As the story goes, a young girl lived with her family deep in the woods of Wisconsin, and those woods were thick and dark. In fact, the woods were so dense that the trees existed as far as the eye could see, and beyond that more woods. A traveler heading north from the little gray Log cabin wouldn't come upon another house or road for nearly a month. The young girl and her family lived alone, with no one but trees and wild animals to keep them company. It was just Laura, her parents, sisters Mary and Carrie, and their devoted dog Jack. Life was an adventure, but hardly easy. The family had to grow or catch their own food. The story, which takes place in the late eighteen hundreds, is mostly true. You see, Laura, the author skillfully blended fiction with experiences from her childhood. Together with her daughter Rose, Laura's novel became one of America's mother read and loved children's books. Rose continued to be her mother's editor, and soon other books followed. Little House in the Big Woods. The third and most famous book follows the family as they moved to Independence, Kansas. In the third book, we learn of a different life for the family. One of peril and difficulties. Although the land belonged to the Osage tribe of Native Americans, the family and a handful of other settlers still built small farms, much to the disapproval of those who owned them. Eventually, though the family was forced to leave. This book and the six others that followed help establish America's view of life on the frontier. Decades later, the book would inspire the classic Western TV drama of the same name, Little House on the Prairie. The novels focused on the Ingles family and their struggle during tough economic times after the Civil War. Laura wrote about the homestead pushes westward, the forced displacement of Native Americans from their land, railroads, recession, and devastating illnesses. Laura Ingalls was born in eighteen sixty seven. Her earliest memories were of life in the woods, a few miles from Pepin, Wisconsin. At eighteen, Laura followed in her family's path. She married Almonzo Wilder, ten years her senior, and like her parents, Laura, Almonzo, and their daughter Rose moved from place to place seeking financial stability. When her husband suffered partial paralysis from complications of diphtheria. Laura took in borders and waited on tables to make ends meet until he recovered. She also wrote magazine articles for McCalls and Country Gentlemen. Her columns about politics, women's suffrage, and farm life were popular with readers. When the stock market crash wiped out her family savings, though Laura did what she always had. She climbed out of a tough situation. She began to write books based on her life experiences and the rest, as they say, is history. When we imagine the Wild West, we think of cowboys, Native Americans, and stage coaches filled with settlers heading west. And of course we picture saloons, shootouts and legendary outlaws. But how much is fact and how much is fiction? Like miners panning for gold, it turns out that even among legendary tales, there's always a little nugget of truth. So saddle up, partner, You're in for quite a ride, because this isn't the story of how the American West was won, but how it was spun. I'm Aaron Mankee, and welcome to the Wild West. It's rare when historians can agree that a particular ideology began on a specific date. Despite the oppressive hot temperatures of July twelfth of eighteen ninety three, thousands of people flocked to the Chicago World's Columbian Exhibition. Visitors were treated to the world's largest fair ever hosted with more shows, games, food, and lectures than any other before it. One of the most popular attractions was the ferris Wheel and the Other Buffalo, Bill Cody's Wild West Show. Cody knew how to draw crowds, and the grand stands were packed. Advertised as the greatest equestrian event of the century, over four hundred and fifty horseback riders participated, from trained military cavalry to cowboys, Native Americans and writers from other countries. The tricks and show that they put on were unrivaled. Before the exposition, Cody put on a parade and hosted a picnic for poor children who otherwise might not be able to see him. Billboards, illustrating an overly sensational portrayal of life in the Great Frontier, captured the attention of children and adults throughout Chicago. Hundreds of historians attended the exposition, eager to record and participate in the historic event. With so much to see and do few took note of a thirty one year old historian named Frederick Jackson Turner when he stepped up to the podium. The Midwest and West had been the driving force that brought the American people together as one. He told his peers, immigrants were freed from the stigma that they and their ancestors had brought across the Atlantic. When immigrants and descendants of earlier settlers made their way west, people across America had been determined to conquer and tame the West, regardless of the cost. He claimed that the white Americans duty was to bring customs, culture, and religion to the savage indigenous people. And I hope you can hear the massive air quotes I used there around the word savage. Over time, Turner's thesis on the frontier would be retold in political speech and taught in American academia. His speech helped define our beliefs on early settlement in the wild West. Soon tales of railroad expansion and bold train robberies were handed down. Stories of saloons and the gold Rush delighted listeners from cowtowns to ghost towns. Stories of the Wild West became popular fights with Native Americans, shootouts on dusty streets at high noon, and legends of the most notorious outlaws to ever live found their way to our history books. Ranchers to farm hands shared their experiences and perils, and like most tales, many were embellished. Even so, those living on the East Coast eagerly read magazine articles, memoirs, and newspaper stories all about the frontier. As with many a great story, they often have a way of twisting and turning. With each retelling of the facts, myth and legend become so entwined that it's nearly impossible to separate them. The Wild West Era, otherwise known as the Old West Era, began just