Historian Mark Lee Gardner joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about the Wild West era. Who was the most dangerous outlaw in the old west? What did folks use for toilet paper way back then? How accurate is the depiction of life in the old west in “Red Dead Redemption 2?” Old west historian Mark Lee Gardner covers these questions and plenty more on Wild West Support.
0:00 Yeeeehaaaw!
0:13 The most dangerous outlaw in the Old West
1:09 What is a 49er?
1:29 Which film did it better?
2:38 Music of the Wild West
2:54 “Hit it, Vance!”
4:18 Did the Old West have stricter guns laws than we have now?
5:09 Old West saloon drink menu
5:43 Hats of the Old West
6:58 When did the “Old West” officially end?
7:30 How many buffalo were there?
8:49 Annie are you Oakley?
9:36 Billy The Kid pics
11:27 Black cowboys: Yes
12:16 Branding cattle
13:19 Popularity of the 10 gauge shotgun
14:36 How accurate is Red Dead Redemption?
15:20 Old West literacy rates
16:42 TP of the Old West
17:47 An interesting aside about outhouses
18:14 Shootout etiquette
19:04 Old West cuisine
20:05 Mark’s fave gunslinger
20:42 What was there to do in a saloon?
21:47 Old West deep cuts
22:39 Saloon doors: why?
23:26 Toughest native tribes
24:24 How Custer took the L at Little Big Horn
25:58 Navajo blankets of the 1800s
27:02 When did the Old West start?
28:36 Play us out, fellas.
Director: Lisandro Perez-Rey
Director of Photography: Josh Bane
Editor: Philip Anderson
Expert: Mark Lee Gardner
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Paul Gulyas
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Rhyan Lark
Casting Producer: Nicholas Sawyer
Camera Operator: Freddie Ochoa
Sound Mixer: Brad Dunn
Production Assistant: Noelle Aguilar
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Additional Editor: Jason Malizia
Assistant Editor: Andy Morell
Special Thanks: Vance Gardner
Still haven’t subscribed to WIRED on YouTube? ►►
Listen to the Get WIRED podcast ►►
Want more WIRED? Get the magazine ►►
Follow WIRED:
Instagram ►►
Twitter ►►
Facebook ►►
Tik Tok ►►
Also, check out the free WIRED channel on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV.
ABOUT WIRED
WIRED is where tomorrow is realized.
@dwreck2842
October 15, 2024 at 9:00 pm
Started listening to this without the video at first and I 100% thought this was danny McBride giving a history breakdown.
@Aramisbyjoe
October 15, 2024 at 9:00 pm
Jerry’s uncle!
@victoriousf.i.g.3311
October 15, 2024 at 9:01 pm
00:00 Now wait a minute, if you’re gonna play in Texas-
*Fiddler appears*
All right, this checks out
@cpMetis
October 15, 2024 at 9:01 pm
This guest was spectacular.
@aaronavila2950
October 15, 2024 at 9:03 pm
Easily one of the best Wired Support episodes. Mark understood the assignment
@Zahri8Alang
October 15, 2024 at 9:04 pm
I had a ukelele PTSD in the first 10 seconds there
@chrstianluna
October 15, 2024 at 9:05 pm
Dude kinda sounds like Danny Mcbride.
@spiveym
October 15, 2024 at 9:06 pm
Could he just break down Unforgiven? I feel it’s the most accurate Old West movie.
@Duskbound
October 15, 2024 at 9:06 pm
I could listen to this guy talk all day
@satakrionkryptomortis
October 15, 2024 at 9:07 pm
24:00 lets call that what it was/is (they still are worse less in most cases regarding us politics) genocide is genocide.
@AnaisBubbly
October 15, 2024 at 9:09 pm
I like how he didn’t mention that the buffalo were mainly killed by European settlers that were trying to starve natives of their food sources.
@Zahri8Alang
October 15, 2024 at 9:10 pm
No Doug Dimmadome reference?
@MsKidCuddy
October 15, 2024 at 9:14 pm
Billy the Kid low key lookin like Conner O’Malley
@KayentaRojo
October 15, 2024 at 9:14 pm
His outfit goes SO HARD
@laureeeent
October 15, 2024 at 9:15 pm
LENNNNNYYY!
@NotDaJayC
October 15, 2024 at 9:19 pm
The KFC line is increasing by one person in my town
@kevinpatrickrobbins
October 15, 2024 at 9:20 pm
Not only did black cowboys exist, the term cowboy is based in racism. White men were called cow hands and black men were referred to as cow boys.
@Ali-in-Wonderland.
October 15, 2024 at 9:21 pm
Put this man on tour I will buy ticket right now
@MrChaskett
October 15, 2024 at 9:21 pm
such a fun video
@Deityoftime
October 15, 2024 at 9:21 pm
lmao of course he skips right over the part where y’all killed the buffalo to kill the natives. “Kill every buffalo you can! Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone!”
