After 20 years as a supervisor, James McParland yearns to get back into the field as a detective. He finds his chance in 1906 when the Pinkerton agency is hired to handle the assassination of Frank Steunenberg, the former governor of Idaho. During the case, McParland matches wits with famed attorney, Clarence Darrow. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh.com/legends10fm Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supporti...
Aug 06, 2025•33 min•Season 42Ep. 3
As the violence intensifies in Pennsylvania, James McParland decides its time to bring the Molly Maguire case to a close before he ends up dead. In the aftermath, McParland finds himself as one of the most revered detectives in the country. He receives a promotion to the Denver office, but he learns he needs to root out corruption before he can proceed with investigations. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh.com/legends10fm Join Black Barrel+ for ad-...
Jul 30, 2025•35 min•Season 42Ep. 2
In the early 1870s, tensions between Pennsylvania coal miners and mine owners reaches a fever pitch. Poor working conditions for little pay results in a bitter dispute between labor and management. Making matters worse, a group of Irish immigrants called the Molly Maguires have taken violent measures against management. At the end of 1873, the Pinkerton Detective Agency is hired to spy on the Mollies. The Pinkertons send in undercover agent, James McParland. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To...
Jul 23, 2025•36 min•Season 42Ep. 1
The race is finally over as both railroads make it to Promontory Summit. On May 10, 1869, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific meet in a massive celebration. But in the aftermath, Thomas Durant’s financial scheme is revealed and creates a major scandal. Meanwhile, with the nation now linked together, people begin to settle the west in record numbers, and alter the country forever. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh.com/legends10fm Join Black Ba...
Jun 25, 2025•35 min•Season 41Ep. 6
After surviving the chaos of the Hell on Wheels towns of Wyoming, the Union Pacific pushes into Utah. Once there, they call upon Mormon workers to help build through treacherous canyons as they inch closer to the finish line at Promontory Summit. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh.com/legends10fm Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bing...
Jun 18, 2025•34 min•Season 41Ep. 5
The Central Pacific moves out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and into the Nevada desert. No longer blasting through granite walls, the workers are able to make up for lost time as they battle scorching hot temperatures and cracked soil. But with the race in the back of his head, Big Four member Charles Crocker formulates a plan to set a record and make headlines. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh.com/legends10fm Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episo...
Jun 11, 2025•37 min•Season 41Ep. 4
After Thomas Durant lined his pockets for years, investors in the Union Pacific finally force a change in leadership. The pace of construction accelerates dramatically, but the Union Pacific now faces lawless and chaotic towns which pop up along its route. Robbery, murder, and vice of every kind plagues each town. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh.com/legends10fm Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingc...
Jun 04, 2025•37 min•Season 41Ep. 3
As the Union Pacific begins construction across Nebraska, the Central Pacific faces an immediate obstacle: the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In order to bypass the formidable granite mountains, the Central Pacific calls upon Chinese immigrants to do some of the most dangerous tasks, including using nitroglycerin to blast tunnels through the mountains. Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh.com/legends10fm Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable...
May 28, 2025•35 min•Season 41Ep. 2
For decades in the early 1800s, engineers and merchants attempt to convince the United States to build a railroad that could link the east to the west. But it isn’t until the nation is thrown into Civil War that the government passes a bill to construct a transcontinental railroad. Two companies are formed: the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. The Union Pacific begins building west from Omaha. But the man who oversees everything, Thomas Durant, uses the project to enrich himself. Thanks to...
May 21, 2025•37 min•Season 41Ep. 1
After the Battle of Ingalls in 1893, the Doolin Dalton Gang is on borrowed time. They perform a few more robberies, but then, one by one, gang members fall to bounty hunters or the U.S. Marshals. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial. For more details, visit our website...
Apr 23, 2025•34 min•Season 40Ep. 6
In the early 1890s, the Dalton Gang burns hot and bright in Kansas and Oklahoma, but then burns out quickly. After the disastrous Coffeyville Raid, Bill Doolin and Bill Dalton pick up the pieces and start a new gang. The Doolin Dalton Dang, also known as the Wild Bunch, robs banks and trains and quickly becomes the most feared outfit on the southern plains. In the process, the gang draws the attention of the U.S. Marshals, and the stage is set for a legendary shootout in the village of Ingalls, ...