at the end of the Civil War in eighteen sixty five and continued through the eighteen nineties. In those short twenty five years, we've romanticized a good portion of it. So before we dig in, there are a few creative, but slightly misguided beliefs about the area that we need to discuss. Today, we picture cowboys wearing large stetson hats. It's a great look, but mostly inaccurate. Stetson's weren't in style at the time. Instead, most men wore bowler hats, and those odd saloon doors that hung from chest height to knee length also not accurate. I'm sorry to say the doors were actually floor to ceiling length to keep out the dust. Hei noun. Shootouts weren't common either, and those bank robberies, well, historians speculate that you'd be more likely to witness a bank robbery today than back then. So what about all the stories of Butch Cassidy and Jesse James, Well, it comes down to fame, you see, bank robberies were challenging to pull off, so a successful heist made outlaws instantly famous. And speaking of these famous outlaws, there's probably no greater tale of the American West than the life and times of Robert Leroy Parker, although, as you might have already guessed, that's not the name most people remember him by. Robert Leroy Parker entered the world on Friday the thirteenth in April of eighteen sixty six in Beaver, Utah. His parents and grandparents, along with their founder, Joseph Smith, were devout Mormons who finally settled in Utah when Parker turned thirteen. The family eventually moved to a small, unassuming one room farmhouse near Circleville. For those who love odd facts, thirteen came up a lot in Parker's history because he was also one of thirteen children. For entertainment, the family sang and played music together. Parker and his siblings enjoyed each other's company, often creating new games to play. They were also mischievous. One day, Missus Parker noticed the chickens acting strangely. It turned out that the chickens were drunk. Her children had stolen some of the neighbor's wine and added it to the chickens water pans. Otherwise, life was typical for the family. They raised cattle, and while his siblings helped on his parents' ranch, Parker worked at other ranches to help support the family, and that work took Parker further and further away from his family and the church. It was at one of the many ranches in western Utah that Parker met Mike Cassidy. Part time cow hand and full time wrestler, Mike Cassidy frequently found himself at odds with the law. Parker shared his new mentor's distrust of the law. After a brief run in when he was young, he had run an errand to the general store, only to find it closed, and not wanting to make the journey back empty handed, he took a pair of pants and left a note to the shopkeeper promising to return with the money. He was arrested, but the ShopKeep eventually dropped the charges. Some say it was this experience and Cassidy's influence that soured Parker on law enforcement. Mike Cassidy took Parker under his wing and taught him how to shoot a gun and train horses. Not long after, though, he left the ranch, leaving Parker behind. So when Parker turned eighteen, he also left, hoping to find more in life than farming and cattle. He moved around for while before settling until You Ride Colorado. In eighteen twenty one, Parker met Matt Warner, who owned a race horse. With Parker's knowledge of training horses, the two paired up and split the horse's winnings. It wasn't enough, though, and Warner suggested a side job a bank robbery, and Parker agreed. Now it's unclear why Parker changed his name to Cassidy around this time. It could have been to honor his mentor to protect his family, or even to create a different persona regardless, Cassidy, Warner and two other men robbed the San Miguel Bank of twenty one thousand dollars worth approximately half a million dollars today. Unfortunately, the men spent a large portion of the money at saloons and brothels. Cassidy left till You Ride with what little money he hadn't squandered, and found work as a butcher in Rock Springs, Wyoming. Before long, the people of a small town began calling him Butcher Cassidy, and then just Butch Cassidy, as you might have guessed. Though, he grew tired of working at as a butcher and purchased a ranch in Du Bois. Though the ranch was more of a front for a Cassidy's rustling business than a place to actually raise cattle, the venture proved successful until eighteen ninety four, when the local sheriff arrested Cassidy for stealing horses. The eighteen month long sentence did little to deter him from returning to a life of crime, though. After that he banded together with best friend William elz Ellsworth, Lay Harvey kid Curry Logan, and Ben Tall Texan Kilpatrick among many others. Together, they called themselves the Wild Bunch, and in August of eighteen ninety six, they robbed a bank of seven thousand dollars, a fortune by today's standards. A whole string of other robberies followed in South Dakota, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana. The gang used a place called the Hole in the Wall Pass as their hideout, a popular stretch of land among outlaws in Wyoming. Their success also meant that they were wanted men, and many a town sheriff were eager to hunt them down. In eighteen ninety nine, local law enforcement arrested a few of the Wild Bunch, including Cassidy's best friend Elsie Lay. To fill the void in their lineup, Kid Curry brought in a newcomer, Harry Longabau. Don't recognize the name, Well, that's because his nickname is infinitely more famous. Harry Longabow, you see, was the Sun Dance Kid. Harry Alonzo Longabau was just a year younger than Butch Cassidy. Back when he was fifteen, he was sent to help his cousin George suttle out west in Cortes, Colorado, while helping his cousin settle in, Harry worked at a neighboring ranch, learning to buy and sell horses. That trade offered other opportunities for work, and he soon left Cortes in eighteen eighty six, taking on a job at a ranch in Montana. Now Montana winters are hard, and that year was worse than most. The ranch let go of many of its ranch hands, so Harry drifted for a while, but finding work seemed harder than the winter itself. Now, his travels took him to a ranch near