June 10, 2025 • 9 mins
The Wild West as Hollywood Tells the Story, Was Nothing but Gun Battles and Saloon Girls. But the True Story Is Way More Complex and Fascinating, Although It’s Got Its Share of Gun Battles! Overall, It Was a 30-Year Period That in Many Ways Defines Who We Are in America. But Then . . . How Did Barbed Wire Play a Huge Role in Ending the Wild West?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What do you know about the wild West? Do you
even know why it's called the wild West? The real
wild West period only lasted a little over thirty years,
and there's a reason for that. The gunfights were legendary.
But did you know that the infamous gunfight at the
Ok Corral only lasted for thirty seconds. It was a
very different period in our history than Hollywood would have
(00:21):
us believe. But the personal stories are unbelievable. I'm Patty Steele,
winning and losing in the wild West. That's next on
the backstory. We're back with the backstory. If you're like
most of us, you've probably seen a few westerns, maybe
old school movies like High Noon, Butch Cassidy and The
(00:44):
Sundance Kid, Dances with Wolves or The Unforgiven, or TV
shows like Bonanza, Gun Smoke, Wild wild West, or more
recently eighteen eighty three. But the true story of the
wild West is really different from what Hollywood has shown us.
Firs folks to head west were mostly trappers and fur traders,
as well as what they called mountain men, who were
(01:06):
happy to leave civilization behind. But pretty soon farm families
headed west looking for cheap land and a chance to
create a life. The Bartles in Bidwell Party were the
first to hit the Oregon Trail in eighteen forty one.
In eighteen forty three, there was what historians call the
Great Emigration, which saw a thousand dreamers hit the trail.
(01:29):
But what really amped up the drive westward was the
Gold Rush of eighteen forty nine. Tens of thousands of
hopeful miners flocked west, changing everything. As words spread and
people flooded in from America and around the world, California
transformed almost overnight. Everyone was looking for adventure and a
(01:50):
chance to strike it rich. Not everyone went after the
gold in the ground. The first guy to publicize the
fact that there was gold in those there hills was
sand Brannan. He told the world about it and then
became California's first millionaire by opening stores and selling supplies
to all the miners rushing in. And you've heard of
(02:10):
this guy, Levi Strauss. He owned a shop that catered
to working folks, and he saw the need for gold
and silver miners to have comfortable but durable, inexpensive clothes
Voi la denim or blue jeans. It made him a fortune.
And then there was a young woman by the name
of Latta Crabtree. Her father had taken the family west
(02:31):
from New York in his quest for gold. Raised in
boarding houses that her mother ran in mining camps, Lata
used her talent and personality to entertain folks. Eventually she
started touring mining camps as a singer, dancer, and banjo player.
Her mom controlled the income, collecting Lotta's pay in gold,
(02:52):
which she carried in a steamer trunk. By the end
of her career, at the age of forty five, Latta
was the highest paid actress in America. She died at
seventy six, leaving a fortune that today would be worth
around seventy five million dollars. So by the end of
eighteen forty nine, California's population had exploded from a mere
(03:13):
fifteen thousand to more than one hundred thousand. Towns like
San Francisco, which had been just a sleepy little trading post,
became crowded cities filled with excitement and with little in
the way of law enforcement, lots of chaos, right lawlessness
ran rampant as prospectors fiercely defended their claims. Frontier justice prevailed,
(03:36):
and that's when we saw the first signs of what
would become the Wild West. But what really kicked it
into gear was the Homestead Act of eighteen sixty two,
offering land grants to men and women as long as
they'd never fought against the US government, meaning Confederate soldiers
need on apply. Then the Civil War ended, it was
(03:57):
eighteen sixty five. Soldiers were looking for the next adventure
in a way to make a buck. At the same time,
the first coast to coast railroads were being built, so
workers were needed for that. The West was filled with opportunity.
Problem is, it was every man for himself and his family.
Every small town and outposts had to find a way
(04:20):
to defend themselves from hustlers, robbers, and general troublemakers. Outlaws
like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Pusch Cassidy terrified
but also fascinated the public, giving the Wild West its name.
Trying to keep some order. Law enforcement folks like Wyatt
erb and Bat Masterson were considered heroes as they tried
(04:40):
to keep some kind of order in frontier towns plagued
by violence and crimes. The shootouts we see on movie
and TV westerns weren't near as often or deadly as
Hollywood makes us think, but boy, they sure did happen.
Probably the most famous shootout was the gunfight at the
Ok Corral, which took place in Tombstone, Arizona, in eighteen
(05:01):
eighty one. Wyatt Irp, his brothers Morgan and Virgil, along
with Doc Holliday were lawmen and interested in keeping the peace.
But a vicious clan known as the Clanton Gang, famous
for robbing and murdering anybody they pleased, went after Erp
and his party for interfering with their illegal operations. It
all ended in battle. The gunfight lasted to total of
(05:25):
get this, thirty seconds, but it was thirty seconds of chaos.
