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Howdy folks, it’s the 28th of September 2026, and welcome to the 100th episode of This Week in The West.    I’m Seth Spillman, broadcasting from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.    Like any great journey into the American West, when we set out to make this podcast, we knew where we were going, but we didn’t know all the discoveries that lay ahead.    The goal on our horizon? Crack open more than 70 years of our Museum’s history and celebrate the subject matter we preserve and share. Like we say every week: We share stories of the people and events that shaped the history, art and culture of the American West—and those still shaping it today.    So what have we learned?     Well, the first lesson came pretty quick, on our very first episode: Oklahoma’s favorite son, Will Rogers, has said a lot of interesting and quotable remarks. But not everything attributed to Will in the history books and on the Internet was truly said by him, as confirmed by our friends at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum. That was duly noted and helped us to dive even deeper into trusted sources, many of them right here in our Dickinson Research Center.     Another lesson was much more visceral: Life in the West, especially in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, was tough. Just surviving was a challenge worth celebrating.    Author Mari Sandoz was a child when she permanently lost vision in one eye to snow blindness after spending a day digging her family’s cattle out of a snowdrift.    Naturalist John Muir was working in a factory when he pierced his right cornea. His left eye then sank into “sympathetic” blindness.    Cotton Rosser, a burgeoning rodeo star, broke both of his legs in a horrible post hole auger accident. And no one ever wants to hear the phrase “horrible post hole auger accident.”    But what’s amazing about these tales is what happened next. Mari Sandoz became an acclaimed Western author, telling the stories of her family’s roots in the Great Plains and later earning induction into our Hall of Great Westerners.    Muir left factory life and headed West, becoming one of the nation’s most influential advocates for preserving its natural beauty and helping build the conservation movement that shaped America’s national parks.    And Rosser left rodeo competition behind but transformed the sport forever as a promoter, producer and member of our National Rodeo Hall of Fame.    Now, of course, we could spend the whole rest of this episode recounting all the rodeo cowboys and cowgirls who overcame the hardships of injuries - Tad Lucas’ crushed arm, Jim Shoulders’ concussions and Casey Tibbs, who was told by doctors to stay in bed in the hospital for six weeks, but escaped after nine days.    Rodeo, especially in its early years, is a whole different world, but one we can’t get enough of here at The Cowboy.    We shared the stories of Hollywood stars - like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry - and the lesser-known performers like stuntman Yakima Canutt and Broncho Billy Anderson, who was part of “The Great Train Robbery,” the landmark 1903 film that helped establish the Western as a movie genre.      We told the story of another Hollywood cowboy, Audie Murphy, who gained fame as a decorated hero of World War II before returning to his Texas roots to become a bona fide Western star.     Murphy had a hard time adjusting to civilian and celebrity life and died tragically in a plane crash. He wasn’t the only one of our stories that ended too abruptly. We also shared stories about Western art legend Frederic Remington, who passed at age 48 and the death of bull rider Lane Frost, who died at 25.    But that’s our job as a Museum, to be a good steward of the stories, good and bad, tragic and triumphant. We’re privileged to be able to walk our halls and see Remington masterpieces and mementos of Frost’s epic battles in the rodeo arena.     All that’s housed here at The Cowboy - the National Rodeo Hall of Fame, PBR’s Heroes & Legends, the Hall of Great Western Performers, the Hall of Great Westerners - gives us fertile ground from which to grow this podcast.      From the stories we’ve uncovered, we have seen how the American West touches the world, capturing the attention of German Duke Paul Wilhelm of Württemberg, sparking the love story of Texas Jack Omohundro and Italian ballerina Giuseppina Morlacchi and drawing in immigrant artists like Albert Bierstadt, Karl Bodmer and Olaf Wieghorst, who came to America knowing just three words of English and died a master of Western Art.    We’ve been able to shine a light on the stories of Native peoples, dispelling myths surrounding Sacagawea, celebrating the rodeo heroics of Jackson Sundown, inspiration for our Museum logo, and remembering the struggles and perseverance of last week’s podcast subject, Chief Joseph.    And we’ve even discovered the compelling histories of the objects of the American West, like Arbuckle’s coffee, barbed wire and the winding roads of Route 66.    Over these 100 episodes, we’ve also attempted to pack as much Western wisdom as we can into the five or six minutes you give us every Monday. Luckily, writers like Louis L’Amour and poets like Badger Clark have carried some of the load for us, making those words sound just right so far, and hopefully, far into the future.    As Badger Clark wrote in “The Cowboy’s Prayer:”    “Just keep an eye on all that's done and said      And right me, sometimes, when I turn aside,     And guide me on the long, dim trail ahead      That stretches upward toward the Great Divide.”    In 1955, the dream that became the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum was born.     In the years since, we’ve become known as “The Cowboy” to our friends, which now includes you, the thousands of listeners who tune into this podcast.    Thanks for being a part of this ride through the sometimes rocky, occasionally ridiculous, but always compelling world of the Western frontier. We couldn’t have done it without you.     And with that, we’ve reached the century mark on episodes of “This Week in The West.”    Our show is produced by Chase Spivey and written by Mike Koehler.    Follow us and rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you hear us. That helps us reach more people.     Come visit us in Oklahoma City! You can buy tickets online at thecowboy.org-slash-tickets     Got a question or a suggestion? Drop us an email at [email protected]    We leave you today with the words of the great Western writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Wallace Stegner: “One cannot be pessimistic about the West. This is the native home of hope. When it fully learns that cooperation, not rugged individualism, is the quality that most characterizes and preserves it, then it will have achieved itself and outlived its origins. Then it has a chance to create a society to match its scenery.”    Much obliged for listening, and remember, come Find Your West at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️Episode 91: Was Texas Jack the Original Cowboy Star? 