Thomas Wayne Riley

The American Southwest

History EN ↓ 78 episodes

This is a podcast of the people, places, and things of the American West. Think cowboys and Indians, bison and cactus, national parks and ghost towns, Mormons and prospectors, nukes and aliens, Tombstone, the Anasazi, Route 66, and everything in between. I’ll dive deep into historical people and events and the cultures and policies that helped shape this area of the American frontier world that’s left so many of the rest of the planet in envy of the mythic American Southwest.

Author

Thomas Wayne Riley

Category

History

Latest episode

Jul 1, 2026

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Episodes

The Cult of Everett Ruess: Finding NEMO 1934; The Most Desolate Spot 22.10.2023
The Cult of Everett Ruess: Beauty Has Always Been My God 01.10.2023
The Cult of Everett Ruess: The Lone Trail is Best 19.09.2023
The Cult of Everett Ruess: A Freakish Person 06.09.2023
The Spanish Southwest: The Dominguez-Escalante Expedition of 1776: Hopi & Homeward Bound 08.08.2023
The Spanish Southwest: The Dominguez-Escalante Expedition of 1776: The Crossing of the Fathers 20.07.2023
The Spanish Southwest: The Dominguez-Escalante Expedition of 1776: On the Banks of Tewayo 03.07.2023
The Spanish Southwest: The Dominguez-Escalante Expedition of 1776: Wanderers in Mysterious Regions 23.06.2023
The Spanish Southwest: The Dominguez-Escalante Expedition of 1776: An Almighty Gamble 11.06.2023

In 1776, two Spanish Friars led a team of 10 men throughout the American Southwest and covered more ground unknown to Europeans than even Lewis & Clark. Their goal was to reach California. In this episode of The American Southwest Podcast, I lay the groundwork for the expedition and cover some history of the Spanish Southwest up to that point, and especially since the reconquest of New Mexico.

The Spanish Southwest: The Reconquest of New Mexico by the Last Spanish Knight 28.04.2023

This episode of the American Southwest Podcast is the 3rd in the series about the Spanish and the Native American inhabitants of the region and specifically about the 1692 Reconquest of the Territory of New Mexico after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. I discuss the battles, the peoples, and most importantly, the Spanish leader of the Reconquest, a Spaniard named Don Diego de Vargas Zapata Lujan Ponce d...

The Spanish Southwest: The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 or the First True American Revolution 08.04.2023

This episode of the American Southwest Podcast is the 2nd in the series about the Spanish and the Native American inhabitants of the region and specifically about the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. I discuss Popay, Poseyemu, Otermín, the revolution, and the first few Spanish attempts at retaking the territory. It's chock full of great stuff about everyone involved using as much of the record that's been p...

The Spanish Southwest: The Last Conquistadors of San Felipe del Nuevo México 21.02.2023

This episode of the American Southwest Podcast is the 1st in the series about the Spanish and the Native American inhabitants of the region and specifically about the Spanish Discovery, Exploration of, & Conquering of the territory of New Mexico and the lands adjacent. I discuss Esteban, Coronado, The Seven Golden Cities of Cibola, The Last Conquistador that is Oñate, The Puebloans, the Church, &...

The Ancient Ones: Pueblos, Plazas, & The Rise of The Kachinas 28.01.2023

This episode of the American Southwest Podcast is the 8th in the series about the original Native American inhabitants of the region and specifically about the Puebloans of the Rio Grande Valley, Zuni, Hopi Mesas, and others after the Anasazi Civil War and the Great Migration at the end of the 13th Century. The episode begins by defining the region as the Spanish would have seen it, despite the ep...

The Ancient Ones: Spiral Migration or The Anasazi Art of Vanishing Into Thin Air 05.12.2022

This episode of the American Southwest Podcast is the 7th in the series about the original Native American inhabitants of the region and specifically about the migration of the Anasazi from the Four Corners region after the Anasazi Civil War down the Chaco Meridian to Northern Mexico and beyond. It discusses their interactions with the local Sinagua, Mogollon, Salado, Hohokam, and Paquime peoples...

The Ancient Ones: The Anasazi Civil War 22.10.2022

This episode of the American Southwest Podcast is the 6th in the series about the original Native American inhabitants of the region and specifically about the Anasazi / Ancestral Puebloan Civil War that rocked the Four Corners area during the Chaco Aztec collapse in the 1200s that led to the eventual abandonment of the entire region. There's lots of gore, cannibalism, explorers, Mesa Verde, Migra...

The Ancient Ones: The Anasazi Neighbors 11.10.2022

This episode is about the neighbors of the Anasazi that inhabited the American Southwest during the rise, reign, and fall of Chaco. It includes the people known as the Hohokam, Mogollon, and the Fremont.

The Ancient Ones: Chaco & The Anasazi 26.09.2022

An historical podcast about The Anasazi People of Chaco Canyon and the Four Corners Region of the American Southwest. Thomas discusses the people's ritual way of life, their form of government, some of their artwork, their economy, monumental architecture, artifacts, history, and the period just before the Anasazi Spiral unravels and they "disappear".

The Ancient Ones: Before Chaco 07.09.2022

This is a historical podcast about the people of the southwest before the Anasazi and Chaco from the end of the Paleoindian period through the Archaic, Basketmaker II, Basketmaker III, and into the very beginning of the Pueblo I period. It covers the climatic changes, the introduction of corn, beans, the bow and arrow, pit houses, and the introduction of ideas from Central America.

The Ancient Ones: The Bone Smashers 26.08.2022

An Update to the direction of the American Southwest Podcast & a discussion on the Bone Smashing Marrow Sucking Culture associated with the Cerutti Mastodon.

The Ancient Ones: Mammoth Eaters in the Playground of Giants 24.06.2022

A look at Pleistocene North America

Buffalo Soldiers: Cavalryman’s Paradise 24.05.2022

This is the Fourth and Final Episode on the Buffalo Soldiers and it discusses their time as stewards of our National Parks and the 25th Infantry Buffalo Soldiers Bicycle Corps of 1897 in Yellowstone National Park.

Buffalo Soldiers: The Tenth Cavalry, Ready & Forward 20.05.2022

This is the Third Episode on the Buffalo Soldiers and it discusses the leaders, troopers, exploits, and stories of the Tenth Cavalry from the 1860s to the 1890s in the Greater Southwest Region of the US. It includes Roman Nose, the Texas Rangers, a train robbery, and more.

Buffalo Soldiers: The Ninth Cavalry, We Can, We Will 28.04.2022

This episode covers the Buffalo Soldiers of the Ninth Cavalry from the 1860s through the 1890s as they work in the Greater Southwest Region of the US.

Buffalo Soldiers: Intro 19.04.2022

First of four episodes covering the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry during the 50 year period after the Civil War

Blacks in the American West: Cowboys 09.12.2021

This is Part two of the series on Black Americans in the western United States. It covers cowboys from South Carolina to the Wild and Wooly West from the 1700s to the early 1900s.

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