While Buffalo Roamed: The Wild West History of Colorado
History of Colorado’s (Old West) frontier days, western history, wild west, with the introduction to the remaining landmarks (while the buffalo and native Americans ruled the plains). Once gold is discovered in west Kansas Territory, the western adventurers, settlers, miners, bandits, gamblers, farmers, ranchers, city builders and politicians stopped in Denver; from there these pioneers spread like ants into an unknown wilderness that would evolve into the state of Colorado. Hero’s and villains, trials and hangings, escapes and adventure, fortunes made and lost - murder, poetry and even song - from the initial evidence left for us... This podcast is produced locally, high in the Rocky Mountains where this history - and these stories originated. The show is best enjoyed by listening to the episodes in order, and while not necessary, the full wild western experience is gained in this manner - full immersion - the history (stories) are in chronological order. Our podcast will entertain and enlighten, the listener will notice much quotation from the mid to late 1800s; think of the quotations as the guests of the show. At first the language and vocabulary of the frontiersman and women will seem awkward, trust me: YOU WILL ABSORB the cadence and character and learn some new words - it will quicken your thought (I believe that - give it a solid try and see for yourself). The episodes together form a rounded story of frontier life. The stages of civilization of the mid 1800s also translate to California, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, Mew Mexico, Wyoming and more. Starting from campers, gold miners, ranchers… Colorado is wonderful example of western frontier settlement. Its relative youth helps the historian or enthusiast, as does the general gold excitement which attracted so many from all over the world. Those involved in Colorado’s settlement felt that is was quite a special event in American history, which it was, and thankfully many early arrivals wrote copious notes - there’s a mountain of first hand primary source evidence. We don’t want to lose these stories, and while Colorado history is easy to obtain and read, it’s shuffled so that the storytellers or historians who didn’t have the benefits of modern research techniques, naturally missed some details we can (and have) recover(ed) today. Combine this with the author who has first hand knowledge of the particular locations and you can't help but learn a little something along the way - we shoot for “total immersion” - or something like that!
Episodes
William Green Russell has a HUGE plan to bring water from the snowy peaks, the continental divide, to Russell Gulch and beyond. The first "utilities" planned in the mountains.
The Fall River Ditch Company, The Rocky Mountain Ditch Company, the first newspaper in MOUNTAIN CITY (edited by Thomas Gibson and "FRED").
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James Beckwourth, a freed slave (freed from his loving father) from Virginia, while part of a trapping expedition in the early 1820s, is captured by a band of Crow Tribal People while trapping in the wilds of modern Wyoming (within the boundaries the future Jefferson Territory).
James is mistaken for a long lost son of the tribe, he joi...
First Pistol Duel in Denver, 1859 (Park McClure and Richard Whitsett fight for honor on the banks of Cherry Creek.
Achilles and Hector - David and Goliath - Park McClure and Dick Whitsett?
Today, two 58ers have a private dispute and duel it out on the banks o...
Desperate, lost and starving, Daniel Blue of Illinois prolongs his life by eating the flesh of his decaying friend and two brothers while traveling the Smokey Hill route to the Pikes Peak gold region in February of 1859.
This story of disaster and privation is THE first hand account, written by the survivor - Daniel Blue.
A horror story on the Smokey Hill Trail - Deadly fire blows through mountains - The Boulder County Marshal Fire 2021/2022 - How to make Apple Cider Vinegar according to 1859 - Obituaries - Mountain Tour
Listener Discretion Advised
While the miners mine in future Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties, a fire sweeps through the mountains killing 3 and their two animals. Two men freeze to death on the plains, leaving evidence that in t...
The South Park Miner Ambush of 1859
LISTENER Discretion ADVISED
Topics of this show include: suicide, homicide, human decay, dismemberment and terrible suffering.
Bent's Fort - La Junta Colorado - J.B. Kennedy S.D. (L.J.) Shank (Schank) William Slaughter Christopher "Kit" Carson - Ute Tribal People - THE South Park of Colorado - Miners Ambushed - Mysterious Location - Murder/Suicide
Three miners embark on a prospecting tour ...
Gilligan's Island - Thank You - Spotify - Mail vs. Express - Henry Allen wins "Mr. Auraria" - Denver City "Post Office" - Real Mail Arrives - Backwards
Almost 700 miles and a month away from friends, family and business (the network connection) the frontiersmen men and women in western Kansas Territory just want a little "network" service (at a fair price...with regularity...like other Americans).
Postage was 3 cents to get a lette...
Big-time newsmen arrive to see the Pike's Peak gold fields for themselves. They are asked to publish their findings "as they were seen", which the editors do.