In the end, three of the outlaws were dead, including
nineteen year old Billy Clanton. Wyatt Irp merely had a
bullet hole in his jacket, while his two brothers and
Doc Holliday were all wounded, but they survived. Then there's
a pretty bizarre shootout that took place in Abilene, Kansas
(05:46):
in eighteen seventy one. Now, usually shootouts were over things
like robberies, gambling disputes, or women, but this one's a
whole different animal. Literally, the gun battle was over an
advertisement that featured close your ears if you're the sensitive
type or very young a ridiculously well endowed bull. The
(06:06):
two guys that owned the Bull's Head Saloon had painted
the huge mural on the side of the building's wall.
The town, of course, was shocked and appalled, and they
went to their Marshal, wild Bill Hiccock, to ask him
to get the thing removed. Problem is, the owners refused,
so wild Bill took it upon himself to remove the mural.
(06:27):
The saloon owners were furious, and one of them, trying
to intimidate the marshal, said he could kill a crow
on the wing. Marshall Hiccock famously replied, did the crow
have a pistol? Was he shooting back? I will be.
One of the owners pulled out his gun and took
aim at Hiccock in the street, but Hiccock drew his
(06:47):
six shooter first and killed him. But there's no winner
here because moments later, seeing a man rushing him out
of the corner of his eye, Hiccock reactively fired his
gun and the man fell to the ground dead. It
turns out wild Bill had accidentally killed his friend and
associate Deputy Marshal Mike Williams. Hickock was haunted by that
(07:09):
episode for the rest of his life. Dying was the
name of the game in the wild West for a
lot of outlaws like Jesse, James Busch, Cassidy, and the
Sundance Kid, Billy the Kid, and female gunslinger Bell Star.
But how and when did the wild West fade away?
By the eighteen eighties, the Frontier gave way to towns
(07:29):
and cities with law enforcement, rules and infrastructure, as well
as the Transcontinental Railroad. And believe it or not, there
was one invention that had a monumental impact on ending
gunslinging Frontier battles. It was barbed wire. Yeah, barbed wire.
It allowed ranchers to section off their land and keep
(07:51):
their cattle together, ending the era of open range cattle drives,
which often led to violent disputes. The government declared the
end of the Frontier and open land in eighteen ninety.
The wild West, with all its pros and cons, is
a major part of American culture and identity. Both heroic
(08:11):
and villainous stories from that period continue to influence pop culture, movies, literature,
and storytelling. But the pull of freedom, exploration, and possibility
is a huge part of our American mythology. I hope
you're enjoying the Backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave a
review and follower. Subscribe for free to get new episodes
(08:33):
delivered automatically. Also feel free to dm me if you
have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook,
It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm
Patty steel The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks,
the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer
(08:54):
is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new
episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out
to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram
at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele.
Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
What do you know about the wild West? Do you
even know why it's called the wild West? The real
wild West period only lasted a little over thirty years,
and there's a reason for that. The gunfights were legendary.
But did you know that the infamous gunfight at the
Ok Corral only lasted for thirty seconds. It was a
very different period in our history than Hollywood would have
(00:21):
us believe. But the personal stories are unbelievable. I'm Patty Steele,
winning and losing in the wild West. That's next on
the backstory. We're back with the backstory. If you're like
most of us, you've probably seen a few westerns, maybe
old school movies like High Noon, Butch Cassidy and The
(00:44):
Sundance Kid, Dances with Wolves or The Unforgiven, or TV
shows like Bonanza, Gun Smoke, Wild wild West, or more
recently eighteen eighty three. But the true story of the
wild West is really different from what Hollywood has shown us.
Firs folks to head west were mostly trappers and fur traders,
as well as what they called mountain men, who were
(01:06):
happy to leave civilization behind. But pretty soon farm families
headed west looking for cheap land and a chance to
create a life. The Bartles in Bidwell Party were the
first to hit the Oregon Trail in eighteen forty one.
In eighteen forty three, there was what historians call the
Great Emigration, which saw a thousand dreamers hit the trail.
(01:29):
But what really amped up the drive westward was the
Gold Rush of eighteen forty nine. Tens of thousands of
hopeful miners flocked west, changing everything. As words spread and
people flooded in from America and around the world, California
transformed almost overnight. Everyone was looking for adventure and a
(01:50):
chance to strike it rich. Not everyone went after the
gold in the ground. The first guy to publicize the
fact that there was gold in those there hills was
sand Brannan. He told the world about it and then
became California's first millionaire by opening stores and selling supplies
to all the miners rushing in. And you've heard of
(02:10):
this guy, Levi Strauss. He owned a shop that catered
to working folks, and he saw the need for gold
and silver miners to have comfortable but durable, inexpensive clothes
Voi la denim or blue jeans. It made him a fortune.
And then there was a young woman by the name
of Latta Crabtree. Her father had taken the family west
(02:31):
from New York in his quest for gold. Raised in
boarding houses that her mother ran in mining camps, Lata
used her talent and personality to entertain folks. Eventually she
started touring mining camps as a singer, dancer, and banjo player.
