Legends of the Old West

John Omohundro grows up in Virginia and serves as a Confederate spy during the Civil War before moving west to become one of America’s first cowboys. He becomes known as Texas Jack, meets Wild Bill Hickok, and then Buffalo Bill Cody. He leads grand hunting expeditions in Yellowstone National Park, and then receives an offer from popular writer Ned Buntline to co-star in a stage play. Jack takes the plunge and embarks on the adventure that will change his life. For the full story of Texas...

Thomas “Black Jack” Ketchum and members of his gang rob trains in New Mexico until they become the most wanted men in the territory. Lawmen systematically dismantle the gang until only Ketchum remains. He attempts a train robbery alone and it proves to be the final act of his career. New Mexico wants to make an example out of Black Jack Ketchum, but it ends very, very badly. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join...

Tom Ketchum roams some of the same ground as Jim Miller. When Ketchum is suspected of murder in Texas, he flees to New Mexico and Arizona. He returns to Texas for the pivotal point in his criminal career: to rob his first train. After a successful heist, he establishes himself as the leader of an outlaw gang in New Mexico, but his career will be brief and violent. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for...

Jim Miller’s killing spree continues. He targets his own business partner, and a lawyer, and a Deputy U.S. Marshal, and possibly the famous sheriff, Pat Garrett. Miller stays out of trouble, as usual, until he travels to Oklahoma to dispose of another Deputy U.S. Marshal. The evidence against him is damning, and the vigilantes won’t wait for the courts to deal with Jim Miller. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join...

In the 1890s, Jim Miller emerges from central Texas as a strange combination: he’s both a religious fanatic and a cold-blooded killer. He drifts west to the El Paso area and becomes embroiled in a long-running feud with a local sheriff. The body count rises; controversy and rumor follow Miller everywhere he goes; and the law seems unable to convict him. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free...

Joaquin Murrieta’s gang dominates central California for more than two years. To stop the bandit king, the governor authorizes the formation of the special unit. Captain Henry Love and his new California Rangers confront Murrieta and claim victory over the most famous outlaw in the region. But doubts about Love’s story persist to this day. Many still wonder if Joaquin Murrieta survived… Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple...

After the Mexican-American War, a young man from Sonora, Mexico, travels to the new state of California. He brings his new bride, and they hope to help the young man's older brother establish a ranch. But the young man experiences two terrible tragedies in quick succession. In his quest for vengeance, raises a gang of outlaws. And his name, Joaquin Murrieta, is feared everywhere in California. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join...

The Nez Percé have performed an extraordinary feat: they have traveled more than 1,300 miles and repelled three American armies in a series of battles and smaller skirmishes. But they are sore and exhausted. They are within reach of the Canadian border and freedom, but another American army joins the hunt and forces the final showdown between the Nez Percé and the United States. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join...

The Nez Percé escape the Battle of Big Hole and move into Yellowstone National Park. Their options are limited and they choose a treacherous path over a mountain range to try to lose their army pursuers. But the army catches the Nez Percé at a narrow canyon and tries to end the conflict before the Nez Percé once again slip away. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable...

The Nez Percé are on the run. They cross the Bitterroot Mountains and arrive in Montana. They believe they have left their troubles behind and can start fresh in a new territory. But they soon learn the truth. They are shunned, and sometimes betrayed, by their friends. A new American army unit joins the hunt from an unexpected direction and it clashes with the Nez Percé in a high mountain valley. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons:...

A few days after the Battle of White Bird Canyon, an army unit attacks a Nez Percé village. After the fight, the army unit becomes trapped at an abandoned ranch by the advancing Nez Percé column. The smaller fights lead to a two-day battle along the banks of the Clearwater River. The aftermath forces the Nez Percé to make a monumental choice in their pursuit of freedom. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+...

In the summer of 1876, the murder of a Nez Percé man nearly starts the war. The following summer, a series of attacks by the Nez Percé against settlers who had invaded their homeland pushes the conflict over the edge. Two days of bloody attacks leads to the first battle between soldiers and warriors, and the home for peace is all but gone. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and...

For about 50 years, there was relative peace in the U.S. and the Nez Percé. There were outbreaks of violence, like the Whitman Massacre, but not the continual warfare that existed between the U.S. army and other tribes. Tensions rose dramatically in the 1850s and 1860s when the U.S. proposed treaties that were designed to take nearly all Nez Percé land. By 1863, five bands of the Nez Percé were rebelling against the treaties and set the stage for the Nez Percé War. Join Black Barrel+ for...

Here is the official announcement of Chris’s book — “Summer of 1876: Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends In The Season That Defined The American West.” It will be released June 13, 2023, from St. Martin’s Press, but PRE ORDERS available now! Use the link below to reserve your copy today… https://read.macmillan.com/lp/summer-of-1876/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In July of 1901, 14-year-old Willie Nickell is found dead near his family’s farm. Residents of southern Wyoming are outraged, but there are very few leads in the case. The investigation begins to focus on Tom Horn, and lawmen will need a creative plan to trap him. A deputy U.S. marshal and a district attorney devise a strategy to his Tom’s own words against him, and they finally deliver justice. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join...

Tom moves back to Wyoming near the same time that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid organize the last major train robbery of the Old West. Tom joins the manhunt for the most wanted fugitives in America, but the only result is that he becomes associated with four more murders. As bad as that fiasco is, it’s nothing compared to what happens next… Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and...

Tom Horn and his employer are infuriated by the results of a cattle rustling case. Shortly thereafter, a small rancher is murdered. Then another is murdered. Tom Horn becomes the primary suspect, but charging Tom with a crime is easier said than done. After the murders, Tom returns to Arizona to allow the heat to die down. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons....

Tom Horn helps recruit a mercenary army on behalf of the cattle barons and they kill two men outside Buffalo, Wyoming. The mercenaries meet their match when the sheriff recruits a posse to oppose the cattle barons. After the war cools down, Tom starts working directly for the cattle barons and begins investigating a prominent cattle rustler in southern Wyoming. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for...

After Tom helps track some horse thieves, he receives a recommendation to join the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. He heads north to Colorado, and before long, he and the agency learn of a range war in Johnson County, Wyoming. The violence is escalating, and Tom Horn is the perfect man to go undercover. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+...

Tom Horn battles through a rough childhood and then heads west like many young men of the era. He lands in Arizona and quickly finds himself embroiled in the Apache Wars and the Pleasant Valley War. In that crucible, he begins to learn that he is good at a dark trade. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to...