Horace Greeley (New York Tribune) Albert D. Richardson (Boston Journal) Henry Villard (Cincinatti Commercial Gazette)
I present...THE REPORT
Mark Twain, Horace Greeley and the Stage (intro)
Horace Greeley and the stage line come to town. Denver City gets a boost when the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company land in the new West Kansas town.
Just after the first stage arrives, three important and trusted newspaper editors ride into town - to set the record straight. Horace Greeley (the most famous visitor yet - and publisher of the New York Tribune), Henry Villa...
Back to the Rocky Mountains and gold. The bonanza is on, riches for the quick, the latecomers want a fair chance.
Return of William Green Russell, the Russell diggings, fir$t $trikes, first laws of the Rocky Mountains, John Gregory, Dr. Casto, Defrees, routes to the mines, Horace Greeley
A James P. Beckwourth story for your entertainment, chosen at complete random to better your day. It is a rather tame Beckwourth tale!
Thank you
Walt Whitman - Henry David Thoreau - Horace Greeley - Arapahoe and Cheyenne - Man's Condition
It's never enough is it? Or, isn't it? For the tribal people "it was enough", life, the pursuit of happiness. For the white man, a different path perhaps.
Do we know what we want, or have we proven so already, by our actions?
Happy Thanksgiving - JB
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Duel - Thomas Jefferson - Constitutional Convention - First Politics and Government in Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory - The Jefferson Territory
In this episode government and politics arrive at the center of the Pikes Peak Region - Denver and Auraria. County elections (March 28, 1859) and town elections (precincts) were held - all void and illegal, for the true authority was 600 miles away in Le...
Firearm (gun) Accidents 1859 - Frontier Weaponry - Mark Twain - Nevada Territory - Early Crime Scene Investigation by a 17 year old girl on the plains CSI - Sarah Herndon - Samuel Colt - Ethan Allan - The Pepper Box -
Why was it 3X more likely to die of accidental gun discharge in 1859 Kansas Territory (future Colorado) in the summer of 1859 than today? On this episode, we hear about some deaths caused by accidental weapon discha...
Gold Rush 1959 Colorado (Kansas Territory) - Georgia - GOLD - John Gregory - Black Hawk, Colorado - Central City, Colorado - Gregory Road - Golden Gate Canyon Road
The Colorado Gold Rush begins (officially) with a huge gold discovery between modern Black Hawk and Central City, Colorado on May 10, 1859 when John Gregory returns to his hidden strike. John is accompanied by Wilkes DeFrees and William Zeigler, they ascend Enter mount...
Introducing SEs (Special Episodes) - On off-Sundays I will release SEs when possible. These "Specials" will be shows that do not fit in the timeline, or shows dedicated to further detail on a subject. In other words, an episode labeled "SE" will not coincide (chronologically) with "Es" (regular episodes).
I won't throw in a story from Arizona or France, but I have a few interesting stories that predate the timeline and add value ...
A "lazy" Georgian (John H. Gregory), professional miner, hears about gold near Pike's Peak and arrives early in 1859. The Georgian did not light the fuse of Colorado, but he placed the charge perfectly, the result and aftermath directly responsible for the West Kansas gold rush (Colorado gold rush) AND the expedited formation of the area from West Kansas Territory to Colorado. This "lazy" man changes the whole game and puts this ...
How to Survive the Plains - Tribal Stories from Captain - Randolph Marcy - The Prairie Traveler 1959 - Guns and Equipment - Native American Black Beaver - Rattlesnake Bit and Remedy? - Blackfeet Tribe - Denver and Auraria - William N. Byers
Two interesting guide books, one civilian and one military prove valuable sources for firsthand intelligence regarding heading west in 1859. William Byers (future editor of the Rocky Mounta...
First Newspapers in Colorado - William N. Byers - John L. Merrick - Cherry Creek Pioneer versus The Rocky Mountain News - Western Traveling Printers - 1440 Johnnas Gettenberg and the printing press (original internet) - Official Record Begins in Colorado
The first newspapers (yes! two newspapers with editors) arrive in Denver City, K.T. (Kansas Territory) not knowing of the other (at first). John L. Merrick and William Newton By...
Authentic letters and articles from the original pioneers of Colorado (from and to the Old West). This episode brings color, detail, attitude, and life to the fifty-eighters and fifty-niners who have the honor of arriving in the Denver / Auraria (Colorado) region (Arapahoe County) FIRST. Arguments, an invention, descriptions of the Wild West, slices of life - this is a great episode to dig into and "hear" the brave arrivals to t...
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