Sundance, Wyoming, where he stole a horse, a saddle, and a gun. The theft landed him an eighteen month prison sentence. Then the story of it all gave him his nickname, the Sun Dance Kid. It was in eighteen ninety seven that he met the Wild Bunch member Kid Curry, and they robbed bank together in South Dakota. Authorities did capture them, but the outlaws escaped a few months later. After that, the pair made their way to the Wild Bunch's hideout. While Cassidy and Sundance weren't the best friends that the legends would have us believe, they did work well together and they began making a name for themselves, although not just as outlaws. You see, Cassidy never resorted to violence, at least he claimed that he never shot anyone. And another thing that made the pair stand out was that they occasionally gave some of their stolen money to those in need, like a Wild West version of Robin Hood. Cassidy's read mutation for helping those in need made the Outlaws popular among the common folk across several states. Soft hearted and shrewd marketing plan, this alliance between townsfolk and outlaws made capturing them a lot more difficult, and the Wild Bunch had another ally at a place Sundance met Ella sometime in the eighteen nineties, and the bond that they formed helped to romanticize the legend. But heroes are outlaws, the gang presented a growing problem to the authorities. The Wild Bunch robbed a Union Pacific Railroad train on June second of eighteen ninety nine of around fifty thousand dollars, which would be worth over one point eight million today. The gang had successfully pulled off the most incredible train robbery in history. A month later, Cassidy stayed behind while the rest of the Wild Bunch robbed the Colorado and Southern Railroad for a similar amount. This time, though authorities caught up with the gang. The ensuing gun battle killed men on both sides. Els A Lay was arrested and sentenced to life in print in for killing a sheriff. As for the rest of the Wild Bunch, Federal authorities called in the Pinkerton Agency for assistance, offering a thirty thousand dollars reward. In nineteen hundred, Cassidy wrote a letter to Utah's governor asking for amnesty. The governor suggested that Cassidy ask the Union Pacific Railroad to drop the charges instead, butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid robbed another one of their trains on August twenty ninth of nineteen hundred, noting them fifty five thousand dollars, hardly the letter the railroad was expecting. I'm sure Cassidy and Sundance fled to New York after that. In nineteen oh one, the men, along with at a Place, headed to Buenos Aires to settle into a new life there. The trio even purchased a fifteen thousand acre ranch on Rio Blanco's East bank and Here's where Cassidy and Sundance made a fatal mistake. They went back to a life of crime. The men you see, sold everything and went on the run once again. By nineteen oh four, word of English speaking outlaws had reached the United Slime States. They were wanted by the South American government, and now the Pinkerton Agency had sent their best to track them down.

As the story goes, a young girl lived with her family deep in the woods of Wisconsin, and those woods were thick and dark. In fact, the woods were so dense that the trees existed as far as the eye could see, and beyond that more woods. A traveler heading north from the little gray Log cabin wouldn't come upon another house or road for nearly a month. The young girl and her family lived alone, with no one but trees and wild animals to keep them company. It was just Laura, her parents, sisters Mary and Carrie, and their devoted dog Jack. Life was an adventure, but hardly easy. The family had to grow or catch their own food. The story, which takes place in the late eighteen hundreds, is mostly true. You see, Laura, the author skillfully blended fiction with experiences from her childhood. Together with her daughter Rose, Laura's novel became one of America's mother read and loved children's books. Rose continued to be her mother's editor, and soon other books followed. Little House in the Big Woods. The third and most famous book follows the family as they moved to Independence, Kansas. In the third book, we learn of a different life for the family. One of peril and difficulties. Although the land belonged to the Osage tribe of Native Americans, the family and a handful of other settlers still built small farms, much to the disapproval of those who owned them. Eventually, though the family was forced to leave. This book and the six others that followed help establish America's view of life on the frontier. Decades later, the book would inspire the classic Western TV drama of the same name, Little House on the Prairie. The novels focused on the Ingles family and their struggle during tough economic times after the Civil War. Laura wrote about the homestead pushes westward, the forced displacement of Native Americans from their land, railroads, recession, and devastating illnesses. Laura Ingalls was born in eighteen sixty seven. Her earliest memories were of life in the woods, a few miles from Pepin, Wisconsin. At eighteen, Laura followed in her family's path. She married Almonzo Wilder, ten years her senior, and like her parents, Laura, Almonzo, and their daughter Rose moved from place to place seeking financial stability. When her husband suffered partial paralysis from complications of diphtheria. Laura took in borders and waited on tables to make ends meet until he recovered. She also wrote magazine articles for McCalls and Country Gentlemen. Her columns about politics, women's suffrage, and farm life were popular with readers. When the stock market crash wiped out her family savings, though Laura did what she always had. She climbed out of a tough situation. She began to write books based on her life experiences and the rest, as they say, is history. When we imagine the Wild West, we think of cowboys, Native Americans, and stage coaches filled with settlers heading west. And of course we picture saloons, shootouts and legendary outlaws. But how much is fact and how much is fiction? Like miners panning for gold, it turns out that even among legendary tales, there's always a little nugget of truth. So saddle up, partner, You're in for quite a ride, because this isn't the story of how the American West was won, but how it was spun. I'm Aaron Mankee, and welcome to the Wild West. It's rare when historians can agree that a particular ideology began on a specific date. Despite the oppressive hot temperatures of July twelfth of eighteen ninety three, thousands of people flocked to the Chicago World's Columbian Exhibition. Visitors were treated to the world's largest fair ever hosted with more shows, games, food, and lectures than any other before it. One of the most popular attractions was the ferris Wheel and the Other Buffalo, Bill Cody's Wild West Show. Cody knew how to draw crowds, and the grand stands were packed. Advertised as the greatest equestrian event of the century, over four hundred and fifty horseback riders participated, from trained military cavalry to cowboys, Native Americans and writers from other countries. The tricks and show that they put on were unrivaled. Before the exposition, Cody put on a parade and hosted a picnic for poor children who otherwise might not be able to see him. Billboards, illustrating an overly sensational portrayal of life in the Great Frontier, captured the attention of children and adults throughout Chicago. Hundreds of historians attended the exposition, eager to record and participate in the historic event. With so much to see and do few took note of a thirty one year old historian named Frederick Jackson Turner when he stepped up to the podium. The Midwest and West had been the driving force that brought the American people together as one. He told his peers, immigrants were freed from the stigma that they and their ancestors had brought across the Atlantic. When immigrants and descendants of earlier settlers made their way west, people across America had been determined to conquer and tame the West, regardless of the cost. He claimed that the white Americans duty was to bring customs, culture, and religion to the savage indigenous people. And I hope you can hear the massive air quotes I used there around the word savage. Over time, Turner's thesis on the frontier would be retold in political speech and taught in American academia. His speech helped define our beliefs on early settlement in the wild West. Soon tales of railroad expansion and bold train robberies were handed down. Stories of saloons and the gold Rush delighted listeners from cowtowns to ghost towns. Stories of the Wild West became popular fights with Native Americans, shootouts on dusty streets at high noon, and legends of the most notorious outlaws to ever live found their way to our history books. Ranchers to farm hands shared their experiences and perils, and like most tales, many were embellished. Even so, those living on the East Coast eagerly read magazine articles, memoirs, and newspaper stories all about the frontier. As with many a great story, they often have a way of twisting and turning. With each retelling of the facts, myth and legend become so entwined that it's nearly impossible to separate them. The Wild West Era, otherwise known as the Old West Era, began just at the end of the Civil War in eighteen sixty five and continued through the eighteen nineties. In those short twenty five years, we've romanticized a good portion of it. So before we dig in, there are a few creative, but slightly misguided beliefs about the area that we need to discuss. Today, we picture cowboys wearing large stetson hats. It's a great look, but mostly inaccurate. Stetson's weren't in style at the time. Instead, most men wore bowler hats, and those odd saloon doors that hung from chest height to knee length also not accurate. I'm sorry to say the doors were actually floor to ceiling length to keep out the dust. Hei noun. Shootouts weren't common either, and those bank robberies, well, historians speculate that you'd be more likely to witness a bank robbery today than back then. So what about all the stories of Butch Cassidy and Jesse James, Well, it comes down to fame, you see, bank robberies were challenging to pull off, so a successful heist made outlaws instantly famous. And speaking of these famous outlaws, there's probably no greater tale of the American West than the life and times of Robert Leroy Parker, although, as you might have already guessed, that's not the name most people remember him by. Robert Leroy Parker entered the world on Friday the thirteenth in April of eighteen sixty six in Beaver, Utah. His parents and grandparents, along with their founder, Joseph Smith, were devout Mormons who finally settled in Utah when Parker turned thirteen. The family eventually moved to a small, unassuming one room farmhouse near Circleville. For those who love odd facts, thirteen came up a lot in Parker's history because he was also one of thirteen children. For entertainment, the family sang and played music together. Parker and his siblings enjoyed each other's company, often creating new games to play. They were also mischievous. One day, Missus Parker noticed the chickens acting strangely. It turned out that the chickens were drunk. Her children had stolen some of the neighbor's wine and added it to the chickens water pans. Otherwise, life was typical for the family. They raised cattle, and while his siblings helped on his parents' ranch, Parker worked at other ranches to help support the family, and that work took Parker further and further away from his family and the church. It was at one of the many ranches in western Utah that Parker met Mike Cassidy. Part time cow hand and full time wrestler, Mike Cassidy frequently found himself at odds with the law. Parker shared his new mentor's distrust of the law. After a brief run in when he was young, he had run an errand to the general store, only to find it closed, and not wanting to make the journey back empty handed, he took a pair of pants and left a note to the shopkeeper promising to return with the money. He was arrested, but the ShopKeep eventually dropped the charges. Some say it was this experience and Cassidy's influence that soured Parker on law enforcement. Mike Cassidy took Parker under his wing and taught him how to shoot a gun and train horses. Not long after, though, he left the ranch, leaving Parker behind. So when