Legends of the Old West

Kit Carson becomes the steady and reliable guide for John C. Fremont’s historic expeditions to California. The first two are relatively routine, but the third takes an unexpected and consequential twist. The exploratory expedition turns into a military campaign to battle Native American tribes and to take California from Mexico. 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 noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher “Kit” Carson is born in Kentucky, grows up in Missouri, and then heads west in search of adventure. He becomes a Mountain Man in the early years of exploration of the West. He marries and begins a family, and then has a fateful meeting with the man who will change his life in more ways than one: John C. Fremont. 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 noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a special preview of the audiobook version of Chris Wimmer’s book, “The Summer of 1876: Outlaws, Lawmen, And Legends In The Season That Defined The American West.” Pre-order the audiobook on Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Audiobooks.com, and more! Pre-order the HARDCOVER until May 29, 2023: The Summer of 1876 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode about Chris Wimmer’s book, “The Summer of 1876,” he reveals plans for a (mini) book tour and tells a story about the secrets behind The New York Times Bestseller List. (Mini) Book Tour: June 7, 2023 – Deadwood, South Dakota – The Adams Museum June 15, 2023 – Durango, Colorado – Maria’s Bookshop Pre-order until May 29, 2023: The Summer of 1876 Esquire Magazine: The Murky Path to Becoming a New York Times Bestseller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texas Jack’s twin careers are winding down. He wraps up his final hunting expedition in the wilds of the American West, and then launches his final dramatic tour. Jack and Giuseppina Morlacchi arrive in Leadville, Colorado for several months of shows that will be Jack’s last performances. He adds one more heroic moment to his résumé before the end. Texas Jack’s friends and family honor him as a legendary cowboy, scout, hunter, and stage performer. For the full story of Texas Jack, check out Matthew Kerns’ book! Texas Jack: America’s First Cowboy Star 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 noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texas Jack sets the record straight after his honor and reputation are slandered in a newspaper. He leads another hunting trip to Yellowstone National Park, and his trip collides with the Nez Perce as they make their epic run for freedom. Jack races to save tourists who crossed paths with the Nez Perce column, and then he returns to the stage for another tour. But the tour is plagued by theft and other problems, and Jack feels the end of his career on the horizon. For the full story of Texas Jack, check out Matthew Kerns’ book! Texas Jack: America’s First Cowboy Star 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 noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The successful partnership of Texas Jack and Buffalo Bill ends on good terms, but shock and sadness await both men as the historic summer of 1876 unfolds. After the disaster at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the Army calls the scouts back to the West to help chase Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Then Bill and Jack receive word of the murder of their famous friend in Deadwood. Then, for Texas Jack, disaster strikes in the East when a crisis erupts at the World’s Fair that threatens his new business venture. For the full story of Texas Jack, check out Matthew Kerns’ book! Texas Jack: America’s First Cowboy Star 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 noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texas Jack and Buffalo Bill recruit Wild Bill Hickok to co-star in a slightly different version of their successful play. Hickok tolerates the production for a while, but it quickly becomes clear that he isn’t meant for the life of a performer. Between tours, Jack leads a British lord on a hunt through the Yellowstone, but grizzly bears and vicious storms threaten the lives of the party. For the full story of Texas Jack, check out Matthew Kerns’ book! Texas Jack: America’s First Cowboy Star 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 noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texas Jack and his good friend Buffalo Bill prepare for the most terrifying adventure of their lives: performing on stage in front of live audiences. They are savaged by the critics for their horrible acting abilities, but the audiences love the production … which is due more to the leading lady than the heroes of the plains. Italian ballerina Giuseppina Morlacchi graces the production with her talent, and she captures the heart of America’s first cowboy star. For the full story of Texas Jack, check out Matthew Kerns’ book! Texas Jack: America’s First Cowboy Star 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 noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Jack, check out Matthew Kerns’ book! Texas Jack: America’s First Cowboy Star 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 noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices