22 episodes
Pioneers of Outlaw Country Hot Springs County Pioneer Association
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- History
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5.0 • 6 Ratings
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Join us for Season One! A historical 12-part series featuring stories from the outlaw country of Wyoming; Hot Springs County. Hot Springs County was a remote land, lawless and home to the Hole-in-the-Wall gang. In the late 1800’s, there were no jails, many saloons and wide-spread homesteads. There were many opportunities for the daring and enterprising businessmen – the cattlemen, horse traders, store owners, saloon operators, farmers, coal miners and oil men who dared make this country their home. From the ground, healing hot mineral water bubbled up that attracted the attention of far-off visitors. Early tourists and patients braved the rugged stagecoach routes to visit the sanitariums and hospitals that were built in this distant land. As civilization slowly moved in, families survived the harsh winters in canvas tents and dugouts. Small ranchers and farmers carved out a living in the unforgiving landscape. Out of necessity, numerous families made friends with the outlaws of the region. Many of these men, branded as rustlers, were known to build their own herds from the maverick cows that had strayed from the land barons and large cattlemen associations. These are their stories. This podcast series, season one, has been supported in part by the Hot Springs County Pioneer Association and by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.
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The 1880's Tourist to Wyoming
Send us a Text Message.When we think of the early visitors of Wyoming, we think of the cowboys, homesteaders, miners and others coming to the West to make their fortune. There was another group of young men who came west on the trains and stagecoaches. These were young, rich men looking for an adventure and relaxation. They were not in Wyoming to find their fortune but here to vacation.Among these young tourists was a Harvard student of law, Owen Wister. His journals kept a record of his firs...
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Lost Journals of Owen Wister
Send us a Text Message.The faded pencil script spelled out rough poems, descriptions of sunsets and hangings, saloon scenes, cowboy tall tales, the wide-open prairie and the sharp retort of the gun. From Owen Wister’s pen, the cowboy myth was born and became a true relic of Wyoming’s rich past. The Pioneers of Outlaw Country. Cowboys, Lawmen and Outlaws… to the businessmen and women who all helped shape Wyoming. Here are their stories. Owen Wister, His For...
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David Picard: Cowboy Prankster
Send us a Text Message.The most famous cowboy prank in Wyoming... may never have happened. Or did it? In his novel, The Virginian, Owen Wister tells of a baby swapping prank that happened at a rural dance. It was common practice in those days to pile the babies under chairs and tables to sleep while the parents danced the night away. According to Wister, two cowboys took advantage of this situation to pull a legendary stunt! After his novel was published, residents of Thermopolis ...
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Peeshee: Wyoming's Tiniest Tourist
Send us a Text Message.When Owen Wister brought his family to Wyoming in 1912, they brought along a special friend: Peeshee, the waltzing mouse. The inclusion of this tiny tourist in their family gives us insight into the Wister family dynamics and their love of nature in all forms.The Waltzing Mouse, once as common as goldfish as pets for children, was a puzzle to the scientists who studied them. These tiny creatures would whirl in circles rather than walk in straight lines and were more doc...
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Owen Wister: The Tenderfoot
Send us a Text Message."Young man, go west!"Among the cowboys and frontiersmen, miners and homesteaders were a group of young adventurers - the rich young tenderfoot. These tourists were not seeking their fortunes but were tourists, looking to get away from the confines of civilization even briefly. One of these young men took his journals and turned them into fiction, becoming one of the best-selling authors in America. Even today, his novel, The Virginian, is one of the top 50 fictions...
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The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains
Send us a Text Message.In 1902, the most popular book in America was The Virginian by Owen Wister. This book changed America's perspective on the cowboy and turned the once maligned cowhand into a romantic hero.Told at times through the eyes of the Tenderfoot, this is a story of a courageous but mysterious cowboy known only as “the Virginian”. He works as foreman of a cattle ranch in the Wyoming territory during the1880s and is admired by his friends and enemies alike. The gunplay ...