Parker turned eighteen, he also left, hoping to find more in life than farming and cattle. He moved around for while before settling until You Ride Colorado. In eighteen twenty one, Parker met Matt Warner, who owned a race horse. With Parker's knowledge of training horses, the two paired up and split the horse's winnings. It wasn't enough, though, and Warner suggested a side job a bank robbery, and Parker agreed. Now it's unclear why Parker changed his name to Cassidy around this time. It could have been to honor his mentor to protect his family, or even to create a different persona regardless, Cassidy, Warner and two other men robbed the San Miguel Bank of twenty one thousand dollars worth approximately half a million dollars today. Unfortunately, the men spent a large portion of the money at saloons and brothels. Cassidy left till You Ride with what little money he hadn't squandered, and found work as a butcher in Rock Springs, Wyoming. Before long, the people of a small town began calling him Butcher Cassidy, and then just Butch Cassidy, as you might have guessed. Though, he grew tired of working at as a butcher and purchased a ranch in Du Bois. Though the ranch was more of a front for a Cassidy's rustling business than a place to actually raise cattle, the venture proved successful until eighteen ninety four, when the local sheriff arrested Cassidy for stealing horses. The eighteen month long sentence did little to deter him from returning to a life of crime, though. After that he banded together with best friend William elz Ellsworth, Lay Harvey kid Curry Logan, and Ben Tall Texan Kilpatrick among many others. Together, they called themselves the Wild Bunch, and in August of eighteen ninety six, they robbed a bank of seven thousand dollars, a fortune by today's standards. A whole string of other robberies followed in South Dakota, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana. The gang used a place called the Hole in the Wall Pass as their hideout, a popular stretch of land among outlaws in Wyoming. Their success also meant that they were wanted men, and many a town sheriff were eager to hunt them down. In eighteen ninety nine, local law enforcement arrested a few of the Wild Bunch, including Cassidy's best friend Elsie Lay. To fill the void in their lineup, Kid Curry brought in a newcomer, Harry Longabau. Don't recognize the name, Well, that's because his nickname is infinitely more famous. Harry Longabow, you see, was the Sun Dance Kid. Harry Alonzo Longabau was just a year younger than Butch Cassidy. Back when he was fifteen, he was sent to help his cousin George suttle out west in Cortes, Colorado, while helping his cousin settle in, Harry worked at a neighboring ranch, learning to buy and sell horses. That trade offered other opportunities for work, and he soon left Cortes in eighteen eighty six, taking on a job at a ranch in Montana. Now Montana winters are hard, and that year was worse than most. The ranch let go of many of its ranch hands, so Harry drifted for a while, but finding work seemed harder than the winter itself. Now, his travels took him to a ranch near Sundance, Wyoming, where he stole a horse, a saddle, and a gun. The theft landed him an eighteen month prison sentence. Then the story of it all gave him his nickname, the Sun Dance Kid. It was in eighteen ninety seven that he met the Wild Bunch member Kid Curry, and they robbed bank together in South Dakota. Authorities did capture them, but the outlaws escaped a few months later. After that, the pair made their way to the Wild Bunch's hideout. While Cassidy and Sundance weren't the best friends that the legends would have us believe, they did work well together and they began making a name for themselves, although not just as outlaws. You see, Cassidy never resorted to violence, at least he claimed that he never shot anyone. And another thing that made the pair stand out was that they occasionally gave some of their stolen money to those in need, like a Wild West version of Robin Hood. Cassidy's read mutation for helping those in need made the Outlaws popular among the common folk across several states. Soft hearted and shrewd marketing plan, this alliance between townsfolk and outlaws made capturing them a lot more difficult, and the Wild Bunch had another ally at a place Sundance met Ella sometime in the eighteen nineties, and the bond that they formed helped to romanticize the legend. But heroes are outlaws, the gang presented a growing problem to the authorities. The Wild Bunch robbed a Union Pacific Railroad train on June second of eighteen ninety nine of around fifty thousand dollars, which would be worth over one point eight million today. The gang had successfully pulled off the most incredible train robbery in history. A month later, Cassidy stayed behind while the rest of the Wild Bunch robbed the Colorado and Southern Railroad for a similar amount. This time, though authorities caught up with the gang. The ensuing gun battle killed men on both sides. Els A Lay was arrested and sentenced to life in print in for killing a sheriff. As for the rest of the Wild Bunch, Federal authorities called in the Pinkerton Agency for assistance, offering a thirty thousand dollars reward. In nineteen hundred, Cassidy wrote a letter to Utah's governor asking for amnesty. The governor suggested that Cassidy ask the Union Pacific Railroad to drop the charges instead, butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid robbed another one of their trains on August twenty ninth of nineteen hundred, noting them fifty five thousand dollars, hardly the letter the railroad was expecting. I'm sure Cassidy and Sundance fled to New York after that. In nineteen oh one, the men, along with at a Place, headed to Buenos Aires to settle into a new life there. The trio even purchased a fifteen thousand acre ranch on Rio Blanco's East bank and Here's where Cassidy and Sundance made a fatal mistake. They went back to a life of crime. The men you see, sold everything and went on the run once again. By nineteen oh four, word of English speaking outlaws had reached the United Slime States. They were wanted by the South American government, and now the Pinkerton Agency had sent their best to track them down.

There.

There.

