Legends of the Old West

The Modoc live in the area known as the Lava Beds in northern California for centuries before the arrival of European explorers. Then, in 1848, discovery of gold brings a flood of people from around the world to California. The Modoc suffer at the hands of American militias in the 1850s and on a reservation in the 1860s. In 1870, a Modoc man known locally as Captain Jack, leads a group of Modoc away from the reservation and back to their homes along Lost River. In 1872, the U.S. Army tries to force the Modoc back to the reservation, which sets the stage for the Modoc War.

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For a full account of the story, check out “The Modoc War” by Robert Aquinas McNally from Bison Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press.

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After the loss of his trading post, Jim Bridger guides an army column to Utah Territory to confront Brigham Young and the Mormons. Bridger leads a frustrating expedition to the Yellowstone region, and then guides the U.S. Army to northern Wyoming as it attempts to build forts along the Bozeman Trail. Bridger warns the Army about the dangers of the mission, and his fears are proved valid when warriors under war chief Red Cloud devastate an army column in the infamous Fetterman Fight.

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When the fur trade winds down, Jim Bridger builds a trading post at a key location on the Oregon Trail in southwestern Wyoming. In addition to being linked to the Hugh Glass story, Bridger becomes linked to the infamous events of the Whitman Massacre and the Donner Party. Then tension builds between Bridger and new arrivals: members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

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In 1822, eighteen-year-old Jim Bridger joins the Ashley-Henry fur company and travels up the Missouri River to trap beaver in the West. But before he learns the basics of trapping, Arikara warriors attack the company. And then a grizzly bear attacks Bridger’s friend, Hugh Glass. In the years following the attack, Bridger becomes the first American to taste the waters of the Great Salt Lake and he helps organize the first Mountain Man Rendezvous.

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In 1808 or 1809, John Colter faces an extreme test of endurance and resilience when he is captured by Blackfoot warriors on one of the three forks of the Missouri River in present-day Montana. Afterward, he makes one final journey to the Three Forks region before he decides the risks are not worth the rewards.

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John Colter’s extraordinary adventures in the West continue with a 500-mile winter trek across the Rocky Mountains, during which he becomes the first American to see the Teton Mountains and Jackson Hole. He witnesses marvelous geothermal wonders in the region that will eventually become Yellowstone National Park. And he performs another feat of endurance after he narrowly survives a battle against Blackfoot warriors.

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John Colter, a young Kentucky frontiersman, joins the Corps of Discovery to explore the continent with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Colter initially bristles at the military structure of the expedition but he soon becomes one of its most trusted members. The Corps of Discovery completes the journey of a lifetime by traveling to the Pacific Ocean and back, but John Colter decides to stay in the West and become one of the earliest American fur trappers.

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Government often gets a bad rap. But each episode of the new podcast “Government That Doesn’t Suck,” hosted by Professors Greg Jackson and Lindsey Cormack, tells a surprising origin story of a feature of government important to the country, from the internet to the National Park Service to the roads that connect the nation.

New episodes drop every other Monday. Use this link to follow on your favorite listening platform or on YouTube for full video episodes: Government That Doesn’t Suck

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After four years of fighting, the war in the northern colonies settles into a stalemate. It rages in the southern colonies, but the American southern army suffers the worst calamities of the war. An army of frontiersmen known as the Overmountain Men deliver a spark of hope for the American cause at the Battle of Kings Mountain. Then, an American column led by Brigadier General Daniel Morgan stuns a British column at the Battle of Cowpens. The Americans finally gain the momentum, and they ride it to an historic conclusion.

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After boosting American morale with successes at Trenton and Princeton, the American main army suffers seemingly disastrous losses outside Philadelphia in 1777. The British capture the American capital, but the accomplishment comes with unintended consequences. A campaign by the British northern army to take control of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers starts well but then falters. Near Albany, New York, the American northern army saves the war effort with a shocking result at the pair of engagements known as the Battle of Saratoga.

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