Episodes

  • Kit Carson | Adobe Walls (Part 6)
    Sep 18 2024
    In November of 1864, famed frontiersman Kit Carson picked a fight with the Lords of the Southern Plains – the Comanche. The bloody engagement that followed, known as the first Battle of Adobe Walls, saw Carson and his men outnumbered 10 to 1 against the Comanche and their allies, the Kiowa. But why? Why did Carson pick a fight with the Comanche on their own home turf? What exactly is Adobe Walls, and what did Kit Carson do with the rest of his limited time alive? How did Kit Carson die? What sort of legacy did he leave behind? Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Merch! https://wildwestextramerch.com/ Book Recommendations! https://www.amazon.com/shop/wildwestextravaganza/list/YEHGNY7KFAU7?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d Carson’s Autobiography - https://archive.org/details/kitcarsonsautobi0000cars/page/106/mode/2up Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides - https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Thunder-Carson-Conquest-American/dp/1400031109 Kit Carson Home Restoration - https://www.kitcarsonhouse.org/ This episode is sponsored by Manscaped - get 20% off and free shipping with code WILDWEST at https://manscaped.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    31 mins
  • Kit Carson | Long Walk of the Navajo (Part 5)
    Sep 11 2024
    During the summer of 1863, the U.S. Government sent the legendary Kit Carson to reign in the Navajo. As such, the former Mountain Man adopted a scorched earth policy, burning crops and villages, restricting access to water, and pretty much annihilating everything he could find that belonged to the Navajo. What resulted is an incredibly dark chapter in American history known as the Long Walk, as thousands of refugees were marched from their homeland and forced to live in conditions more akin to a concentration camp than a reservation. But who were the Navajo? Why were they targeted? How much of a role did Kit Carson truly play in the Long Walk? Why’d he get involved in the first place? And how did the Navajo fare once they found themselves on the Bosque Redondo? Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Merch! https://wildwestextramerch.com/ Book Recommendations! https://www.amazon.com/shop/wildwestextravaganza/list/YEHGNY7KFAU7?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d Carson’s Autobiography - https://archive.org/details/kitcarsonsautobi0000cars/page/106/mode/2up Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides - https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Thunder-Carson-Conquest-American/dp/1400031109 This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp - Give online therapy at try at betterhelp.com/WildWest and get on your way to being your best self! This episode is sponsored by Manscaped - get 20% off and free shipping with code WILDWEST at https://manscaped.com !!! This episode is sponsored by HelloFresh - For a limited time, kids eat FREE! Go to HelloFresh.com/wildwestkids to unlock this exclusive offer !!!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    35 mins
  • Kit Carson | The Apache (Part 4)
    Sep 4 2024
    Following the Mexican-American War, Kit Carson returned home and attempted to start a ranch. The former Mountain Man had been out west with the Pathfinder – John C. Fremont – for several years as they tried to conquer California. This was followed by a series of transcontinental trips that saw Kit ferrying dispatches overland from the west coast to Washington D.C. and then back again. For the next decade, Kit would serve three stints as an Indian Agent while continuing to work his land and guide for the Army: his days of being gone for years at a time seemingly over, especially after a nasty fall with his horse that resulted in serious injuries. Ah, but duty called yet again. When the Civil War reached New Mexico, Carson enlisted with the Union Army. He’d face off with the Confederates at the Battle of Valverde before setting his sights on the Jicarilla and Mescalero Apache. Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Billy the Kid | Wild West Extravaganza - https://www.wildwestextra.com/billy-the-kid-compilation/ Carson’s Autobiography - https://archive.org/details/kitcarsonsautobi0000cars/page/106/mode/2up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    32 mins
  • Kit Carson | Bear Flag Revolt (Part 3)
    Aug 28 2024
    By 1845, tensions were high in the Mexican territory of California. Not only were the U.S. and Mexico on the brink of war, but even the native Hispanic Californios were looking to separate themselves from the official government down in Mexico. Into this social and political turmoil came the Pathfinder – John C. Fremont. At his helm was a small battalion of Mountain Men and Delaware scouts under the leadership of famed frontiersman Kit Carson. Join me today as we discuss Carson’s role in the Bear Flag Revolt, the Mexican-American War, the battle of San Pasqual, and his numerous transcontinental trips from the West Coast to Washington, D.C. Also, how do you pronounce Fremont’s name? Let's talk about acute accents! Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Carson’s Autobiography - https://archive.org/details/kitcarsonsautobi0000cars/page/106/mode/2up Battle of San Pasqual | SD Reader - https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1985/mar/07/cover-bloody-battle-san-pasqual/ Kit Carson | Photo Gallery - https://wildwestnewsletter.com/p/kit-carson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    51 mins