A courier for a silver mine claimed that two American bandits had robbed them, and witnesses told authorities that they spotted the men at a boarding house. Three days later. Bolivian soldiers and the local police surrounded the house on the evening of November sixth of nineteen oh eight. Bolivia's mayor also showed up, intent on personally handcuffing the outlaws himself. I'm sure it was a great plan, but it didn't work out that way. Shots rang out, killing one of the soldiers. The other soldiers and the police returned fire, not stopping until they had riddled the walls with bullet holes. After a brief moment of quiet, screaming erupted from within the house. The crack of two gunshots followed, and then silence. Soldiers burst into the house and found two men dead on the floor. After a legendary career, Butch Cassidy and the sun Dance Kid had reached the end of the line. Both bodies had several gunshot wounds. The man believed to be Sundance had been shot between the eye's execution style. The other body had a fatal bullet wound in the head. It appeared that Cassidy had shot Sundance to put him out of his pain from the other wounds, and then turned the gun on himself rather than be captured. Bolivian officials buried the bodies in the San Vicente Cemetery in unmarked graves. With that, both countries moved on. But there was a problem. The men who robbed the courier might not have been Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Eventually, whispers of their escape began to spread. Rumors soon became legend, arguably one of the most famous stories of the Wild West. So what happened to the outlaws? Did they die in a blaze of glory as depicted in the nineteen sixty nine films starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, or did they escape in the nineteen nineties, researchers set out to find their graves and put the long standing rumors to rest. They tested the remains of the men buried in several graves, but none of them was a genetic match. Another researcher in twenty seventeen tried it again with the same results. Whoever the men buried in the unmarked graves were, they were not related to the infamous outlaws. Today, some historians think that it's possible that the men inside the boarding house weren't Cassidy or sun Dance. They theorized that the Bolivian authorities killed two run of the mill robbers instead. But it gets even more intriguing. Residents of Bags, Wyoming say Cassidy visited there in nineteen twenty four, driving a Ford Model tee around town. Cassidy's surviving family said that they had seen him several times, and those in Cassidy's hometown of Circleville claimed that they saw him and his brother Mark driving around in the same Ford. Cassidy's sister Lula told reporters that she remembered his return clearly. It was nineteen twenty four and he had driven up in a Ford Model tea. Later that day, she and her brother sat together eating blueberry pie. Lula said that her brother regretted the mess that he had made of his life and for disappointing their mother. And when he died on an autumn day in nineteen thirty seven from pneumonia, the family made a pact tell no one where they had buried him. He'd been chased all his life, and they thought that he deserved to rest in peace. Now there's no word on whatever happened to Sundance Kid or his girlfriend at a place. In her book, Butch Cassidy my brother, Lula claims that the pair went straight after that night in Bolivia. The truth remains a mystery to this day. Tales of Butch Cassidy living out the rest of his days under a fake name still circulate like dust in a sandstorm, passed along from family to family and generation to generation. Wherever Butch Cassidy is buried, we may never know. Lula was his last surviving sibling. She passed away at the the ripe old age of ninety six back in nineteen eighty, taking the answers to the mystery to the grave. There are few legendary characters that embody the Wild West. Like Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid. Between their robin hood esque reputation, massive success, and mysterious ending, their story has all the ingredients necessary to make a legend. But they aren't the only ones. And if you stick around through this brief sponsor break, my teammates Ali Stead will tell you all about one more Wild West legend.

A courier for a silver mine claimed that two American bandits had robbed them, and witnesses told authorities that they spotted the men at a boarding house. Three days later. Bolivian soldiers and the local police surrounded the house on the evening of November sixth of nineteen oh eight. Bolivia's mayor also showed up, intent on personally handcuffing the outlaws himself. I'm sure it was a great plan, but it didn't work out that way. Shots rang out, killing one of the soldiers. The other soldiers and the police returned fire, not stopping until they had riddled the walls with bullet holes. After a brief moment of quiet, screaming erupted from within the house. The crack of two gunshots followed, and then silence. Soldiers burst into the house and found two men dead on the floor. After a legendary career, Butch Cassidy and the sun Dance Kid had reached the end of the line. Both bodies had several gunshot wounds. The man believed to be Sundance had been shot between the eye's execution style. The other body had a fatal bullet wound in the head. It appeared that Cassidy had shot Sundance to put him out of his pain from the other wounds, and then turned the gun on himself rather than be captured. Bolivian officials buried the bodies in the San Vicente Cemetery in unmarked graves. With that, both countries moved on. But there was a problem. The men who robbed the courier might not have been Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Eventually, whispers of their escape began to spread. Rumors soon became legend, arguably one of the most famous stories of the Wild West. So what happened to the outlaws? Did they die in a blaze of glory as depicted in the nineteen sixty nine films starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, or did they escape in the nineteen nineties, researchers set out to find their graves and put the long standing rumors to rest. They tested the remains of the men buried in several graves, but none of them was a genetic match. Another researcher in twenty seventeen tried it again with the same results. Whoever the men buried in the unmarked graves were, they were not related to the infamous outlaws. Today, some historians think that it's possible that the men inside the boarding house weren't Cassidy or sun Dance. They theorized that the Bolivian authorities killed two run of the mill robbers instead. But it gets even more intriguing. Residents of Bags, Wyoming say Cassidy visited there in nineteen twenty four, driving a Ford Model tee around town. Cassidy's surviving family said that they had seen him several times, and those in Cassidy's hometown of Circleville claimed that they saw him and his brother Mark driving around in the same Ford. Cassidy's sister Lula told reporters that she remembered his return clearly. It was nineteen twenty four and he had driven up in a Ford Model tea. Later that day, she and her brother sat together eating blueberry pie. Lula said that her brother regretted the mess that he had made of his life and for disappointing their mother. And when he died on an autumn day in nineteen thirty seven from pneumonia, the family made a pact tell no one where they had buried him. He'd been chased all his life, and they thought that he deserved to rest in peace. Now there's no word on whatever happened to Sundance Kid or his girlfriend at a place. In her book, Butch Cassidy my brother, Lula claims that the pair went straight after that night in Bolivia. The truth remains a mystery to this day. Tales of Butch Cassidy living out the rest of his days under a fake name still circulate like dust in a sandstorm, passed along from family to family and generation to generation. Wherever Butch Cassidy is buried, we may never know. Lula was his last surviving sibling. She passed away at the the ripe old age of ninety six back in nineteen eighty, taking the answers to the mystery to the grave. There are few legendary characters that embody the Wild West. Like Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid. Between their robin hood esque reputation, massive success, and mysterious ending, their story has all the ingredients necessary to make a legend. But they aren't the only ones. And if you stick around through this brief sponsor break, my teammates Ali Stead will tell you all about one more Wild West legend.

