Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Caleb's Journey with Lane R Warenski
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Caleb's Journey with Lane R Warenski
I sat down with Western author Lane Warenski, and we ended up covering damn near the entire history of the American West. Lane’s the author of Caleb’s Journey, a gritty, historically grounded frontier novel I’ve been working through lately—and it’s a hell of a read. We talked mountain men, the Mormon migration, the beef industry, and why Louis L’Amour still shows up in bunkhouses across the West. We also got into Native-settler conflicts, the myth vs. reality of the Old West, and what makes a good Western story stick. If you’re into history, cowboy culture, or just a solid frontier tale, this one’s worth your time.
📚 Check out Lane’s books—especially Caleb’s Journey—wherever you get your Westerns.
🎧 Theme song by Matt Wilson: Burnin’ Daylight
0:00 – Intro & Theme
1:30 – Meet Lane Warenski & the story behind Caleb’s Journey
5:50 – Western novels that shaped us: L’Amour, Kelton, McCarthy, McMurtry
10:12 – Cowboy lit in bunkhouses: why the classics still matter
13:40 – Lane’s fascination with mountain men and the Oregon Trail
18:10 – Mental toughness of early settlers
22:00 – The Mormon migration & Hole-in-the-Rock expedition
28:15 – Pioneering Utah: Lane’s family history & Indian raids
33:25 – Clash of cultures: Settlers and Plains Tribes
38:00 – Why the buffalo was everything
43:35 – The Indian Wars, Custer, and the long conquest
49:10 – Kit Carson, food supply, and the logistics of war
54:20 – American beef built the economy
58:50 – History’s complexity, erasing vs. learning
1:02:00 – Rise of the Western genre: books, movies, and TV
1:06:50 – Thoughts on American Primeval
1:12:00 – The Utah War & Johnson’s Army
1:17:45 – The balance of empathy in writing historical fiction
1:21:10 – Writing the West without preaching
1:24:00 – Favorite frontier figures: Carson, Bridger, Jedediah Smith
1:29:15 – Mark Twain and the American West
1:32:10 – Homeschooling and teaching real history
1:34:30 – The Army, Confederate integration, and military bases
1:38:45 – The Crow scouts & blood feuds in the West
1:41:50 – Characters in fiction vs. real-life legends
1:46:30 – Closing thoughts & future projects
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
View all episodes
By Matt McKinley
4.8
7070 ratings
I sat down with Western author Lane Warenski, and we ended up covering damn near the entire history of the American West. Lane’s the author of Caleb’s Journey, a gritty, historically grounded frontier novel I’ve been working through lately—and it’s a hell of a read. We talked mountain men, the Mormon migration, the beef industry, and why Louis L’Amour still shows up in bunkhouses across the West. We also got into Native-settler conflicts, the myth vs. reality of the Old West, and what makes a good Western story stick. If you’re into history, cowboy culture, or just a solid frontier tale, this one’s worth your time.
📚 Check out Lane’s books—especially Caleb’s Journey—wherever you get your Westerns.
🎧 Theme song by Matt Wilson: Burnin’ Daylight
0:00 – Intro & Theme
1:30 – Meet Lane Warenski & the story behind Caleb’s Journey
5:50 – Western novels that shaped us: L’Amour, Kelton, McCarthy, McMurtry
10:12 – Cowboy lit in bunkhouses: why the classics still matter
13:40 – Lane’s fascination with mountain men and the Oregon Trail
18:10 – Mental toughness of early settlers
22:00 – The Mormon migration & Hole-in-the-Rock expedition
28:15 – Pioneering Utah: Lane’s family history & Indian raids
33:25 – Clash of cultures: Settlers and Plains Tribes
38:00 – Why the buffalo was everything
43:35 – The Indian Wars, Custer, and the long conquest
49:10 – Kit Carson, food supply, and the logistics of war
54:20 – American beef built the economy
58:50 – History’s complexity, erasing vs. learning
1:02:00 – Rise of the Western genre: books, movies, and TV
1:06:50 – Thoughts on American Primeval
1:12:00 – The Utah War & Johnson’s Army
1:17:45 – The balance of empathy in writing historical fiction
1:21:10 – Writing the West without preaching
1:24:00 – Favorite frontier figures: Carson, Bridger, Jedediah Smith
1:29:15 – Mark Twain and the American West
1:32:10 – Homeschooling and teaching real history
1:34:30 – The Army, Confederate integration, and military bases
1:38:45 – The Crow scouts & blood feuds in the West
1:41:50 – Characters in fiction vs. real-life legends
1:46:30 – Closing thoughts & future projects
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More shows like Burnin’ Daylight
View all
Cowboy Crossroads
289 Listeners
Working Cows - Regenerative Ranching to Maximize Profitability and Soil Health
438 Listeners
RümpChät
1,060 Listeners
Uncut & Real Raw With Clinton Anderson
507 Listeners
The Tucker Carlson Show
16,896 Listeners