Wild West Podcast

Send us Fan Mail The prairie doesn’t forget—and it won’t let us forget either. We follow a chilling thread from a 96-mile irrigation scheme called the Eureka Canal to a vanished laborer whose story was buried in snow, silence, and someone else’s balance sheet. What begins as a Halloween ghost story widens into a study of hubris, place, and the quiet power of naming the lost. We unpack Asa T. Soule...

Send us Fan Mail The wind on the Kansas plains doesn’t just rattle old storefronts; it carries the names we’ve let disappear. We retrace the final patrol of City Marshal Ed Masterson, shot along Dodge City’s infamous deadline in 1878, and follow the paper-thin trail of his remains from Fort Dodge to the overgrown ruins of Prairie Grove to the tidy rows of Maple Grove. What starts as a gripping fro...

Send us Fan Mail A single vow set against a hostile sky can bend the shape of history. When Charles Goodnight lashed his partner’s tin-lined casket to a wagon and steered across the Pecos, he wasn’t chasing myth—he was keeping a promise. That journey threads through everything that defined the West: the hard schooling of frontier life, the ruthless math of cattle markets, the invention that held t...

Send us Fan Mail A whispered promise in a dark adobe room turns into one of the West’s most unforgettable journeys. We open on Fort Sumner in 1867, where Oliver Loving lies dying from gangrene and Charles Goodnight—trail boss, Ranger, problem‑solver—makes a vow to carry his partner home to Texas soil. From that moment, the story stretches backward into a life built on risk and forward into a 700‑m...

Send us Fan Mail A contract to feed a frontier post shouldn’t have ended at a river cave, but the Pecos has a way of bending plans. We head out with Oliver Loving and W.J. Wilson on a night-run mission to Fort Sumner that turns into a standoff against a swelling war party, where ground, grit, and a few feet of brush decide the line between life and legend. When a parley sign flickers on the plains...

Send us Fan Mail A limestone mansion built to defy the prairie became a vessel for sorrow—and then a sanctuary. We take you inside Dodge City’s Home of Stone, from John Mueller’s audacious rise and the black walnut staircase that flaunted prosperity, to the winter they called the White Death that buried a cattle empire under ice. Amid ruin, another story took hold: Caroline’s quiet grief, a nurser...

Send us Fan Mail November 29, 1864 dawned cold on the Colorado plains as Cheyenne and Arapaho families slept peacefully under an American flag—a gift promising protection. By nightfall, over 200 Native Americans lay dead in what would become one of the most shameful episodes in American history. The Sand Creek Massacre didn't happen in isolation. It grew from a toxic brew of broken treaties,...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever considered that the weathered saddle in your barn might be telling stories you've never fully heard? The Wild West Podcast invites you to listen more carefully to the language of leather and silver that defines cowboy culture. We journey into the soul of western heritage through the lens of a remarkable new book, "A Cowboy's Tale of Words, the Meaning...

Send us Fan Mail Gold rushes change landscapes—both physical and human. When 100,000 settlers poured into Colorado Territory following the 1858 discovery of gold, they unknowingly set in motion a chain of events that would culminate in one of America's most controversial military actions. The newcomers' wagons followed water sources critical to both buffalo herds and the nomadic Plains I...

Send us Fan Mail Charlie Bassett may be the most important Wild West lawman you've never heard of. Before Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson became household names, they wore their first badges under his leadership in Dodge City, Kansas—a place so notoriously lawless it earned the nickname "the wickedest little town in America." Born in Massachusetts in 1847, Bassett's journey took h...

Send us Fan Mail What makes a true cowboy? It goes far beyond the iconic hat and weathered expression – it lives in the worn leather of a saddle that's witnessed countless sunsets and the rhythmic jingle of spurs that speak their own language. In this captivating conversation, author Michael King joins us to discuss his new book "A Cowboy's Tale of Words: The Meaning of Saddles and...

Send us Fan Mail Ever wondered how true American humor differs from its European counterparts? Clay Calloway joins the Wild West Podcast to reveal the secrets behind genuine frontier storytelling through his introduction to "The Legends of Dodge City: The Enterprise."  Calloway's masterful analysis connects human anatomy to narrative structure, using the "funny bone" as a...

