Within The Realm

Described as wild and beautiful creatures, the horses of Shannon County, Missouri are just that. The off spring of work horses abandoned by desperate Ozark farmers during the depression, they have survived and flourished on the Federal Lands around the Current and Jack's Fork Rivers. Once seen as a problem to be disposed of, they are now a protected part of the National Park. And they pose a quest...

The Cookson Hills hold many a legend about the exploits of Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd and his amazing escapes from the clutches of the law through a hail of gunfire. But there's also the story about a collector, a clerk really, from a loan office in Fort Smith who was able to best the man who was soon to be Public Enemy No. 1 - without even knowing it. withinpodcast.com SUPPORT INDEPENDENT...

You know Within The Realm as the place where the Great Plains, the Ozark Mountains and the Indian Territory collide, but what happens when too much on your plate, a little guilt over not getting a podcast episode out on schedule and a cover of a Tom Petty song collide? You're fixin' to find out. withinpodcast.com SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTIST! Check out all we have to offer at  withinpodcast.com ! Wa...

I'm feeling philosophical about my walks with my assistant producer, Boomer, on the trail near our home. By applying a lesson I learned from the pages of the nerdy books I read when I was a kid, I have special outlook on not just the walks on the trail, but many of the things that happen around me. Withinpodcast.com   SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTIST! Check out all we have to offer at  withinpodcast.com...

Most know the United States entered World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Just a few months before that fateful December morning, folks in Miami, Ok were already hearing the engines of foreign pilots over head. Miami was home to Churchill Field, a training school for British pilots. Over 2,100 would-be pilots came to this corner of the Sooner State for training, a handful never left. with...

Before he was on the Five Dollar Bill, before his words were memorized by schoolchildren through the decades and before he was hailed as the Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln was a candidate for President...and it wasn't looking so good. He undertook a trip to Kansas to see for himself the violence and legacy of popular sovereignty, and maybe score a few extra delegates to the upcoming Republican...

It's a story that can only take place in America. They had come west, illprepared, to a new home where they hoped to start fresh for themselves and their families. The new residents of Nicodemus, Kansas, mostly former slaves from Kentucky were unready for the rugged and harsh environment of the Plains, but a roving band of Native Americans came across the hapless migrants. After discussing the sit...

I took it as a challenge to find the history of a character from my mother's hometown in western Oklahoma. She had little to go on, but we found the story - not only the story about this figure from her childhood, one Percy Hook, but also that of the nature of the town itself. withinpodcast.com Special Thanks to Oleg Fedak for the use of "Breath" in this episode. SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTIST! Check...

One of the best physicists I ever knew my my first wrestling coach T. A. Shell. Never athletic enough to apply his lessons on the wrestling mat, I have applied them in other parts of my  life with some success. T.A. Shell was my coach, yes, but a member of a family that my family has maintained a generations-long friendship. But it was as coach he had an opportunity to teach me lessons that have t...

A Christmas Open House at my new friend Opal's place got me to thinking…it got me to thinking about my feelings and attitude toward Christmas, described by some as Grinch-y or Scrooge-y. There's a reason for my jaundiced eye cast on this winter holiday, but not because I dislike the good tidings it creates. It's the real lesson of Chuck Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," one we ought to look at again!...

Back when I was a kid, there was Channel 8, Tulsa's KTUL. Channel 8 embraced the concept of local content for working stiffs, housewives, kids, lovers of moster movies...you get the idea. The news anchors and characters on these local shows were out in the small towns in their viewing area, in parades,at county fairs, whereever a crowd might gather. It built a strong between the station and its vi...

I've been running into a certain subject in my research, one that will make a few appearances in episodes to follow. It reminded me of the first time I really encountered the subject, standing in line at the Eagle Theater waiting for an Orange Fanta. withinpodcat.com The American Buffalo by Ken Burns: https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-buffalo?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjMKqBhCgARIsAPDgWlw-...

Sometimes there are secrets so deeply hidden, made all the more mysterious by the silence of those involved. And so was the closely held secret of the strange visitor to our home that fall of the year I turned five. Not until years later, as a college student, did time reveal its secrets. withinpodcast.com   Check out all we have to offer at withinpodcast.com ! Want to advertise, sponsor or otherw...

