October 7, 2025 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, have you ever imagined a buffalo running on a racetrack against thoroughbred horses? In the 1960s, Harvey Wallbanger did exactly that. This larger-than-life buffalo stunned crowds as he thundered past racehorses, turning a novelty act into an unforgettable chapter of racing history. Francie Berg of Buffalo Tales and Trails shares the unlikely but true story of how one buffalo captured America’s attention and proved just how wild the frontier spirit could still be.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Today.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We're going to start with a story about a man
who placed his bet on what may be the most
unique competitor to ever hit a horse racing scene. Here's
Franci Berg with a story of racetrack legend, Harvey Wallbanger.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
My name is Trancy Bird and I have a website
that's boon me on Bushlow. So we have lots of
stories and one of them is Harvey Wallbanger, the racing Bushlow.
His second embrace was in Miles City, Montana, which is
(01:03):
my hometown.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
And when I was.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Growing up, we had many entertaining things at a rodeo.
Nowadays it's just you know, all these guys want to
compete for their money. But in those days we had
I remember having girls that rode in, standing up with
the two horses each sisters and although kind of entertaining things.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
And so one of the entertainments was Harvey Wallbanger.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
His owner and trainer and jockey was Colin Horstensen or
TC by tc so Thorstensen said he was raised down
a seoul Indian reservation in the hills in North Dakota
and he was always fond of animals and he trained
small pets.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
He worked on the Milwaukee.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Railroad which goes through Miles City and some Wyoming area,
and he drove coal trucks in Wyoming and became a
jockey and a trainer.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Harvey's story began in nineteen eighty when his mother was
shot by a poacher.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So TC rescued the orchard bushlo and the little guy
was thirty five pounds only. But Tingc fed him with
a bottle until it was a year and a half old,
and he carried him in the back of his car
until he got to be two hundred and fifty pounds, and.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Then he put him in a barn.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
But Leana Bushalo did not like staying in the barn,
and he kept slamming his body at the dividing wall
in the barn, and.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
That's why he named him Harvey.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Wallbanger, so he was always banging the wall. And as
he grew to full size, King C rigged a kind
of a saddle to fit and climbed on and Harvey
took well to being ridden and then began performing at rodeos.
(03:08):
The audiences loved him because he loved to race and
he just ran wide open. Harvey grew well to full
size and by nineteen eighty five he started racing.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Now, Harvey Wallbanger is going to the front two Eyebird
his second. It's going to come down to these two.
Harvey Wallbanger holding on over to Eyebird.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Harvey Wallbanger win's it two Iyburt for his second.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Cisco was third. The Apple is a smoke signal finished fourth.
Harvey Wallbanger another flawless performance.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
He was first invited to race in Joette Wyomi that
was his home state. He won the race by two
and a half lengths and his best race was one
hundred and ten yards against the quarter corse on a
real track. But he also raced all kinds of race horses, couarterors, thoroughbreds,
(04:13):
and a.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Whole field of harness horses.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
But Tis never let him be in a bending situation,
so it was just his honest run. He raced with
horses that were half his weight, and because of his
size and also he had a unique smell, most compeated
(04:36):
horses were afraid to get close to him, so he
had an advantage running alone there by the rail. Harvey
was very large, much larger than their horse, so he
kind of had to hold his breath going in. He
was led into the starting gate on a forty foot row.
It's tight or instance, and said, but he'll fit in
if he inhales on the way in and x hels
(04:59):
on the way out.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
His best year was.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
In nineteen ninety, so he had raced for five years
when he raced. His best year he ran twenty races
and he earned one hundred and eight thousand dollars that year.
But in his whole career he raced ninety three times
and he won seventy nine of them.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Harvey Wahllbanger, My congrats has been pretty good in four
career starts.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Harvey Wahbanger sprint sensation.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I was on track when Harvey Wallbanger campaigned in Chicago,
at first at Maywood Park against some saddle to horses,
but that was a harness track and a great crowd,
and then at Arlington Park as well.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I saw him run at Wyoming Downs. This was a
tremendous circus side shoke.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Unfortunately, when he was thirteen he died abroptly from eating
contaminated hay in Tucson, Arizona. Pornston send Louis Nevis dated
and he sued the people that furnished the feed for
the rodeo, Enny and Jimmy Murdoch, and he went to
court to sue them, and they conceded that oleander, which
(06:12):
was a poisonous bush, probably got mixed in with the hay.
And TC won his case and it was ordered almost
half a.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Million dollars in damages.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
He started over by training the young buffalo that he's
called Harvey Wallbanger Junior, but Junior was not interested in winning.
He refused to grab the rail or run hard to
see ahead of the race horses. So he did more
around acting in movies and commercials and promoting rodeos and
(06:44):
sporting events around the nation. For a time, so TC
changed to just a buffalo who did tricks. Unfortunately, TC
never found a buffalo again with a genuine.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Desire to win his race who could take the pilae.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Belove with Harvey Wallbanger, My bluffalo aren't just buffalo, we said,
they're family members.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Reagan Habib and Madison Derricott. I'm a
horse facing fan, always have been and the story of
Harvey Wallbanger is one of horse racing's finest. A classic
Americana story. The story of Harvey Wallbanger here on Our
American Stories plea habib here, and I'd like to encourage
(07:33):
you to subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple podcasts,
the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get our podcasts.
