WTX - A History of West Texas

Two of the most famous UFO cases in American history happened right here in West Texas, six years apart. 

Lubbock Lights (1951): professors watch, measure, and even photograph bluish formations. 

Levelland (1957): glowing, egg-like objects stall car engines and lift away—seen by a dozen witnesses, including the sheriff. 

A secretive Air Force unit investigates both. Its explanations raise more questions than they answer. 

We follow the paper trail across the South Plains—witness interviews, declassified files, and firsthand investigator accounts. 

Birds? Lightning? Black projects? Aliens? What (or who) was cruising West Texas in the 1950s?

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 Visit our website at wtxpodcast.com for companion articles, show notes, and photos for each episode.

Contact the host via email or Twitter for questions, comments, or show ideas.

Music by Gentry Ford and the Homeless Lobos.

Sponsor: Ghost Coast Surf Co., show off your West Texas pride with hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Out here, surf is what you make it.

Credits: 

• Writer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Producer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Editor: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Engineer: Jody L. Slaughter 

For nearly a decade, the people of West Texas fought for something most of the state took for granted: a college of their own. 

They battled through three governors, three legislatures, and one outright scandal. 

They were lied to, vetoed, ignored… and they refused to quit. 

This is the story of telegrams and barbecue diplomacy, of political brawls and backroom deals, of the long fight that gave birth to Texas Technological College, and with it, a new era for West Texas. 

Send us Fan Mail

 Visit our website at wtxpodcast.com for companion articles, show notes, and photos for each episode.

Contact the host via email or Twitter for questions, comments, or show ideas.

Music by Gentry Ford and the Homeless Lobos.

Sponsor: Ghost Coast Surf Co., show off your West Texas pride with hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Out here, surf is what you make it.

Credits: 

• Writer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Producer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Editor: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Engineer: Jody L. Slaughter 

Most stories of the Comanche are written from the white man’s point of view—heartless, brutal savages. But there’s more to them than that. In this episode, we reconstruct what the daily life of a Comanche warrior was really like: their training, spirituality, and family life; how they loved and lost; and the code of honor that guided everything they did. 

From childhood to marriage to thrilling raids under the Comanche Moon, this is life at full gallop on the hard edges of a changing frontier.

Content note: historical violence and war, abduction/captivity, animal harm, ritual self-harm.

Send us Fan Mail

 Visit our website at wtxpodcast.com for companion articles, show notes, and photos for each episode.

Contact the host via email or Twitter for questions, comments, or show ideas.

Music by Gentry Ford and the Homeless Lobos.

Sponsor: Ghost Coast Surf Co., show off your West Texas pride with hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Out here, surf is what you make it.

Credits: 

• Writer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Producer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Editor: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Engineer: Jody L. Slaughter 

In the spring of 1541, a Spanish army led by Francisco Vázquez de Coronado rode east out of New Mexico in search of golden cities. What they found instead was West Texas.

This episode traces one of the most ambitious—and disastrous—expeditions in New World history, from the jungles of Mexico to the staked plains of the Llano Estacado. You'll meet Coronado, the ambitious conquistador chasing legacy. El Turco, the captive turned con man who spun a lie bright enough to lure 2,000 men into the wild. And Isopete, the rival guide who told the truth no one wanted to hear.

Through burned pueblos, desperate councils, and storms that shook the earth, this is the true story of how a lie shaped a landscape—and left behind something far more powerful than gold.

Send us Fan Mail

 Visit our website at wtxpodcast.com for companion articles, show notes, and photos for each episode.

Contact the host via email or Twitter for questions, comments, or show ideas.

Music by Gentry Ford and the Homeless Lobos.

Sponsor: Ghost Coast Surf Co., show off your West Texas pride with hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Out here, surf is what you make it.

Credits: 

• Writer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Producer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Editor: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Engineer: Jody L. Slaughter 

Welcome to Season 2 of WTX: A History of West Texas! In this episode, we’re starting at the very beginning. Not the beginning of cowboy stories or Comanche raids — the beginning. Before the first human foot ever stepped onto the Llano Estacado. Before the great herds roamed, before the rivers carved their canyons, before the very Caprock stood sentinel. We’ll come face to face with Columbian mammoths, saber-toothed cats, and even dinosaurs. Each once king of these plains.

Send us Fan Mail

 Visit our website at wtxpodcast.com for companion articles, show notes, and photos for each episode.