Prospector Ed Schefflin had been warned. Soldiers at an Arizona Army outpost told him he'd find nothing except his own tombstone near the Dragoon Mountains in eighteen seventy seven. They called the area goose Flats, and Ed ignored their warning. As it turned out, he didn't find his tombstone out there, he did find something else, something better. He found silver and soon founded a mine, ironically naming a Tombstone. By eighteen eighty, settlers named a nearby town Tombstone after Ed's mine. Home to over one hundred saloons, fourteen gambling houses, a dance hall, and a popular red light district, the town became one of the West's wealthiest and most populated. Tombstone was very new, and like many Western mining towns, the influx of outlaws and wrestlers made it difficult for lawmen to keep the peace. Everyone carried a gun and the townsfolk were no strangers to violence. To make Tombstone a safer place to live, the town decided to name a new marshal in eighteen eighty one, and they chose Virgil Irp. Virgil and his brothers Wyatt, Morgan and James, had moved to Tombstone in December eighteen seventy nine. Wyatt loved boomtowns and gambling, so it was little surprised that the brothers opened a few saloons and brothels, though Virgil also found work as a bank guard. Wyatt brought his friend and fellow gambler, Doc Holiday, into the fold, and the group quickly gained a reputation for their ruthlessness and determination to keep the peace by any means necessary. But not everyone liked the IRPs or the way they ran the town. On the outskirts of Tombstone were ranches belonging to the Clantons and the mclory's. The two groups loosely formed a band of outlaws known as the Cowboys. Being thieves and rustlers, the cowboys constantly challenged the Rps for control over the town. The townsfolk knew this and watched a storm brewing between the lawmen and the outlaws. One night in late October of eighteen eighty one, Doc Holliday and one of the cowboys got into a heated argument. Outnumbered and underprepared, Ike Clanton stormed off, telling Wyater that he and the others would be ready for him, his brothers, and Holiday in the morning. It was a threat that Clantons made good on. They arrived the next morning with the full intent of causing trouble, and fully armed. Gunfights broke out across the town. Virgil and Morgan caught and disarmed Ike and dragged him before a judge, but he was only fined and then released. Ike's younger brother and the Mcloryes arrived later that day. Intent on retaliation. The group headed to the Ok Corral, where witnesses heard them talking about killing the IRPs and Holiday. The IRPs decided they'd had enough of the gangs and made their way to confront them. The weather was cold that afternoon as the IRPs and Holidays strode down the street, their long black coats rustling in the wind. Residents stood quietly as the lawmen passed. Others peeked out from cracks and doorways and behind curtains at the windows. Under a clear sky, a storm was brewing. As the two groups faced each other, witnesses held their breaths. No one was expecting the confrontation to end well, as the IRPs and Holiday were easily outnumbered. Completely undeterred, Virgil demanded the cowboys drop their weapons. The cowboys scoffed and refused, not so politely. Clinton drew his gun. The IRPs and Holiday quickly drew Theirs, and the shootout began. No one knows who fired first, but that didn't matter. Bullets whizzed through the air and bystanders ran for cover. When the dust settled, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury lay dead. Ike Clanton and two other cowboys escaped unharmed, though Doc Holliday and the Earps survived. Only Wyatt remained uninjured. The shootout lasted less than thirty seconds, but its impact was only just beginning. Ike Clanton claimed the IRPs had shot down his family and the two mclory boys in cold blood, but by Tombstone law, the ERPs were within their rights to shoot anyone who was armed and threatening violence, and after a hearing, a judge acquitted the ERPs and Holiday. But the feud didn't end there. Outlaws ambushed Vigil on December twenty eighth of eighteen Needy one. They shot him in the back, and he survived, but he was left maimed. The following March, Morgan was shot and killed while playing pool. Not long afterwards, Whyat became a US Deputy Marshal. Seeking justice, or some argue, vengeance, he deputized Doc Holliday, and the pair set out to find Morgan's killers. For those who love a more pendantic and picky approach to their folklore, it must be said that the actual shootout occurred on Fremont Street, about six doors down from the Ok Corral. Even still, this was a moment that had become a symbol of the Wild West, one that has been told and retold throughout the years. Accurate or not, this piece of American folklore will most likely live on for decades to come.