@Zahri8Alang
October 15, 2024 at 9:22 pm
16:22 glad to the see the trend of thw average person sympathizing(or myth-ifying) dangerous criminals has always been an odd trend
@jessicamorales2555
October 15, 2024 at 9:22 pm
Nice and well done
@wattsmichaele
October 15, 2024 at 9:23 pm
Way too many ads…..what the heck????
@katiewillson7759
October 15, 2024 at 9:25 pm
I love this!! I’ve always been obsessed with the west. Even have the whole get up, six shooter, gun belt and all.
@victorwonder
October 15, 2024 at 9:27 pm
If you’re gonna be a historian, use Bison, not Buffalo 😂
@adarbarrush
October 16, 2024 at 7:03 pm
Hope metatron reacts to this
@Wladislav
October 16, 2024 at 7:12 pm
_Hit it, Vance!_
🎻🎶
_Thank you, Vance!_
@cratecruncher4974
October 16, 2024 at 7:22 pm
Cattle branding was invented about the same time the cattle thief was invented.
@johngeers4023
October 16, 2024 at 7:22 pm
LMAO…
@fumbles7380
October 16, 2024 at 7:28 pm
The internet knows when I’m playing red dead.
@monkeypolicd
October 16, 2024 at 7:29 pm
Native Americans also traveled to Southern America to trade Southern Natives
@Vtuber_Xantherous
October 16, 2024 at 7:31 pm
My answer on that poll would be the Louisiana Purchase.
@alexguerra9337
October 16, 2024 at 7:35 pm
I’m norm and raised in Texas, as well as my family all own land. My family has a long line of vaqueros, in Mexico and now in Texas. The old west fascinates me
@BlaiseTM
October 16, 2024 at 7:40 pm
they must return
@cratecruncher4974
October 16, 2024 at 7:41 pm
@23:40 The most fearsome tribes were the ones controlling the plains. It’s open ground with 30 million buffalo – the best spot that is the most difficult to defend. Only the fastest, strongest, and most brutal could hold it. The weaker tribes were chased into the mountains and deserts where they slowly starved.
@carolynr4084
October 16, 2024 at 7:42 pm
I could listen to him all day! Amazing speaker
@Robert399
October 16, 2024 at 7:54 pm
Billy Connolly does a great American accent
@deron.sunwall
October 16, 2024 at 8:02 pm
That’s not a cowboy violinist, that’s Kostas Tsimikas 🇬🇷⚽🤣
@jasperdiscovers
October 16, 2024 at 8:06 pm
he calls it an average to good western. 14:38. saved you 20 minutes of nonsense.
@tomwilko7841
October 16, 2024 at 8:26 pm
I heard that the first time as “Gold was found in 1848 and one year later in 1849…whores..thousands of whores made their way out West to make their fortune”
Yep…nothing ever changes 😅
Oh hordes u say😂
@RexRj501
October 16, 2024 at 8:37 pm
thats barney’s ringtone
@via-anghelmagahum2586
October 16, 2024 at 8:47 pm
Does this guy teach at a college? I’d kill to be in class with this guy!
@TheMan-je5xq
October 16, 2024 at 8:48 pm
19:02 there were other examples such as Wild Bill vs Dave Tutt and Luke Short vs Jim Courtright
@iomoon3608
October 16, 2024 at 9:11 pm
I love the fact that gun control was stricter than now.
@nofollowrobotstxt
October 16, 2024 at 9:12 pm
very
@GeorgeRamsey22
October 16, 2024 at 9:13 pm
Great historian! He had amazing props and everything, that and such a cool topic always make for a great video. We need a part 2!
@moosieeeeee
October 16, 2024 at 9:13 pm
Why do you sound exactly like Luke bryan when you talk?
@dtatting1555
October 16, 2024 at 9:15 pm
Well, I’ll be ! Just happened to hit on this website to see my dear friend Mark and his son. I watched the whole thing and learned a thing or two. Great episode Mark ! Good seeing ya !
@MrRipVanWinkle1
October 16, 2024 at 9:17 pm
Tombstone was a great movie, I watched it a few weeks ago
@AustinMcDermott-bh2po
October 16, 2024 at 9:20 pm
6:32 I’ve heard of Butch Cassidy. Apparently he took that photo down in South America, and the guy liked it so much he put it in his window and one of the Pinkerton saw it a citizen, saw it and reported that to the Pinkerton and then the Pinkerton track down Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance kid into a little hot and they only had a few bullets left so they shot each other, but there is a theory saying that they didn’t die
@Boywhocriedrainbow
October 17, 2024 at 5:31 pm
This is amazing
@howardb.6205
October 17, 2024 at 5:32 pm
“So now I’m rolling down Rodeo with a shotgun, these people ain’t seen a brown skinned man scene their grandparents bought one” -RATM
Have no idea what I mean by that.
This was really interesting. Thank you!
@tedking6790
October 17, 2024 at 5:36 pm
Mr. Gardner is great, would love to see more videos like this.