Apr 16, 2025•38 min•Season 40Ep. 5
Dave Rudabaugh, known as Dirty Dave or Arkansas Dave, flees a murder in Las Vegas, New Mexico and ends up in Fort Sumner after the Lincoln County War. He joins Billy the Kid’s gang just in time to be pursued relentlessly by Pat Garret, the new sheriff of Lincoln County. After Billy and Dirty Dave are captured, Dave escapes jail and runs south to Mexico for his last hurrah. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Bar...
Apr 09, 2025•38 min•Season 40Ep. 4
LEGENDS OF THE OLD WEST presented by Black Barrel Media. Dave Rudabaugh begins his journeyman outlaw career as a cattle rustler and then robber in Kansas. He narrowly eludes Wyatt Earp, but gets caught by Bat Masterson. He joins the Colorado Railroad Wars, becomes a member of the Dodge City Gang in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and then flees a murder warrant. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free epi...
Apr 02, 2025•36 min•Season 40Ep. 3
By the early 1880s, Charley Boles – known as Black Bart – is one of the most prolific stagecoach robbers in the American West. Wells Fargo detectives have been chasing him for years with no luck. But when Charley suffers unexpected resistance during a robbery, he leaves behind key evidence. Detectives finally learn the identity of the gentleman outlaw and bring an end to Black Bart’s legendary career. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/jo...
Mar 26, 2025•33 min•Season 40Ep. 2
Charley Boles tries life as a miner in the California gold rush and then life as a family farmer in Illinois. But wealth lures him west again, and he decides it’s easier to steal from Wells, Fargo & Company than to pan for gold in the freezing rivers of California. He starts robbing stagecoaches and he soon becomes a pioneer of the trade. He gives himself a nickname and begins to write his own legacy. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.f...
Mar 19, 2025•37 min•Season 40Ep. 1
In the wake of the executions of 38 Dakota warriors, the Dakota are forced to leave Minnesota. As they try to build new lives on a barren reservation in present-day South Dakota, U.S. army columns march west on punitive expeditions against the wider Sioux Nation. General Henry Sibley’s column fights three battles near Bismarck, North Dakota, and then General Alfred Sully’s column attacks a Lakota camp that is home to a rising star in the Lakota community, Sitting Bull. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-...
Feb 19, 2025•36 min•Season 39Ep. 6
The Dakota War is done, but the conflict isn’t finished. Colonel Henry Sibley convenes a military commission to pass judgment on 400 Dakota warriors. The commission performs hasty trials and sentences an historic number of warriors to death. President Abraham Lincoln intervenes on behalf of some of the condemned, but the year 1862 still ends with the largest mass execution in American history. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple...
Feb 12, 2025•31 min•Season 39Ep. 5
With Fort Ridgely reinforced, Colonel Henry Sibley sends troops on a burial mission that results in a disastrous ambush. Dakota warriors continue to sweep through the western half of Minnesota, and Colonel Sibley leads a column out of Fort Ridgely to confront the warrior army. At the Battle of Wood Lake, Sibley’s force delivers a crushing blow to the Dakota army and turns the tide of the war. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple ...
Feb 05, 2025•33 min•Season 39Ep. 4
After defenders at Fort Ridgely and New Ulm survive the first Dakota attacks, they re-fortify and brace for the second attacks. Dakota warriors assault both locations in greater numbers and threaten to overrun the two strongest pockets of resistance in southwestern Minnesota. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on ...
Jan 29, 2025•34 min•Season 39Ep. 3
At dawn on August 18, 1862, hundreds of Dakota warriors launch a surprise attack on the Lower Sioux Agency in southwestern Minnesota. The Dakota are starving, and the traders at the agency are hoarding food. After the agency, the Dakota sweep across the landscape and attack homes, farms, and towns. Soldiers at the nearest army outpost, Fort Ridgely, rush to the agency, but they march into a devastating trap. Dakota warriors begin sieges at Fort Ridgely and the town of New Ulm. Join Black Barrel+...