Any story you missed or want to hear again can
be found there daily again. Please subscribe to the Our
American Stories podcast on Apple podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or
(07:53):
anywhere you get your podcasts. It helps us keep these
great American stories coming.
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Today.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We're going to start with a story about a man
who placed his bet on what may be the most
unique competitor to ever hit a horse racing scene. Here's
Franci Berg with a story of racetrack legend, Harvey Wallbanger.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
My name is Trancy Bird and I have a website
that's boon me on Bushlow. So we have lots of
stories and one of them is Harvey Wallbanger, the racing Bushlow.
His second embrace was in Miles City, Montana, which is
(01:03):
my hometown.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
And when I was.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Growing up, we had many entertaining things at a rodeo.
Nowadays it's just you know, all these guys want to
compete for their money. But in those days we had
I remember having girls that rode in, standing up with
the two horses each sisters and although kind of entertaining things.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
And so one of the entertainments was Harvey Wallbanger.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
His owner and trainer and jockey was Colin Horstensen or
TC by tc so Thorstensen said he was raised down
a seoul Indian reservation in the hills in North Dakota
and he was always fond of animals and he trained
small pets.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
He worked on the Milwaukee.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Railroad which goes through Miles City and some Wyoming area,
and he drove coal trucks in Wyoming and became a
jockey and a trainer.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Harvey's story began in nineteen eighty when his mother was
shot by a poacher.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So TC rescued the orchard bushlo and the little guy
was thirty five pounds only. But Tingc fed him with
a bottle until it was a year and a half old,
and he carried him in the back of his car
until he got to be two hundred and fifty pounds, and.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Then he put him in a barn.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
But Leana Bushalo did not like staying in the barn,
and he kept slamming his body at the dividing wall
in the barn, and.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
That's why he named him Harvey.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Wallbanger, so he was always banging the wall. And as
he grew to full size, King C rigged a kind
of a saddle to fit and climbed on and Harvey
took well to being ridden and then began performing at rodeos.
(03:08):
The audiences loved him because he loved to race and
he just ran wide open. Harvey grew well to full
size and by nineteen eighty five he started racing.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Now, Harvey Wallbanger is going to the front two Eyebird
his second. It's going to come down to these two.
Harvey Wallbanger holding on over to Eyebird.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Harvey Wallbanger win's it two Iyburt for his second.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Cisco was third. The Apple is a smoke signal finished fourth.
Harvey Wallbanger another flawless performance.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
He was first invited to race in Joette Wyomi that
was his home state. He won the race by two
and a half lengths and his best race was one
hundred and ten yards against the quarter corse on a
real track. But he also raced all kinds of race horses, couarterors, thoroughbreds,
(04:13):
and a.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Whole field of harness horses.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
But Tis never let him be in a bending situation,
so it was just his honest run. He raced with
horses that were half his weight, and because of his
size and also he had a unique smell, most compeated
(04:36):
horses were afraid to get close to him, so he
had an advantage running alone there by the rail. Harvey
was very large, much larger than their horse, so he
kind of had to hold his breath going in. He
was led into the starting gate on a forty foot row.
It's tight or instance, and said, but he'll fit in
if he inhales on the way in and x hels
(04:59):
on the way out.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
His best year was.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
In nineteen ninety, so he had raced for five years
when he raced. His best year he ran twenty races
and he earned one hundred and eight thousand dollars that year.
But in his whole career he raced ninety three times
and he won seventy nine of them.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Harvey Wahllbanger, My congrats has been pretty good in four
career starts.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Harvey Wahbanger sprint sensation.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I was on track when Harvey Wallbanger campaigned in Chicago,
at first at Maywood Park against some saddle to horses,
but that was a harness track and a great crowd,
and then at Arlington Park as well.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I saw him run at Wyoming Downs. This was a
tremendous circus side shoke.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Unfortunately, when he was thirteen he died abroptly from eating
contaminated hay in Tucson, Arizona. Pornston send Louis Nevis dated
and he sued the people that furnished the feed for
the rodeo, Enny and Jimmy Murdoch, and he went to
court to sue them, and they conceded that oleander, which
(06:12):
was a poisonous bush, probably got mixed in with the hay.
And TC won his case and it was ordered almost
half a.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Million dollars in damages.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
He started over by training the young buffalo that he's
called Harvey Wallbanger Junior, but Junior was not interested in winning.
He refused to grab the rail or run hard to
see ahead of the race horses. So he did more
around acting in movies and commercials and promoting rodeos and
(06:44):
sporting events around the nation. For a time, so TC
changed to just a buffalo who did tricks. Unfortunately, TC
never found a buffalo again with a genuine.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Desire to win his race who could take the pilae.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Belove with Harvey Wallbanger, My bluffalo aren't just buffalo, we said,
they're family members.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Reagan Habib and Madison Derricott. I'm a
horse facing fan, always have been and the story of
Harvey Wallbanger is one of horse racing's finest. A classic
Americana story. The story of Harvey Wallbanger here on Our
American Stories plea habib here, and I'd like to encourage
(07:33):
you to subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple podcasts,
the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get our podcasts.
Any story you missed or want to hear again can
be found there daily again. Please subscribe to the Our
American Stories podcast on Apple podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or
(07:53):
anywhere you get your podcasts. It helps us keep these
great American stories coming.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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