@oddis188
October 17, 2024 at 5:46 pm
So oyster became a luxury product in the west? As it was at the same time food for the poor and drunkards on the coasts of the old world.
@Chanannagins
October 17, 2024 at 5:54 pm
wild west playlist – gotta have Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs by Marty Robbins
@chaosPneumatic
October 17, 2024 at 5:58 pm
Funny he doesn’t mention that the buffalo were also deliberately exterminated by the US government specifically to destroy the Plains Indians’ way of life…
@flackjacket3dits
October 17, 2024 at 9:23 pm
A disproven lie
@TheV00d00D011
October 17, 2024 at 6:07 pm
Excellent. This is very rare and important information.
@CerealEater.jr.
October 17, 2024 at 6:13 pm
Why do men have nipples
@YuTv1408
October 17, 2024 at 6:18 pm
???? Weird channel
@ultimasurge
October 17, 2024 at 6:20 pm
One of my favorites now. God i love knowledge.
@denisrivarola2387
October 17, 2024 at 6:34 pm
I can’t belive I was never going to know the true meaning of “dude” if not for this video.
@AceEstwick
October 17, 2024 at 6:38 pm
Sounds like Danny McBride
@shotbytim9624
October 17, 2024 at 6:40 pm
True that Billy the Kid wasn’t left handed. In fact, according to Frederick Nolan in “The West of Billy the Kid”, he was fully ambidextrous.
@splashmt99
October 17, 2024 at 6:43 pm
Wild Bill was the only person John Wesley Hardin was afraid of.
@nighttimedaytime1192
October 17, 2024 at 6:43 pm
Is it true, that most people who went to California during the Gold Rushes found NOTHING… but the real trick to making money, was to set up a business like a saloon or general store to outfit the miners etc with what they needed… don’t dig up the gold but have a business where people with gold wanna spend it… is this true at all ?
@joeycormier7489
October 17, 2024 at 7:07 pm
I want 1 hour with this asking questions.
@madzod0076
October 17, 2024 at 7:22 pm
God made man, Colt made them equal. Great video.
@robertcantu4545
October 17, 2024 at 7:26 pm
Only Dutch oven I know is when I’m with my lady at night 💀😂
@robertmajak
October 17, 2024 at 7:48 pm
This was the best that I’ve seen on this Tech Support series, and there are some really good ones.
@0x0404
October 17, 2024 at 7:49 pm
Oh I can’t get a long little doggy. Can’t even get one that’s small. Can’t get a long little doggy. Can’t get a doggy at all.
@tyranosurasmax
October 17, 2024 at 7:58 pm
Millions of bison. Zero buffalo.
@Aenima308
October 17, 2024 at 8:09 pm
I like this guy
@ThelRiSycusee
October 17, 2024 at 8:13 pm
Who cares if it’s not accurate just have fun playing the game 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡💀💀💀💀
@Floormat212
October 17, 2024 at 8:37 pm
Fu*kn amazing. Best one ever.
@sethwho7167
October 17, 2024 at 8:52 pm
I can’t be the only one who thought Vince Gilligan became a historian for a moment.
@FlameClone
October 18, 2024 at 3:24 pm
Please do a part 2. This was awesome!
@OstblockLatina
October 18, 2024 at 3:24 pm
I look at those two men and wonder whether they’d be bullied and made fun of in the real Wild West for their brightly colored clothes, the same way Marty got in Back to the Future III.
@brujala1775
October 18, 2024 at 3:29 pm
Grew up in mexico but i always loved all american western aesthetics!
@OstblockLatina
October 18, 2024 at 3:56 pm
7:30 – the horse wasn’t first introduced to American continent by the Spanish, they were introduced into indigenous cultures decades before European-American records indicate. A pre-hispanic indigenous native American race of horses is still around and you could see them yourself in the Sacred Way Sanctuary and Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, Mr. Historian.
@RogueDakotan
October 18, 2024 at 4:05 pm
Fantastic video. Feels a bit negligent to omit that another cause of the near extinction of the american bison was quite literally to further the elimination of the native people who so relied on the bison. “Kill the buffalo, kill the Indian” was a well documented rationale behind the mass killings of bison.
@MatthewGill-nv4tb
October 18, 2024 at 4:19 pm
Actual cowboy music has a strong irish folk sound… . I never noticed that
@Shonbon17
October 18, 2024 at 4:29 pm
YEE MFING HAW
@mikeseier4449
October 18, 2024 at 4:48 pm
Ok knock it off with being the Indian lover… Does everyone have to be so politically correct?
@mcm730
October 18, 2024 at 4:48 pm
I have seen a few historic saloons with swinging doors! However, they were usually set behind a set of double doors and were there for ease of access while carrying things, and for ventilation! 22:59
@mikeseier4449
October 18, 2024 at 4:49 pm
The Indians were savages. Stop making them out to be so honorable.
@Mr.Marketing
October 18, 2024 at 5:23 pm
You should google the term “nuance”. Then history is will make a lot more sense for you.
@mokki666
October 18, 2024 at 4:51 pm
3:46 grampa jones used to play this
@V4MPY4NG3L
October 18, 2024 at 4:52 pm
lets j bring back emo cowboy summer
@GrippyClips
October 18, 2024 at 4:56 pm
okay Colonel Sanders Ill let him cook.
@button9
October 18, 2024 at 5:19 pm
One point for Red Dead, they had normal doors for saloons, not the swinging Hollywood doors
@WhiskersGoingMid
October 18, 2024 at 5:38 pm
the two men in that photo that he shows at one point names my hometown, Abilene, Texas 🙂
@paralyzerfingereleven
October 18, 2024 at 5:45 pm
What’s the name of the song he plays in the beginning?
@VanceGardner613
October 18, 2024 at 6:06 pm
Turkey in the straw🎻🤠
@TravelerVolkriin
October 18, 2024 at 5:57 pm
I lived in Arizona for 5 years in Tucson. Some of them boys still keep that thang on their side out there. I’m legit being serious. It really is the Wild Wild West out there.
Fun fact: They actually do shootout reenactments in Tombstone. Apparently during the event a live round was fired and someone was wounded. Idk if it’s an urban legend or not, but it just makes you go “Wow!”
@catalina4447
October 18, 2024 at 5:59 pm
this was amazing!
@someguy6080
October 18, 2024 at 6:05 pm
This guy sounds like Kenny Powers
@fenderguitar85
October 18, 2024 at 6:19 pm
One of the best episodes by far. Great Historian.
@MyCatFooed
October 18, 2024 at 6:43 pm
Just love the guy!! American history is wild!!🇺🇸🇺🇲🇺🇸
@rich1012
October 18, 2024 at 6:44 pm
Dude I could watch a whole series of this guy explaining the Wild West.
@eggman7527
October 18, 2024 at 7:22 pm
It’s how they kept their trigger fingers slick.
@prickiland
October 18, 2024 at 7:24 pm
Rap music, for the most part, has been a very bad influence on culture. Not all, but most. Just saying.
@Elkommander602
October 18, 2024 at 7:30 pm
I think the vaqueros were actually MEXICANS that had lived on lands after we sold our land to the US 😬
@cathsaigh2197
October 19, 2024 at 8:39 am
Is the technical name for tintype really ferro(iron)type?
@Vichikuma
October 19, 2024 at 8:45 am
12:33 Vaquero literally means cowboy. Vaca = cow. In Latin America westerns are known as “películas de vaqueros” (vaqueros movies)
@gggdad
October 19, 2024 at 9:11 am
Just found this. FANTASTIC! show
@jordanfranklin189
October 19, 2024 at 9:57 am
Marty Robbins Big iron… Talk bout gangster….
@beth12svist
October 19, 2024 at 10:18 am
Excellent presentation! I really liked the use of maps and props.
As a Czech, though, I have a minor gripe – a good deal of those glass beads were Bohemian. 🙂 _Especially_ in the period of the height of the “Old West”.
@gudavbourgas
October 19, 2024 at 11:06 am
Mr Gardner, You have one of the best hats I have ever seen
@Poncho555
October 19, 2024 at 11:09 am
I would’ve thought that people would have killed more back then ya know.
@specterboy98
October 19, 2024 at 11:10 am
Come to think of it, it won’t be too inaccurate if in 80-100 years or so there’s gonna be someone that talks about the 1960-2020s civilization and be named a Proto-Digital Age History Expert 😢
Imagine a scholar like him talk about how e-girls can trace their lineage back to emos and to an extent, post-punks and goths. Wild.
@aidenhill960
October 19, 2024 at 11:45 am
Lord Jesus bless you all!
@GaryD-s7x
October 19, 2024 at 12:30 pm
The white man killed the buffalo for zero reason most of the time. Just to spite the natives and kill their source of food. Keep it real old man.
@Kami84
October 19, 2024 at 12:48 pm
We’re overdue for a Bass Reeves movie
@cecilhanson66
October 19, 2024 at 1:42 pm
Ferrotypes as in iron, is the correct term for the wet plate collodion process. Tintypes were not made on tin, they were made on thin sheets of iron that was readily available and cheap at the time. The moniker tintype came about because it was the cheapest way to get a photograph in that period of time.
@SvenElven
October 19, 2024 at 1:58 pm
Oysters are horrible though, tastes like wet snot. I’d much rather have pork and beans.
@madisonflick9812
October 19, 2024 at 2:51 pm
OMG @/minnownox THATS OOMF
@payableondeath7
October 19, 2024 at 3:55 pm
The old quickdraw duel was just a literary device based on pistol duels of the 1600-1700s to romanticize the Wild West even further than it already was, to class things up a bit.
@mastereppsreturns6586
October 19, 2024 at 4:07 pm
How did he come up with the recipe for KFC chicken?
@ChrisP.Bacon008
October 19, 2024 at 4:54 pm
I eat beanies and weinies like once a week, that guys crazy.
@SynthLizard8
October 19, 2024 at 5:52 pm
I didn’t know MrMattyPlays had a cowboy twin.
@holdenchute7883
October 19, 2024 at 6:14 pm
Red Dead Series is literally set in the “death” of the old west in 1880s, 90s, and early 1900s so it’s not the old west
@beckybeighley
October 19, 2024 at 6:20 pm
great! but he’s still saying “indians”?🤔🤔🤔
@Endrance88
October 19, 2024 at 7:26 pm
I love him
@susanegley4149
October 19, 2024 at 7:44 pm
Wow!! This was fascinating!! Please invite him back!
@Other8arry
October 19, 2024 at 7:59 pm
I really like how you have a Vince on standby. Market that, “Vince in a pinch”.
@artsymarxist
October 19, 2024 at 9:03 pm
So fascinating! Jesse and Frank James stayed on my family’s farm after the northfield robbery, lying to the farmer and claiming to be farmhands. The small house they stayed in still stands. Sheriff came by a day or two later looking for them, they’d already gone, and the farmer was shocked to find out the nice farm hands who had helped out were outlaws, and said he thought it was weird how Frank slept under the kitchen table with a loaded gun. And thank you for how you responded to that really inappropriate question about indigenous peoples being “foes and enemies” of the US gov. The US gov was literally stealing their land and has broken every single treaty made with indigenous peoples, and still does. Anyone would fight back against g*nocide of their peoples and cultures.
@ldn_rumrunner
October 19, 2024 at 9:09 pm
JERRY THOMAS MENTIONED!
he originally published the bartender’s manual/a bon vivant’s companion in 1862, the 1874 one was the second edition. But yes, pioneer towns usually had very good cocktail bars believe it or not.
@galrjkldd
October 20, 2024 at 2:49 am
I had Bass Reeves confused with Bat Masterson. but I thought Bass was the inspiration for Have Gun Will Travel.
@stevenbills836
October 20, 2024 at 4:17 am
this isnt a historian, hes just a cowboy
@Cadmus-v5t
October 20, 2024 at 5:05 am
The first guy he mentions is a relative to me on my mother’s side of the family.
@SandJuice213
October 20, 2024 at 5:14 am
Historian? I thought this was Colonel Sanders.
@mycointhetrees
October 20, 2024 at 5:31 am
everytime he talks about the natives, the respect he has for their culture and their painful history and refuses to villainize them no matter how the questions are phrased. a real historian that deserves to be a historian.
@Josh-mx4wv
October 20, 2024 at 7:47 am
Does anyone else think that Frank James looks like Tom Pepper who played the fake Kramer on Seinfeld?
@eisgeistschiller5244
October 20, 2024 at 8:09 am
Aw the Wild West isn’t over, atleast in Wyoming its not
@jacobstaten2366
October 20, 2024 at 8:53 am
The shotgun spread thing is a misnomer. Unless the barrel is extremely short, like a few inches, it’s not going to spread all that significantly compared to a longer barrel. The advantage of a longer barrel is less swing whenever you turn to follow a Target at long distance, and preserving more velocity. The advantage of a shorter barrel is that it’s easier to handle in tight spaces.
@jacobstaten2366
October 20, 2024 at 9:53 am
He lost a little bit of credibility talking up doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp like they are good people. They were monsters.
@InkGraffiti
October 20, 2024 at 10:33 am
banjos are really slept on instruments in the modern era. its such a fun sounding instrument lol
@InkGraffiti
October 20, 2024 at 10:36 am
interesting that dude used to be kind of a slur against the upper class and it evolved a lot to simply refer to a friend nowadays LOL
@kkahakusan5591
October 20, 2024 at 12:04 pm
This is lovely; thanks (:
@jimjammers2453
October 20, 2024 at 12:12 pm
Bass Reeves sounds like a badass motherf****r.🤠
@brentsrx7
October 20, 2024 at 12:59 pm
A couple larger cities had gun control in the Wild West. Attempts at gun confiscation were met with violence at times as this was not the norm. Like at the OK coral. The vast majority of frontier towns were completely unregulated, as it was the duty of local citizens to keep the peace.
@girthbrooks8606
October 20, 2024 at 2:24 pm
Wiping with a dry corncob is WILD AF
@tylermcneil5239
October 20, 2024 at 3:19 pm
Hopefully, there is a part II. The mountain man is my favorite lore of the Wild West.
@bramblerose42
October 20, 2024 at 4:01 pm
Can we pause for a moment and appreciate Vance’s adept scooting in and out? 😆 That was slick!
@zechariahdymond4358
October 20, 2024 at 4:05 pm
I have a question: is there really an evil undying Ken Curtis out there?
@PoweredLaces
October 20, 2024 at 4:09 pm
Needs chapter breaks for each question. Not watching all this for the red dead part.
@flingflang69
October 20, 2024 at 4:37 pm
I could watch hours of this
@ChiefGorillaChef
October 20, 2024 at 6:07 pm
The 1873 repeater did not fire several rounds each time you worked the lever. The lever would load a round into the chamber and the trigger would fire that round. You would need to load another round using the lever for each shot. He probably meant to say that it could fire several rounds without the need to reload the firearm.
@redbarchetta8782
October 20, 2024 at 6:11 pm
Born and raised in Montana in the 1950s. The Old West was long dead by then, but I did have family who remembered them as my family first came here in the 1870s. A River Runs Through It shows Montana in the 1920s very, very well. That’s an interesting time as well.
@redbarchetta8782
October 20, 2024 at 6:19 pm
15:28 And furthermore, the literacy level was many times higher than modern Americans.
@AndresStokman
October 20, 2024 at 6:28 pm
Best intro ever
@mena94x3
October 20, 2024 at 7:33 pm
25:40 It saddens me that you never mentioned his brother (and two-time MoH recipient), Thomas, who was a far better man and soldier than G.A. Custer ever was. …also no mention of their brother Boston, or the brothers’ nephew Henry Armstrong Reed. 😕
@vengefulhero
October 21, 2024 at 1:03 am
More banjo!!
@crazyazzimmerman8917
October 21, 2024 at 4:12 am
Being a historian. is it frustrating to watch shows like the new Bass Reeves show?
@deotic
October 21, 2024 at 4:27 am
I can’t believe they got Colonel Sanders to be in a video
@aprilcoursey4533
October 21, 2024 at 4:53 am
This guy is so smart, and truly LOVEABLE! ❤❤❤❤
@brizzo4554
October 21, 2024 at 8:37 am
A few frontier/fur trapper journals I have listened to, and other historians say a larger reason for the buffalo numbers dwindling so quickly was because of the railroad. Buffalo hides are very heavy, and fur traders would avoid them because of that reason, but with the rail, you can move a lot that way
@braylenconner3
October 21, 2024 at 9:20 am
Whoopi Ti O! I love that song, Roy Rogers version
@donron4065
October 21, 2024 at 10:37 am
2:52 “Hit it Vince” 😂 Vince slide out with the instrument so fast…🫡💯
@CythereaEressea
October 21, 2024 at 11:07 am
This was very educational and very fun to watch. Thank you.
@BeArfi12
October 21, 2024 at 11:21 am
For a second I thought that Vince Gilligan
@morgandavis6788
October 21, 2024 at 11:37 am
Swinging doors were absolutely real. Saloons had actual doors, but usually kept those open to use the swinging ones. There was no A/C back then and on top of that it helped with smoke.
@garykirkham1389
October 21, 2024 at 12:00 pm
I would say that 1848 was the beginning of the west, specifically the gold rush.
@TheJovialBrit
October 21, 2024 at 12:04 pm
I’m often called “Billy the Kid” in Red Dead Online. I never use dead-eye and my marksmanship is unrivalled.
@mailynnrivers2693
October 21, 2024 at 1:46 pm
7:07 *eye twitch* Bison
@Jesus_Saves87
October 21, 2024 at 1:57 pm
That man should make music! 😀
@rainycityrebel
October 21, 2024 at 3:16 pm
The gunfight didn’t take place in the ok corral lot at all. It happened on Fremont Street, they spun it to not ruin the reputation of Fremont Street
@jackrosado746
October 21, 2024 at 4:19 pm
Man needs to listen to fans and start a spotify
@WhoIsCalli
October 21, 2024 at 4:33 pm
This was fun 🤠
@Daniel_ACG
October 21, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The original Cowboys 🤠 were Mexican/Spanish not US American and much less African-American
@the5to9Hustle
October 21, 2024 at 7:24 pm
Tech Support continues to be one of the most interesting web series around. This one was really good! Mark Lee Gardner is a treasure and I could watch him all day.
@gavinpower2020
October 21, 2024 at 7:29 pm
This guy rocks
@lildavid7571
October 21, 2024 at 8:04 pm
Good evening. Loved the video. How accurate was Open Range? One of my all time favorites along with Unforgiven.
@TherealDanielleNelson
October 21, 2024 at 8:23 pm
I LOVE this guy. He is so knowledgable. Please can we see more of him?
@mariaschaum2623
October 21, 2024 at 8:26 pm
My great great great grandfather got drunk with Jesse James
@ricardoortiz1746
October 21, 2024 at 8:33 pm
Best wired ever! History, funny stories and even music!
@BRand-oz9lu
October 21, 2024 at 8:39 pm
Ive never been more interested in the wild west
@namikazelevi
October 22, 2024 at 5:11 am
IS THAT KFC GRANDPA??!!!
@pobodysnerfect9270
October 22, 2024 at 5:29 am
This was one of the bests ive seen
@jonsnow3176
October 22, 2024 at 6:14 am
didn’t know they said dude in the west lol.
@RyanStokes-c4n
October 22, 2024 at 6:55 am
A dry corncob…
@NFSKING1000
October 22, 2024 at 8:03 am
😅❤😢😢🎉
@anonymousbosch9265
October 22, 2024 at 8:09 am
The San Saba Song Bird has nothin on you
@gir489returns2
October 22, 2024 at 9:08 am
Now this guy can sing!
@EXPLOBRO3
October 22, 2024 at 9:59 am
Great video! Very informative and entertaining
@harpuny
October 22, 2024 at 10:09 am
Man they had toilet paper in 1850s Wild West but not in 1950s Soviet Union💀
@apolled1312
October 22, 2024 at 12:03 pm
I love this guy. I love how he re-centers questions in a way that explains history critically. “What went wrong for Custer?” “well if we think about it the American Indians were defending their homes and their families, its not what went wrong for Custer, its what went right for the Cherokees and Cheyennes” He immediately broke down the bias within the question and still answered it. Great historian and great educational perspective
@supercore9819
October 22, 2024 at 2:16 pm
I could listen to this guy talk about the old west all day
@herve160181
October 22, 2024 at 2:53 pm
I need a Vance violin backing track in my life
@msergio0293
October 22, 2024 at 3:47 pm
It’s a shame what they did to the buffaloes
@kathrynmast916
October 22, 2024 at 4:12 pm
Little Big Horn….what went wrong? Custer’s ego!
@NunchucksHabit
October 22, 2024 at 4:25 pm
I’d like to have him verify a few things for me, things that I’ve read over the years. I’ve been fascinated with the wild west stories, but I don’t like the desperate hero worship stuff that follows. Any historians wish to weigh in on things I read?
1. Milt Joyce, owner of the Orient hotel where Earp muscled his way into the Farrow tables – I read that he despised Dr. Holliday & beat him severely on at least two occasions. Also, Dennis Quaid’s Doc Holliday, while not a suave one-liner delivery system or Hollywood-friendly hero, was much less likeable & far more realistic.
2. I read that Johnny Ringo, a member of the cowboys, wasn’t a bully at all, but rather a guy who stood up for his friends. I read that he also indeed opted out, and Holliday wasn’t even in the region when he was found or the day he expired.
3. I read that Curly Bill Brocius, not Johnny Ringo, was actually the best pistoliere by a long shot (pun alert), when it came to the Cowboys and the Earps. When he deleted Tombstone’s marshal Fred White, it actually was ruled accidental & Brocius always asserted it.
4. I read that John Tunstall, who hired William Bonney, wasn’t some principled old altruist who believed in Bonney’s future – but that he was a 23 yr old who inherited his father’s wealth and had a very inappropriate relationship with his own sister.
5. I read that Andrew ‘Buckshot’ Roberts wasn’t deleted by Bonney, but by Bowdre, and had the fight been one on one, none of “the regulators” would have survived. And that Roberts knocked Bonney out cold with his empty rifle before Bowdre deleted him.
6. After the showdown at the OK Corral, Doc Holliday wept while sitting on the edge of his bed, moaning “that was awful, that was just so awful”.
7. When Bonney escaped the hangman’s noose by deleting Olinger with his own double barrel shottie, Bonney didn’t race out of town – in fact, it took him almost an hour to break out of the leg shackles, using an axe. When he deleted James Bell on the steps of the courthouse, he was behind Bell, not in front, and he didn’t plead with Bell to not raise his weapon, but instead beat Bell mercilessly with the open cuffs until he was able to get hold of Bell’s pistol & deleted him with it.
8. I assume it’s common knowledge, despite folklore, that Bonney/McCarty did in fact die in 1881, after being shot by Pat Garrett, as reported, and was buried the next morning. Garrett not only collected the $500 reward, but also collected several other rewards in other jurisdictions, totaling over $7k.
@lab1042
October 22, 2024 at 5:12 pm
Songs to add to a wild west playlist: Walkin’ Through the Desert (With a Crow) and Drink With the Living Dead by Ghoultown.
@Veks120
October 22, 2024 at 5:40 pm
10:36 reminder
@S4R1N
October 22, 2024 at 6:40 pm
How is it on tin, but called a ferrotype? If ferro/ferrous is iron?
@publics.public
October 22, 2024 at 7:37 pm
Did them cowboys drink Vimto ?
@publics.public
October 22, 2024 at 7:41 pm
btw a ‘dude’ is a fop.
@mehvishkhan
October 22, 2024 at 8:14 pm
26:00 I still think about that US Antiques Roadshow episode about the Navajo blanket that ended up being sold for $450K and is now worth near $1M and the owner had no idea. Those blankets are amazing and so well made.
@breeburrows6608
October 22, 2024 at 8:42 pm
The old West may have ended with the advent of the automobile or the end of the Mexican revolution but the wild West still lives in if you know where to look. The wild West is immortal.
@eliktm4624
October 22, 2024 at 8:50 pm
I came across this video randomly and it was SO engaging. I really like the way Mark Lee Gardner speaks and presents the stories and information. He really came prepared.
