OLD WEST presented by Black Barrel Media. Dave Rudabaugh begins his journeyman outlaw career as a cattle rustler and then robber in Kansas. He narrowly eludes Wyatt Earp, but gets caught by Bat Masterson. He joins the Colorado Railroad Wars, becomes a member of the Dodge City Gang in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and then flees a murder warrant. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and...

By the early 1880s, Charley Boles – known as Black Bart – is one of the most prolific stagecoach robbers in the American West. Wells Fargo detectives have been chasing him for years with no luck. But when Charley suffers unexpected resistance during a robbery, he leaves behind key evidence. Detectives finally learn the identity of the gentleman outlaw and bring an end to Black Bart’s legendary car...

Charley Boles tries life as a miner in the California gold rush and then life as a family farmer in Illinois. But wealth lures him west again, and he decides it’s easier to steal from Wells, Fargo & Company than to pan for gold in the freezing rivers of California. He starts robbing stagecoaches and he soon becomes a pioneer of the trade. He gives himself a nickname and begins to write his own leg...

In the wake of the executions of 38 Dakota warriors, the Dakota are forced to leave Minnesota. As they try to build new lives on a barren reservation in present-day South Dakota, U.S. army columns march west on punitive expeditions against the wider Sioux Nation. General Henry Sibley’s column fights three battles near Bismarck, North Dakota, and then General Alfred Sully’s column attacks a Lakota...