Everyone who knows me, knows I am fascinated with Ozark Giraffe style homes. I've made note of a few that have fallen to the progress of time in the past few weeks. Here's a bonus episode with my tribute to the peculiar little houses that dot the Ozarks! withinpodcast.com Check out all we have to offer at withinpodcast.com ! Want to advertise, sponsor or otherwise support Within The Realm? Visit w...

There a lot wrong with the world, especially when you're looking for it. But there plenty of hope and sunshine, sometimes it shows up at your front door. Today's story is about a weary teacher, a fabled figure from American folklore and a guy with a heart as big as all outdoors.  For more info about the great work being done by the Viebrock's non-profit Larson's Cause, click here:  Larson's Cause...

The tragic tale of Reuben and Fred, two young cowboys on an errand to the Cimarron River salt flats in what is now Woods County, Oklahoma. Their final resting place is this lonely and windswept territory has been marked and remembered for the 155 years since the cowboys met their demise in one of the final chapters of the west when it was wild. Fred and Reuben were in the middle of the great Cheye...

Dr. James Walker was an English professor, complete with a tweed jacket and a love for Mark Twain. But Big Jim Walker, his alter ego, was a guitar playing entertainer with his own transmitter free radio show. I learned many a lesson in the good doctor's classroom...and a few on the radio show, too!     Check out the music of Randy Pease at: Randy Pease on Spotify Check out all we have to offer at...

Some say a beloved entertainer, a star of television in it's early days, lies buried just north of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Others say an imposter is at rest beneath the large granite headstone. In this episode of Within The Realm, we investigate the mystery of who is in Ed's grave. Check out all we have to offer at withinpodcast.com ! Want to advertise, sponsor or otherwise support Within The Realm?...

The story was told about a thoughtless, coldblooded killing for years until it became lore. A closer look reveals two sides of the story, a clash of cultures that led to the death of "poor Mr. Dore." P.J. Dore had come to the Indian Territory to make his mark on this new frontier, but to Tandy Folsom, it was no frontier at all. It was his home. withinpodcast.com Special thanks to Professor Greg Ja...

On our show, we reach back into history and family stories from the past for a lot of our content. Our goal is not to bask in the things of yesteryear, but rather to find inspiration to move forward toward a distant and unsure horizon. Lately, I've noticed a lot of people looking backward, wishing to go back to a particular time and place that they misremember as simple, sound and safe. All forwar...

Every story has multiple ingredients to it, but this one is drawn together by a single sheet of paper, sitting forlorne in a dusty courthouse vault for years. The Document tells about a single event in the past, but once elements of the story are illuminated, in the most unlikely of places, the document reveals so much more! withinpodcast.com   Check out all we have to offer at withinpodcast.com !...

A soldier's story. The box held a medal, a government form and a letter. It was the letter, a quick note home from a GI to his family, that drove Matt Carlson to find the rightful owners of the little package he bought at the flea market. So many things fell into place, as if it were meant to be, for Matt's displaced items to find it's way home and provide a renewed meaning for them. Check out all...

A talk about self made men and proper credit, something due to the people who actually made these rugged individuals and, really, all of us. withinpodcast.com Link to referenced episodes: Within The Realm Blog The photography of Dani Wilson, Reason To Smile: Reason To Smile Our sponsors:  jandjpoolsafety@gmail.com katchakid.com Music: The Right Direction by Shane Ivers Martin Mountain Coffee: Smal...

Over the course of the fall and winter of 2020-21 two statues were stolen, one from a park in Kansas City and the other from the lawn of the Tulsa Historical Society. Besides being made of bronze, the other distinguishing similarity these two statues had in common was their subject matter. Both were of Osage women. The theft of the statues brings to mind the murders of Osage women one hundred year...

It was an assignment, to write a biography of my Grandfather, to help me maintain my hours at school, but it ended up giving me a great education about his life, what made him and his character and what it meant for me.  I heard stories no one had ever thought asking about, stories that would have been lost forever if not for the off handed assignment. Are you ready for your assignment? Previous e...