  • Kit Carson | Pathfinder (Part 2)
    Aug 21 2024
    Kit Carson ventured west as a teenager, looking to escape the drudgery of civilization. And in the years to come, he’d find all the excitement a youngster could hope for in the life of a mountain man. For over a decade, Carson would embark on a series of fur-trapping expeditions from New Mexico and Arizona up to present-day Montana and as far west as California. According to Carson, these were the happiest days in his life – there in the mountains, far from the habitations of civilized man, with no other food than that which he could procure with his rifle. Sadly, the good times never last forever. By the early 1840s, the beaver trade was played out, Carson’s Arapaho wife passed away, and he soon found himself embarking on a brand new career as a guide for up-and-coming explorer John C. Fremont. This partnership would elevate both men to the status of living legends. What was life like for Kit Carson post-fur trade? Who exactly was John C. Fremont guy? Why’d they call him the Pathfinder? And how much of Fremont’s success stemmed from his association with Kit Carson? We’re going to discuss all this and more, including Fremont’s expeditions, Carson’s family life, and a couple of bloody massacres that have largely remained forgotten even to this day. Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Carson’s Autobiography - https://archive.org/details/kitcarsonsautobi0000cars/page/106/mode/2up Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Carson’s Autobiography - https://archive.org/details/kitcarsonsautobi0000cars/page/106/mode/2up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
  • Kit Carson | Mountain Man (Part 1)
    Aug 14 2024
    When it comes to the Old West, they don’t get much more legendary than Kit Carson. Although soft-spoken and physically small, this larger-than-life mountain man would go on – during his own life – to become a national hero, and in death, he’d be immortalized in bronze. But who was Kit Carson? What sort of a man was he? What was his childhood like, and what events shaped him into the legend he’d become? Was Carson a courageous hero or a bloodthirsty killer and the living embodiment of manifest destiny? Or just somewhere in between? And just how short was he anyway? Also discussed are the Blackfeet, Jim Bridger, the Mountain Man rendezvous, and Carson’s encounter with a giant known as the bully of the mountains. Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Carson’s Autobiography - https://archive.org/details/kitcarsonsautobi0000cars/page/106/mode/2up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    38 mins
  • John Glanton & the REAL Blood Meridian
    Aug 7 2024
    “It makes no difference what men think of war. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.” – Blood Meridian Blood Meridian, set mainly in the American Southwest during the late 1840s, tells of an unnamed protagonist known only as the Kid. We follow the Kid as he runs away from home and makes his way to Texas before becoming involved in an ill-fated adventure into Mexico. He survives a massacre at the hands of the Comanche and is eventually recruited into a gang of scalp hunters led by John Glanton and his second in command – the absolutely terrifying Judge Holden. The gang then proceeds to cut a murderous swath of destruction throughout northern Mexico before reaping their just rewards. Here’s the fun part: Blood Meridian is loosely based on real-life people and events, including John Glanton and Judge Holden. Today, we’re going to focus mostly on Glanton, an ex-Texas Ranger and War hero turned homicidal maniac. What was John Glanton’s life like before he became a scalp hunter? And how did Glanton really die? Was it as gruesome as portrayed in Blood Meridian? We’ll also take a look at a young soldier by the name of Samuel Chamberlain, as well as discuss the true identity of the honorable Judge Holden. Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Victory and Death: The Battle of San Jacinto - https://youtu.be/pHPsnHlEAdM?si=5LLlsXv2CSfqPO0J Blood Meridian Christmas Miracle - https://youtu.be/QqHZOzbPvDQ?si=mSIqWjCR6T09PGl5 The Night Does Not End | Professor Gwyn - https://bloodmeridian.substack.com/ My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue - https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3290424W/My_confession Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 1 min
  • Dangerous Dan Tucker
    Jul 31 2024
    Dangerous Dan Tucker would arrive in the southwest in the mid-1870s, pin on the badge of a Sheriff’s Deputy, and, in a very short amount of time, tally up a body count surpassed only by the likes of John Wesley Hardin and Deacon Jim Miller. To quote historian Leon Metz, Tucker was a better lawman and more dangerous than high-profile figures like Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickok. But who was he really? Is it true that Dan Tucker once took out half a dozen of the Tombstone Cowboys in one fell swoop? And what about the stories of Doc Holliday giving Dan a wide berth due to his deadly reputation? FYI: The photo used in the thumbnail is NOT Dan Tucker. There are no known photos of Tucker. Pictured instead is disgraced Dodge City marshal Billy Brooks. Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Dangerous Dan Tucker: New Mexico’s Deadly Lawman by Bob Alexander - https://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Dan-Tucker-Mexicos-Deadly/dp/094438353X Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    59 mins