Send us Fan Mail The tangled web of myth and reality surrounding Dutch Henry Borne reveals a captivating window into the American frontier experience. Our exploration of this enigmatic outlaw's life continues as we examine the controversial claims and counterclaims about one of the West's most fascinating characters. Dutch Henry's transformation from military scout to notorious crim...

Send us Fan Mail Some monsters aren't fiction – they're buried in Dodge City Cemetery beneath stones that read "beloved husband and father." The story of Print Olive might be the most shocking true tale we've covered on Whiskey and Westerns. While sipping Bullet Bourbon (a fitting choice given Print's remarkable ability to absorb lead throughout his violent career), w...

Send us Fan Mail Step back in time to the dusty, lawless streets of Dodge City, Kansas as we unravel the enigmatic legend of "Mysterious" Dave Mathers over glasses of Knob Creek bourbon. Few characters in Western lore earned their nicknames more honestly than Mathers, whose life story combines gunfights, peculiar behavior, and ultimately, a disappearance that sealed his place in frontier...

Send us Fan Mail Gunfire echoes across the Kansas plains, where desperate men take cover behind a hasty barricade of battered wagons and lifeless horses. With their ammunition dangerously low and hope dwindling, the situation looks grim—until one valiant soldier boldly steps forward, ready to embark on what appears to be a suicide mission. Welcome to the gripping tale of the Battle of Little Coon...

Send us Fan Mail The violent clashes that erupted across the Kansas frontier in 1868 have often been shrouded in overly simplistic narratives. Historian Dr. Jeff Broome courageously challenges these conventional interpretations, revealing the intricate realities that drove Southern Plains tribes to warfare against white settlers. Through his remarkable research into Indian depredation claims—sworn...

Send us Fan Mail Step back in time to the American frontier of 1872, where massive buffalo herds still thundered across the plains in their ancient migration patterns. Through the eyes of George W. Brown, we witness these magnificent beasts as they moved with the seasons—northward in spring to the Dakotas and Canada, then southward again as winter approached, seeking shelter in the river valleys o...

Send us Fan Mail The American frontier conjures images of famous lawmen and outlaws, but what about the quiet builders who shaped towns like Dodge City from the ground up? Meet Andrew "Andy the Swede" Johnson, a remarkable immigrant whose hands literally constructed the West. Arriving from Sweden in 1869, Johnson's chance meeting with businessman Charles Rath launched an extraordina...

Send us Fan Mail The remarkable tale of Robert M. Wright—the forgotten empire builder who transformed the American frontier—unfolds like a dime novel with shocking twists of fate that reality itself couldn't have scripted better. Born to Maryland aristocracy with family connections to Ulysses S. Grant himself, Wright abandoned privilege at sixteen to master "the profane poetry of the bul...

Send us Fan Mail Pour yourself a shot and settle in for an entertaining journey through Dodge City lore and fine spirits! Our debut episode of "Whiskey and Westerns on Wednesday" brings together host Mike King and Dodge City historian Brad Smalley to explore frontier legends while sampling Ardbeg 10, a smoky Islay scotch. We kick things off by shattering a persistent Wild West myth about...

Send us Fan Mail The enduring legend of Belle Starr, America's notorious "Bandit Queen," culminates in this riveting final episode that traces her tragic demise and extraordinary posthumous transformation. After the death of her husband Sam Starr in 1886, Belle found herself in a desperate legal battle to keep her beloved home at Younger's Bend. The Cherokee Tribal Council deli...

Send us Fan Mail Saddle up for a journey into the heart of podcast storytelling excellence as we explore the remarkable success of the Wild West Podcast. Since 2017, this captivating show has transported listeners back to frontier America through its perfect tagline: "where fact and legend merge." What makes this podcast truly exceptional is the extraordinary partnership that brings each...

Send us Fan Mail Get ready to celebrate the spirit of the West! The Kansas Cowboy Hall of Fame Committee is thrilled to invite you to honor remarkable individuals, both living legends and those who have passed, by nominating them for induction into the illustrious Kansas Cowboy Hall of Fame! This is your chance to spotlight someone extraordinary! Whether you're part of an organization or an i...

Send us Fan Mail The rugged terrain of Indian Territory in the 1880s offered both peril and possibility—a perfect backdrop for one woman's remarkable transformation from grieving widow to frontier legend. After losing both her brother to war and her husband to violence, Myra Maybel Reed found herself drawn to an untamed region where she would forge an extraordinary new identity. Her fateful c...