Her mom controlled the income, collecting Lotta's pay in gold,
(02:52):
which she carried in a steamer trunk. By the end
of her career, at the age of forty five, Latta
was the highest paid actress in America. She died at
seventy six, leaving a fortune that today would be worth
around seventy five million dollars. So by the end of
eighteen forty nine, California's population had exploded from a mere
(03:13):
fifteen thousand to more than one hundred thousand. Towns like
San Francisco, which had been just a sleepy little trading post,
became crowded cities filled with excitement and with little in
the way of law enforcement, lots of chaos, right lawlessness
ran rampant as prospectors fiercely defended their claims. Frontier justice prevailed,
(03:36):
and that's when we saw the first signs of what
would become the Wild West. But what really kicked it
into gear was the Homestead Act of eighteen sixty two,
offering land grants to men and women as long as
they'd never fought against the US government, meaning Confederate soldiers
need on apply. Then the Civil War ended, it was
(03:57):
eighteen sixty five. Soldiers were looking for the next adventure
in a way to make a buck. At the same time,
the first coast to coast railroads were being built, so
workers were needed for that. The West was filled with opportunity.
Problem is, it was every man for himself and his family.
Every small town and outposts had to find a way
(04:20):
to defend themselves from hustlers, robbers, and general troublemakers. Outlaws
like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Pusch Cassidy terrified
but also fascinated the public, giving the Wild West its name.
Trying to keep some order. Law enforcement folks like Wyatt
erb and Bat Masterson were considered heroes as they tried
(04:40):
to keep some kind of order in frontier towns plagued
by violence and crimes. The shootouts we see on movie
and TV westerns weren't near as often or deadly as
Hollywood makes us think, but boy, they sure did happen.
Probably the most famous shootout was the gunfight at the
Ok Corral, which took place in Tombstone, Arizona, in eighteen
(05:01):
eighty one. Wyatt Irp, his brothers Morgan and Virgil, along
with Doc Holliday were lawmen and interested in keeping the peace.
But a vicious clan known as the Clanton Gang, famous
for robbing and murdering anybody they pleased, went after Erp
and his party for interfering with their illegal operations. It
all ended in battle. The gunfight lasted to total of
(05:25):
get this, thirty seconds, but it was thirty seconds of chaos.
In the end, three of the outlaws were dead, including
nineteen year old Billy Clanton. Wyatt Irp merely had a
bullet hole in his jacket, while his two brothers and
Doc Holliday were all wounded, but they survived. Then there's
a pretty bizarre shootout that took place in Abilene, Kansas
(05:46):
in eighteen seventy one. Now, usually shootouts were over things
like robberies, gambling disputes, or women, but this one's a
whole different animal. Literally, the gun battle was over an
advertisement that featured close your ears if you're the sensitive
type or very young a ridiculously well endowed bull. The
(06:06):
two guys that owned the Bull's Head Saloon had painted
the huge mural on the side of the building's wall.
The town, of course, was shocked and appalled, and they
went to their Marshal, wild Bill Hiccock, to ask him
to get the thing removed. Problem is, the owners refused,
so wild Bill took it upon himself to remove the mural.
(06:27):
The saloon owners were furious, and one of them, trying
to intimidate the marshal, said he could kill a crow
on the wing. Marshall Hiccock famously replied, did the crow
have a pistol? Was he shooting back? I will be.
One of the owners pulled out his gun and took
aim at Hiccock in the street, but Hiccock drew his
(06:47):
six shooter first and killed him. But there's no winner
here because moments later, seeing a man rushing him out
of the corner of his eye, Hiccock reactively fired his
gun and the man fell to the ground dead. It
turns out wild Bill had accidentally killed his friend and
associate Deputy Marshal Mike Williams. Hickock was haunted by that
(07:09):
episode for the rest of his life. Dying was the
name of the game in the wild West for a
lot of outlaws like Jesse, James Busch, Cassidy, and the
Sundance Kid, Billy the Kid, and female gunslinger Bell Star.
But how and when did the wild West fade away?
By the eighteen eighties, the Frontier gave way to towns
(07:29):
and cities with law enforcement, rules and infrastructure, as well
as the Transcontinental Railroad. And believe it or not, there
was one invention that had a monumental impact on ending
gunslinging Frontier battles. It was barbed wire. Yeah, barbed wire.
It allowed ranchers to section off their land and keep
(07:51):
their cattle together, ending the era of open range cattle drives,
which often led to violent disputes. The government declared the
end of the Frontier and open land in eighteen ninety.
The wild West, with all its pros and cons, is
a major part of American culture and identity. Both heroic
(08:11):
and villainous stories from that period continue to influence pop culture, movies, literature,
and storytelling. But the pull of freedom, exploration, and possibility
is a huge part of our American mythology. I hope
you're enjoying the Backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave a
review and follower. Subscribe for free to get new episodes
(08:33):
delivered automatically. Also feel free to dm me if you
have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook,
It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm
Patty steel The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks,
the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer
(08:54):
is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new
episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out
to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram
at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele.
Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
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