📢 Episode Summary: Long before Buffalo Bill's Wild West became an international phenomenon, another frontier legend helped define how America imagined the West. This episode explores the life of Texas Jack Omohundro, a cowboy, scout, performer and member of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Great Western Performers. Born on July 27, 1846, Texas Jack served as a Confederate cavalry scout during the Civil War before heading west to become a cowboy on the cattle trails and eventually one of the frontier's most recognizable personalities. The podcast traces Texas Jack's remarkable rise to fame through his friendship with Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok. In 1872, he joined Cody and actress Giuseppina Morlacchi in Scouts of the Prairie, a groundbreaking theatrical production that featured real frontier scouts instead of actors. The show captivated audiences, helped lay the foundation for the Wild West entertainment genre and introduced many eastern Americans to their first authentic image of the cowboy. Texas Jack also pioneered rope demonstrations on stage and became one of the nation's first celebrity cowboys. Despite his enormous popularity, Texas Jack's career was cut tragically short when he died of pneumonia in 1880 at just 33 years old. While Buffalo Bill went on to build an entertainment empire, Texas Jack's legacy gradually faded from public memory. Yet his influence on Western culture remains profound, shaping the world's image of the American cowboy and helping establish many of the myths and traditions that continue to define the West today. 🔍 What You’ll Learn: How Texas Jack Omohundro helped create the public image of the American cowboy decades before Western movies and television. Why Scouts of the Prairie became one of the first true Wild West shows, launching frontier heroes from real life onto the American stage. How Texas Jack's friendship with Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickok—and his untimely death—shaped the legacy of Western entertainment and popular culture. 👥 Behind the Scenes Host: Seth Spillman Producer: Chase Spivey Writer: Mike Koehler 🔗 Further research: The Texas Jack Association: https://www.texasjack.org/ Tales of the Old West: Texas Jack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeWzI6gyUYA Visiting Texas Jack’s grave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INwXg-vHu7I 📬 Connect With Us: 🌐 Website: www.thecowboy.org 📖 Read Our Blog: https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/blog/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📲Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/ncwhm/ 📷Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationalcowboymuseum ❎X/Twitter: https://x.com/ncwhm 💼LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/national-cowboy-&-western-heritage-museum 🗺️ Visit Us: The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK, 73111. See us on the map 🎟️: You can now buy tickets to The Cowboy online, go to https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/tickets/ 💡 Support Us:🏅Become A Member of the Museum: https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/support/memberships/ 🛒Shop at Persimmon Hill, our Museum store: https://persimmonhillstore.com/ 🎧 Listen & Subscribe: 🔹 Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-the-west/id1776228708 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KYmd2BumVtQVH1ez1Cr2U 🔹YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFoE2kU21JpX9T6W9NonXuD9UapS1TsmN 🔹Podbean: https://thisweekinthewest.podbean.com/  ⭐ If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to rate & review!

🤠This Week in the West 🎙️ Episode 90: Wild Bill Hickok and the Original Wild West Shootout 📢 Episode Summary: The classic image of two gunfighters facing each other in the middle of a dusty Western street has become one of the defining symbols of the American West—but it was far less common in real life than Hollywood would have us believe. This episode explores the rare real-life confrontation that inspired generations of Western stories: the Hickok-Tutt shootout of July 21, 1865. The conflict between Wild Bill Hickok and former Confederate soldier Dave Tutt grew from a gambling dispute and a public insult involving Hickok's prized gold pocket watch, setting the stage for one of the most famous gunfights in American history. Listeners will follow the dramatic showdown in Springfield, Missouri, where the two men faced each other across the town square before exchanging shots from an astonishing distance of about 75 yards. The episode examines Hickok's subsequent manslaughter trial, why a jury acquitted him under the frontier's evolving ideas of self-defense and honor, and how the event transformed him from a local gambler into a national celebrity. It also reveals the irony that Hickok's own death eleven years later bore little resemblance to the legendary duel that made him famous, reminding us that the reality of the Old West was often far messier—and far less romantic—than its enduring myths. 🔍 What You’ll Learn: How the Hickok-Tutt shootout became the real-life inspiration for the classic Hollywood Western gunfight. Why a gambling debt and a stolen pocket watch escalated into one of the most famous confrontations in frontier history. How Wild Bill Hickok's legend was shaped by both a sensational magazine article and the enduring myths of the American West. 👥 Behind the Scenes Host: Seth Spillman Producer: Chase Spivey Writer: Mike Koehler 🔗 Further research: Springfield (Mo.) Library’s deeper look at Hickok’s time in the city: https://www.thelibrary.org/post/the-shootout-on-the-square An Interview with Hickok expert Jeff Morey: https://www.americanheritage.com/content/wild-bill-hickok-man-myth-interview-jeff-morey More about the Shootout: https://missourilife.com/death-in-the-evening/ 📬 Connect With Us: 🌐 Website: www.thecowboy.org 📖 Read Our Blog: https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/blog/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📲Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/ncwhm/ 📷Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationalcowboymuseum ❎X/Twitter: https://x.com/ncwhm 💼LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/national-cowboy-&-western-heritage-museum 🗺️ Visit Us: The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK, 73111. See us on the map 🎟️: You can now buy tickets to The Cowboy online, go to https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/tickets/ 💡 Support Us:🏅Become A Member of the Museum: https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/support/memberships/ 🛒Shop at Persimmon Hill, our Museum store: https://persimmonhillstore.com/ 🎧 Listen & Subscribe: 🔹 Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-the-west/id1776228708 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2KYmd2BumVtQVH1ez1Cr2U 🔹YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFoE2kU21JpX9T6W9NonXuD9UapS1TsmN 🔹Podbean: https://thisweekinthewest.podbean.com/  ⭐ If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to rate & review!