Jan 22, 2025•33 min•Season 39Ep. 2
On August 17, 1862, four young Dakota men kill five white settlers near the village of Acton Township, Minnesota. The act of violence seems spontaneous, but it is fueled by desperation that had been building for years. That night, the leaders of villages in southwestern Minnesota gather for a heated council meeting. At dawn the next day, bands of the Dakota go to war against the settlers and the U.S. army. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast....
Jan 15, 2025•32 min•Season 39Ep. 1
The Nez Percé have performed an extraordinary feat: they have traveled more than 1,300 miles and repelled three American armies in a series of battles and smaller skirmishes. But they are sore and exhausted. They are within reach of the Canadian border and freedom, but another American army joins the hunt and forces the final showdown between the Nez Percé and the United States. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Bla...
Jan 08, 2025•37 min•Season 38Ep. 6
The Nez Percé escape the Battle of Big Hole and move into Yellowstone National Park. Their options are limited and they choose a treacherous path over a mountain range to try to lose their army pursuers. But the army catches the Nez Percé at a narrow canyon and tries to end the conflict before the Nez Percé once again slip away. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons ...
Jan 01, 2025•32 min•Season 38Ep. 5
The Nez Percé are on the run. They cross the Bitterroot Mountains and arrive in Montana. They believe they have left their troubles behind and can start fresh in a new territory. But they soon learn the truth. They are shunned, and sometimes betrayed, by their friends. A new American army unit joins the hunt from an unexpected direction and it clashes with the Nez Percé in a high mountain valley. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Ap...
Dec 25, 2024•33 min•Season 38Ep. 4
A few days after the Battle of White Bird Canyon, an army unit attacks a Nez Percé village. After the fight, the army unit becomes trapped at an abandoned ranch by the advancing Nez Percé column. The smaller fights lead to a two-day battle along the banks of the Clearwater River. The aftermath forces the Nez Percé to make a monumental choice in their pursuit of freedom. Thanks to Nord VPN for sponsoring Legends of the Old West! Try it now and receive 4 extra months on a 2-year plan: NordVPN.com/...
Dec 18, 2024•33 min•Season 38Ep. 3
In the summer of 1876, the murder of a Nez Percé man nearly starts the war. The following summer, a series of attacks by the Nez Percé against settlers who had invaded their homeland pushes the conflict over the edge. Two days of bloody attacks leads to the first battle between soldiers and warriors, and the home for peace is all but gone. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeab...
Dec 11, 2024•35 min•Season 38Ep. 2
For about 50 years, there was relative peace in the U.S. and the Nez Percé. There were outbreaks of violence, like the Whitman Massacre, but not the continual warfare that existed between the U.S. army and other tribes. Tensions rose dramatically in the 1850s and 1860s when the U.S. proposed treaties that were designed to take nearly all Nez Percé land. By 1863, five bands of the Nez Percé were rebelling against the treaties and set the stage for the Nez Percé War. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free...
Dec 04, 2024•36 min•Season 38Ep. 1
As the violence begins to subside in Taney County, it ramped up in neighboring Douglas and Christian counties. The Baldknobbers in those counties wear terrifying masks during nighttime raids on their perceived enemies. But after a pair of murders in front of multiple witnesses, a county sheriff succeeds in stopping the vigilante leaders, and the vigilante movement finally collapses. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join...
Nov 27, 2024•38 min•Season 37Ep. 3
After two years of vigilante activity by the Baldknobbers, many of the people in Taney County, Missouri want the group to disband. Some openly rebel against the powerful vigilantes. The conflict leads to more murders, and then the vigilantes spread beyond the borders of Taney County. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ ba...
Nov 20, 2024•39 min•Season 37Ep. 2
In 1883 in Taney County, Missouri, a murder case ends with an apparent lack of justice, and Nathaniel Kinney decides to take matters into his own hands. He forms a vigilance committee – nicknamed the Baldknobbers – whose goal is to punish criminals who escape the law. The vigilantes strike their first blow, but their seemingly righteous mission quickly turns to a campaign of harassment that spreads fear throughout Taney County. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: black...
Nov 13, 2024•37 min•Season 37Ep. 1
