Rocky Mountain Stage Drivers - Part One
April 29, 2025
Passengers first sight of the Rocky Mountains was awe inspiring and scary. Drivers were king of the road, respected and admired. Through blinding snow storms, fog, flooded rivers and narrow mountain roads and robbers. Drivers had lots of stories if you were lucky enough to ride next to them.
Entrepreneurs in California
April 22, 2025
Some miners found the work too hard. They found other ways to riches. Alexander Todd began the first mail service. Daniel Dancer used 150 mules to haul all the goods needed in the mining camps. James Burch started with an old ranch wagon to haul passengers over roads that were nothing more than trails, eventually buying fine coaches and horses.
Sailing Around Cape Horn
April 15, 2025
Easterners were desperate to get to the California gold fields. Questionable ships were put into service. The Drake Passage and the Strait of Magellan could be treacherous. Boredom, crowded quarters, storms and the poor food and water were tolerated as they passengers had visions of striking it rich.
Whalers in Alaska - Part Two
April 8, 2025
Disaster struck in 1871 as ships ventured farther North in search of whales. Ship's Captains ignored warnings from the Eskimos. The ice closed in and trapped 32 ships, three of them were crushed. Captains of the remaining 29 ships sent whaleboats sixty miles south to ask for help from ships that were safe. Leaving their ships, two hundred whaling boats made the dangerous journey and were rescued by the whaling ships waiting for them.
Whalers in Alaska - Part One
April 1, 2025
Whalers left New England for three to five years, sailed around South America, stopped in Honolulu on their way to the Bering Sea. Here they found whales, walruses and salmon. A whale could smash a whaling boat, but real danger came from the ice that could trap and crush a ship. Eskimos warned the whalers about getting trapped, but did they listen? Listen to part two next week.
Western Indians
March 25, 2025
In 1519 a Spanish galleon brought ten stallions and six mares ashore, this would forever change the lives of the Native Americans. The tribes had distinct communities and customs with different languages, but they knew the universal sign language. The land was possessed in common as opposed to the European concept of land ownership. Over 350 treaties were made and broken. Thus began the saga of conflict with such famous Chiefs as Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Geronimo, Chief Joseph and many others.
Fencing the Open Range - Part Two
March 18, 2025
Ranchers opposed, but then accepted barbed wire. Cattle and horses could be injured, but it was cheap. Two hundred mile "drift" fences would keep cattle from drifting North or South. In 1880 40,000 tons of wire was sold. Eventually there were 400 different types of barbed wire. The XIT ranch had 1500 miles of fence. Problems arose with armed "fence cutters" who usually went out at night.
Fencing the Open Range - Part One
March 11, 2025
Before fences, line riders were to keep cattle from wandering. Some ranchers spent thousands to build board fences to preserve their breeding stock. Joseph Glidden invented barbed wire. Ranchers were skeptical, but eventually accepted it as a less expensive way to control cattle. Trouble was coming.
The Northern Plains
March 4, 2025
Cattlemen discovered that the Northern Plains could support raising cattle. Most winters cattle could survive on the nutritious grass. Immigrants on the Oregon Trail traded two worn out cattle for one healthy animal. Cattlemen wintered the worn-out animals in Montana, then returned with healthy cattle to trade with the immigrants.
Cowboy Clothes
February 25, 2025
Joe Justin started repairing boots, then making his own. His wife Annie developed a self-measuring kit for mail orders. John Stetson mass produced hats, “Boss of the Plains” was a favorite. Immigrant Levi Strauss imported clothing, he joined with Jacob Davis to use copper rivets to reinforce their pants, which became the “501.” Early trousers were made of wool or canvas. Frontier dress with fringes was a part of western design.