Deacon Jim Miller, also known as Killin’ Jim Miller, was an Old West assassin-for-hire. Chances are, if you wanted someone gone, Jim Miller could make it happen…for the right price, that is. Also discussed are John Wesley Hardin, Pat Garrett, Sheriff Bud Frazer, and a bullet deflecting steel plate! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp – http://w…

The Bender family, often referred to as America’s first serial killer family, settled in Labette County, Kansas, in 1870. They built a cabin near the Osage Trail that served as an inn for weary travelers. And that’s when things got weird. Join me today as we discuss the Bloody Benders! We'll discuss their various crimes, their true identity, and th…

They say the only man Billy the Kid ever truly feared was Dave Rudabaugh. They also say that Rudabaugh taught Doc Holliday how to use a gun. But how accurate are these stories? And just who was Dave Rudabaugh? Join me today as we attempt to separate fact from fiction. We’ll examine Dave’s short-lived career as a train robber and find out what cause…

Did John Wayne learn his iconic onscreen persona from the legendary Wyatt Earp? Let’s discuss! We'll also examine Earp’s life after Tombstone! Check out the website! https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest David Lambert Art Patreon - https://www.patreon.c…

When Olive Oatman was just 14 years old, she was forced to witness the slaughter of nearly every single member of her family. Only she and her 8-year-old sister were spared, and for the next several years, they’d be held as captives. When Olive finally emerged from the desert she was forever marked, both physically and mentally; a young lady not tr…

In the Spring of 1803, the United States acquired the Territory of Louisiana, a largely uncharted tract of wilderness stretching from Canada down to New Orleans. Over 800,000 square miles that, as far the maps were concerned, remained a mystery. President Thomas Jefferson then ordered an expedition to explore this newly purchased land all the way w…

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 …

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…

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…

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 bat…

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 …

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, …

“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…

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 Wy…

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In November of 1868 – at just the tender age of fifteen – John Wesley Hardin killed his first man. And, a few weeks later, he’d kill yet again; this time, three soldiers who came looking for him. Fearing a hangman’s noose, Wes struck first, dispatching two troopers with a shotgun and finishing the third with an old cap and ball colt. And you better…

How wild or violent was the Wild West? Were gunfights a daily occurrence, or is that just a byproduct of Hollywood and dime novels? Also discussed are the murder rates for Deadwood and Dodge City, Red Dead Redemption, cowboys sharing toenail clippers, the mysterious Last Stand note, and fighting grizzly bears with a tomahawk! Check out the website …

There is a lot of misinformation about Billy the Kid's death. This is your comprehensive guide to cut through the noise and determine fact from fiction. Thank you to all of the historians whose research I rely upon. (1:15) – Did Pat Garrett receive the bounty? (8:13) – Did Pat Garrett’s deputy say that he shot the wrong man? (10.33) – Did Garrett b…

Although John Bull remains relatively unknown today, the English-born gambler is considered one of the deadliest gunmen of the Old West. 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! h…

On the night of July 14th, 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett killed Billy the Kid. In doing so, he helped create a legend and ensured that his legacy would forever be intertwined with the notorious outlaws. And let’s be honest – it isn’t that great of a legacy. Many consider Garrett a coward, at best, a no-good backstabbing Old West Judas who betrayed his …

In July of 1901, 14-year-old Willie Nickell was shot dead in an ambush. He had been less than a mile away from home attempting to open a gate when two bullets struck him in the back. A little over two years later, noted assassin Tom Horn was executed for Willie’s murder. In years prior, Tom had been an enforcer for various cattle barons throughout …

Tom Horn first arrived in Wyoming in 1892. He had spent most of a decade chasing Apache down in Arizona before diving headfirst into a feud known as the Pleasant Valley War. Although Tom’s actions during the feud remain unclear, he most likely fought on the side of the Tewksbury’s against their avowed enemies, the Grahams. And despite wearing the b…

Regarding Old West feuds, Arizona’s Pleasant Valley War ranked among the most violent. Also known as the Graham-Tewksbury feud, this conflict would rage on for over a decade and see a death toll from between twenty to fifty men, some of whom fell at the hands of a notorious up-and-coming killer by the name of Tom Horn. And, of course, this would no…

“Killing men is my specialty. I look at it as a business proposition, and I think I have a corner on the market.” – Tom Horn, scout, lawman, detective, and assassin. As a young man, Tom Horn walked the rough cow towns of Dodge and Newton before cutting his teeth and fighting Apache down in Arizona. Graduated to the Range Wars, and in time, Horn wou…

Lonesome Dove, the 11th novel of famed author Larry McMurtry, was published in 1985. Four years later, the characters Augustus McCrae and Woodrow F. Call were immortalized on screen by actors Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. But did you know that much of Lonesome Dove was inspired by real-life people and events? Today, we discuss the real history…