Prospector Ed Schefflin had been warned. Soldiers at an Arizona Army outpost told him he'd find nothing except his own tombstone near the Dragoon Mountains in eighteen seventy seven. They called the area goose Flats, and Ed ignored their warning. As it turned out, he didn't find his tombstone out there, he did find something else, something better. He found silver and soon founded a mine, ironically naming a Tombstone. By eighteen eighty, settlers named a nearby town Tombstone after Ed's mine. Home to over one hundred saloons, fourteen gambling houses, a dance hall, and a popular red light district, the town became one of the West's wealthiest and most populated. Tombstone was very new, and like many Western mining towns, the influx of outlaws and wrestlers made it difficult for lawmen to keep the peace. Everyone carried a gun and the townsfolk were no strangers to violence. To make Tombstone a safer place to live, the town decided to name a new marshal in eighteen eighty one, and they chose Virgil Irp. Virgil and his brothers Wyatt, Morgan and James, had moved to Tombstone in December eighteen seventy nine. Wyatt loved boomtowns and gambling, so it was little surprised that the brothers opened a few saloons and brothels, though Virgil also found work as a bank guard. Wyatt brought his friend and fellow gambler, Doc Holiday, into the fold, and the group quickly gained a reputation for their ruthlessness and determination to keep the peace by any means necessary. But not everyone liked the IRPs or the way they ran the town. On the outskirts of Tombstone were ranches belonging to the Clantons and the mclory's. The two groups loosely formed a band of outlaws known as the Cowboys. Being thieves and rustlers, the cowboys constantly challenged the Rps for control over the town. The townsfolk knew this and watched a storm brewing between the lawmen and the outlaws. One night in late October of eighteen eighty one, Doc Holliday and one of the cowboys got into a heated argument. Outnumbered and underprepared, Ike Clanton stormed off, telling Wyater that he and the others would be ready for him, his brothers, and Holiday in the morning. It was a threat that Clantons made good on. They arrived the next morning with the full intent of causing trouble, and fully armed. Gunfights broke out across the town. Virgil and Morgan caught and disarmed Ike and dragged him before a judge, but he was only fined and then released. Ike's younger brother and the Mcloryes arrived later that day. Intent on retaliation. The group headed to the Ok Corral, where witnesses heard them talking about killing the IRPs and Holiday. The IRPs decided they'd had enough of the gangs and made their way to confront them. The weather was cold that afternoon as the IRPs and Holidays strode down the street, their long black coats rustling in the wind. Residents stood quietly as the lawmen passed. Others peeked out from cracks and doorways and behind curtains at the windows. Under a clear sky, a storm was brewing. As the two groups faced each other, witnesses held their breaths. No one was expecting the confrontation to end well, as the IRPs and Holiday were easily outnumbered. Completely undeterred, Virgil demanded the cowboys drop their weapons. The cowboys scoffed and refused, not so politely. Clinton drew his gun. The IRPs and Holiday quickly drew Theirs, and the shootout began. No one knows who fired first, but that didn't matter. Bullets whizzed through the air and bystanders ran for cover. When the dust settled, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury lay dead. Ike Clanton and two other cowboys escaped unharmed, though Doc Holliday and the Earps survived. Only Wyatt remained uninjured. The shootout lasted less than thirty seconds, but its impact was only just beginning. Ike Clanton claimed the IRPs had shot down his family and the two mclory boys in cold blood, but by Tombstone law, the ERPs were within their rights to shoot anyone who was armed and threatening violence, and after a hearing, a judge acquitted the ERPs and Holiday. But the feud didn't end there. Outlaws ambushed Vigil on December twenty eighth of eighteen Needy one. They shot him in the back, and he survived, but he was left maimed. The following March, Morgan was shot and killed while playing pool. Not long afterwards, Whyat became a US Deputy Marshal. Seeking justice, or some argue, vengeance, he deputized Doc Holliday, and the pair set out to find Morgan's killers. For those who love a more pendantic and picky approach to their folklore, it must be said that the actual shootout occurred on Fremont Street, about six doors down from the Ok Corral. Even still, this was a moment that had become a symbol of the Wild West, one that has been told and retold throughout the years. Accurate or not, this piece of American folklore will most likely live on for decades to come.

Grimm and Mount Presents The Wild West was executive produced by me Aaron Manky and hosted by Aaron Mankey and Alexandra Steed. Writing for this season was provided by Michelle Mudo, with research by Alexandra Steed, Sam Elberti, Cassandra de Alba, and Harry Marx. Fact Checking was performed by Jamie Vargas, with sensitivity reading by Stacy Parshall Jensen. Production assistance was provided by Josh Stain, Jesse Funk, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about this and other shows from Grim and Mild and iHeartRadio, visit Grimandmild dot com

Grimm and Mount Presents The Wild West was executive produced by me Aaron Manky and hosted by Aaron Mankey and Alexandra Steed. Writing for this season was provided by Michelle Mudo, with research by Alexandra Steed, Sam Elberti, Cassandra de Alba, and Harry Marx. Fact Checking was performed by Jamie Vargas, with sensitivity reading by Stacy Parshall Jensen. Production assistance was provided by Josh Stain, Jesse Funk, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about this and other shows from Grim and Mild and iHeartRadio, visit Grimandmild dot com