Episodes

  • Bat Masterson in Tombstone Part III: Doc Holliday's Silver Dollar

    Bat Masterson in Tombstone Part III: Doc Holliday's Silver Dollar
    Mar 4 2022
    In episode three of Bat Masterson in Tombstone entitled "Doc Holliday's Silver Dollar," Masterson finally arrives after his long journey from Dodge City. Holliday greets Masterson at the stage station, and they take a stroll along Allen Street. During their walk, Masterson inquires about the whereabouts of Big Nose Kate. Holliday extends this opportunity to provide Masterson with the ongoing troubling affirmations and differences between Kate and himself. Finally, Holliday concludes his conversation with Masterson about the history and founding of Tombstone.

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    27 mins
  • Masterson in Tombstone Part II: The Man Who Swallowed a Wagon Wheel

    Masterson in Tombstone Part II: The Man Who Swallowed a Wagon Wheel
    Feb 26 2022
    In this episode of Bat Masterson in Tombstone Part II: The Man Who Swallowed a Wagon Wheel, Masterson takes a stagecoach to Tombstone with a driver named Bob Paul. On their journey tooled south from Benson along the San Pedro River, Bob Paul describes the political climate in Tombstone while telling the story of William Whitney Brazelton. Bob concludes his story by warning Masterson how Tombstone has become a town divided between Democrats and Republicans with the potential outbreak of a gamblers war.

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    21 mins
  • The Dodge City Variety Show of 1878 & Beyond

    The Dodge City Variety Show of 1878 & Beyond
    Feb 15 2022
    In this episode, we explore the history of the wild west variety shows, including Dodge City in 1878 and beyond. The podcast is based on the work provided by the Kansas Historical Society and the research of Dr. James C. Malin, along with our producer and historical writer Mike King. The first part of the podcast, narrated by Brad Smalley, tells how Variety was a popular form of American stage entertainment in the mid-1800s. First conceived as saloon shows, these revues were anything but refined. Instead, circus acts, singers, dancers, chorus girls, and bawdy comics were presented in whatever proportion each bar owner preferred. The second part of the podcast presented by director Doug Austen provides a historical account of the Dodge City Variety Show from 1878 to its present day.

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    18 mins
  • Masterson in Tombstone Part 1: Western Union, Signed Wyatt Earp

    Masterson in Tombstone Part 1: Western Union, Signed Wyatt Earp
    Feb 12 2022

    In December of 1880, Bat Masterson takes a train from Kansas City to Dodge City. During Mastersons travels, he reminisces back on a time when he and his brother Ed worked grading track for the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Rail Road. While in Dodge City, he visits with friends, spends time gambling, and reflects back to 1878, when Dodge City featured an entire vaudeville show headlined by the Eddie Foy and Jimmie Thompson team. On February 2, 1881, Bat Masterson receives a Western Union Telegraph from Wyatt Earp asking him to join him in Tombstone, Arizona. This podcast is the true story of Bat Masterson's travel to Tombstone as George T. Buffum recorded it. Wild West Podcast proudly presents Bat Masterson in Tombstone, Part I: Western Union, Signed Wyatt Earp.


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    32 mins
  • The Cremation of Sam McGee

    The Cremation of Sam McGee
    Dec 9 2021
    The following is a narrative poem written by Robert Service, composed during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896–1899. It is the story of two friends mushing their way along the Dawson Trail, scavenging for gold. Even though the story in poetic terms starts to be a grim tale, it leads to a wonder - something that sparkles to the disparity of hope on the eve of a Christmas Day. Service like his stories was a wanderer who rarely settled for long in one place. In 1895, he made his way to British Columbia, worked as a store clerk in Cowichan Bay, and wrote poems and published them in the Daily Colonist, a Victoria newspaper. By 1903, he was working at a bank in Victoria. Head office sent him off to the new small town of Whitehorse, established in the frenzy of the Klondike Gold Rush and now in need of a bank. This is where he found the words to a ballad you are about to hear. Wild West Podcast proudly presents "The Cremation of Sam McGee" which is dedicated to Penny the producer's sister in law.

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    9 mins
  • History of Boot Hill Museum

    History of Boot Hill Museum
    Dec 7 2021

    The exciting and unique story of early Dodge City is told daily along Front Street at Boot Hill Museum. The area’s rich history dates back to the Native Americans who thrived off the land and the buffalo. The establishment of the Santa Fe Trail brought settlers to the area and introduced the potential of what is known as Dodge City. Law and order was soon recognized, and Dodge City became a civilized frontier town and a center of commerce on the prairie. Wild West Podcast proudly presents the History of Boot Hill Museum. At the end of this episode, we will have Lyne Johnson, Assistant Director of Boot Hill Museum, to talk about the progress the museum has made over the years.

    To receive additional information on Boot Hill Museum you can join the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BootHillMuseum. In addition, you can learn more about your upcoming visit to Boot Hill Museum at www.boothill.org. Links to these Websites are provided in the description portion of this Podcast.


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    21 mins
  • Mayor Kelley's: Bear Meat for Christmas

    Mayor Kelley's: Bear Meat for Christmas
    Dec 2 2021
    Mayor Kelley's: Bear Meat for Christmas is posted once a year during December. The story takes place in 1877, when Dodge City, Kansas, was full of pranksters. The script written and produced by Mike King tells of a mischief-maker named Luke McGlue, who meets up with James Dog Kelly of Dodge City. Mayor Kelly had a tame bear that he called "Paddy," which for a time became the town pet in Dodge City. As the animal grew more substantial and rowdier, the cowboys often tormented Paddy resulting in the bear taking refuge in the bedroom of a local hotel. What happens next can only be described in the title of this podcast. There are intended touches of humor in this story written by Mike King and narrated by Brad Smalley. For more stories from Luke McGlue, go to "The Machiavellian of Dodge City."

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    21 mins
  • A Deadly Occurrence: The Cook of Fort Dodge

    A Deadly Occurrence: The Cook of Fort Dodge
    Nov 24 2021

    The William Taylor Incident is the story of the killing of an innocent man by self-appointed Dodge City vigilantes. The story is told from the first-person perspective of Herman Fringer, one of the early settlers of Dodge City. No one knows the exact truth about how William Taylor got himself into the trouble that led to his killing. Some say his story could have been told in many different ways. The fact is that William Taylor was executed by a drunken mob who called themselves vigilantes, and someone would need to be held accountable.

    Some say Taylor's murder led Governor Osborn to appoint the first Commissioners of Ford County so a sheriff could be appointed. Others say the first county commissioners came into being, so the Kansas law would not be violated when selling liquor without an organized county. No matter the reason for the formation of the Ford County commission, whether to sell alcohol legally or to obtain a sheriff, William Taylor's murder needed to be resolved through the acts of civil order in a lawless town.


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    21 mins