Contact the host via email or Twitter for questions, comments, or show ideas.

Music by Gentry Ford and the Homeless Lobos.

Sponsor: Ghost Coast Surf Co., show off your West Texas pride with hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Out here, surf is what you make it.

Credits: 

• Writer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Producer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Editor: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Engineer: Jody L. Slaughter 

Just in time for your holiday road trips, this is a special episode that the whole family can enjoy! Kick off your boots and settle in for the legend of Pecos Bill, the Texas folk hero who was raised by coyotes, rode a tornado, tamed the wildest horse on the plains, and invented everything from the branding iron to the lasso! 

Send us Fan Mail

 Visit our website at wtxpodcast.com for companion articles, show notes, and photos for each episode.

Contact the host via email or Twitter for questions, comments, or show ideas.

Music by Gentry Ford and the Homeless Lobos.

Sponsor: Ghost Coast Surf Co., show off your West Texas pride with hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Out here, surf is what you make it.

Credits: 

• Writer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Producer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Editor: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Engineer: Jody L. Slaughter 

Last time, we experienced the wild rise of Tascosa, the frontier town that became the hub of lawlessness in the Texas Panhandle. Now, in part two, we see Tascosa at its peak, and the random violence that helped to fill Boothill Cemetery, concluding in a dramatic shootout that took more lives than even the O.K. Corral. Finally, the drastic collapse of this boom town and why you won't even find it on a map anymore.

Send us Fan Mail

 Visit our website at wtxpodcast.com for companion articles, show notes, and photos for each episode.

Contact the host via email or Twitter for questions, comments, or show ideas.

Music by Gentry Ford and the Homeless Lobos.

Sponsor: Ghost Coast Surf Co., show off your West Texas pride with hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Out here, surf is what you make it.

Credits: 

• Writer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Producer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Editor: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Engineer: Jody L. Slaughter 

Ghost Riders in the Sky is one of the most popular Country songs of all time. But did you know it was inspired by events right here in West Texas? Join us as we take a spooky look at the Legend of Stampede Mesa. Just don't listen before bedtime... 

Send us Fan Mail

 Visit our website at wtxpodcast.com for companion articles, show notes, and photos for each episode.

Contact the host via email or Twitter for questions, comments, or show ideas.

Music by Gentry Ford and the Homeless Lobos.

Sponsor: Ghost Coast Surf Co., show off your West Texas pride with hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Out here, surf is what you make it.

Credits: 

• Writer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Producer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Editor: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Engineer: Jody L. Slaughter 

Join us as we uncover the wild rise of Tascosa, the frontier town that became the hub of lawlessness in the Texas Panhandle. In this first of two episodes, we focus on the town's early days, from violent sheep wars to its transformation into a trading hub. Along the way, we’ll meet figures like Charles Goodnight and Casimero Romero, and set the stage for the arrival of Billy the Kid. Stay tuned for part two, where the story takes an even darker turn with outlaws and lawmen battling for control.

Featured music in this episode: "Say Goodbye" by Charlie Stout, from his 2016 album Dust & Wind (New American Frontier). Recorded live at the Taiban Church Historic Site, just a couple of miles from the site of Billy the Kid's capture.

Send us Fan Mail

 Visit our website at wtxpodcast.com for companion articles, show notes, and photos for each episode.

Contact the host via email or Twitter for questions, comments, or show ideas.

Music by Gentry Ford and the Homeless Lobos.

Sponsor: Ghost Coast Surf Co., show off your West Texas pride with hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Out here, surf is what you make it.

Credits: 

• Writer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Producer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Editor: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Engineer: Jody L. Slaughter 

In this episode we explore how Texas, once considered an unlikely place for wine production, has risen to become a significant player on the global wine stage. Through the stories of pioneers, scientists, and modern-day winemakers, we trace the history of Texas wine back over 350 years and uncover the pivotal moments that shaped the state and region's wine legacy.

Send us Fan Mail

 Visit our website at wtxpodcast.com for companion articles, show notes, and photos for each episode.

Contact the host via email or Twitter for questions, comments, or show ideas.

Music by Gentry Ford and the Homeless Lobos.

Sponsor: Ghost Coast Surf Co., show off your West Texas pride with hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Out here, surf is what you make it.

Credits: 

• Writer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Producer: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Editor: Jody L. Slaughter 
• Engineer: Jody L. Slaughter