@rickroller420
October 22, 2024 at 9:16 pm
Following a poopy paper trail to catch a bounty is very intuitive
@MasonThomas_yt
October 22, 2024 at 9:24 pm
The confidence in that intro *swoons* *melts* *creams* 😂🤣
@SecretSquirrelFun
October 22, 2024 at 11:09 pm
In the dime novels they were all forced into their lives of crime. They have good hearts and most importantly, they all love their mothers 😂
@maxbrooks5468
October 22, 2024 at 11:20 pm
I love Vance man, he’s such a professional <3
@matthewcrosby3615
October 23, 2024 at 1:12 am
19:04 that’s where me and that guy differ completely. GIVE ME THE BEANS!
@polyclot1976
October 23, 2024 at 5:46 am
I don’t know why I never looked up dogie. But, not knowing what it meant had been bothering me my entire life.
@mollybrown5307
October 23, 2024 at 6:30 am
I think it’s really interesting to know that Jesse James was mentioned, and that he was in my hometown(Northfield MN) and got rushed out by the towns people. To know our town was like that back then is to know that they are still like that now! lol very cool video!
@snuffeldjuret
October 23, 2024 at 8:12 am
19:57 excuse me? 😛
@PicoPistolero
October 23, 2024 at 10:03 am
Excellent presentation! Two minor points: Hickok didn’t cross draw, he emp,oyed a “plainsman” or “cavalry” draw, in which the left hand handled the left gun and the right hand the right. Keith Carrodine exhibits it perfectly in “Deadwood”.
Colt’s was adamant that the SAA was a six shooter. The first “click” was the safety notch which lifted the firing pin off the round under the hammer. If one was relying on his gun for survival he’d load six. It wasn’t a foolproof method, for sure.
If you ever consider a guest to talk about gambling and cons, especially faro, I’m your huckleberry!
@Jedi1993
October 23, 2024 at 11:20 am
🤠
@Miss_Kisa94
October 23, 2024 at 11:51 am
THAT is a man who loves his job!
@cerberus144
October 23, 2024 at 12:51 pm
My family is a descendent of a cousin of Robert Ford, and it’s family legend that he didn’t kill Jessie James, but rather helped him fake his death and it was a Pinkerton Mrs James identified as her son.
@Liara_I_Sorry
October 23, 2024 at 1:21 pm
Dude sounds like Danny Mcbride to boot
@Moonflight021
October 23, 2024 at 1:38 pm
I’d love to ask him about the gauchos.
@raycollishaw673
October 23, 2024 at 2:48 pm
Ian Tyson
Navajo Rug.
Great song and tribute to Navajo rugs.
@jackbluehq6653
October 23, 2024 at 4:36 pm
11:11 There is another photo of Billy the Kid that was found and pretty much confirmed to be him. Its a photograph of Billy and others sitting at a table playing cards.
We know its Billy in the photo because you can see some of the other guys that he historically rode with.
@nalyajj
October 23, 2024 at 4:42 pm
I❤❤❤I
@ShaudaySmith
October 23, 2024 at 5:35 pm
this was wildly fascinating
@TorQueMoD
October 23, 2024 at 10:21 pm
I’m was soooo confused. @2:02 it’s showing Val Kilmer and Kevin Costner in the scene and labeling it as Tombstone But they were in competing versions of the same story. But it’s NOT actually Kevin Costner. It just that the actor totally looks like Costner now when he’s in Yellowstone. lol.
@HouseofHugh
October 23, 2024 at 11:13 pm
I need a full vid dedicated to RDR2 PLEASE!
@deliciouserest
October 24, 2024 at 12:46 am
Mark sounds a lot like Danny Mcbride haha I love it. Thank you for all the awesome information!
@crosseyedandbrainless
October 24, 2024 at 1:28 am
this is like if neil degrasse tyson was white
@NicholasWaldrop-x3g
October 24, 2024 at 3:44 am
that picture of jesse james blew my mind how identical it could be to Viggo Mortensen
@Rahul_Sen97
October 24, 2024 at 4:09 am
14:34 That’s what you’re looking for.
@YOSSARIAN313
October 24, 2024 at 4:53 am
This man has so many elaborate props
@mako4874
October 24, 2024 at 6:43 am
I’d love a rdr3 set in the middle of the civil war and running into some of these iconic characters before they became outlaws. So instead of 1890 is like Rdr 1 – 2 more like 1860’s . Start as a plantation hand , become a confederate soldier- with the very men u lorded over , a slave saves your life and u become friends , u leave the army to save his life but are branded a deserter – then u become a cowboy to survive while being hunted .
All the while running into these legendary figures like the James brothers, Dutch gang , billy the kid, etc
@BlackReshiram
October 24, 2024 at 7:12 am
this man is an insane singer
@PulpHouseHorror
October 24, 2024 at 7:58 am
Haha he’s amazing!
@kirawr8064
October 24, 2024 at 8:05 am
“Hit it Vance!”
and then Vance precedes to ‘hit’ it
@jasonlouis697
October 24, 2024 at 9:28 am
Fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, especially in such a relaxed and fun way.
@AlphaAchilles
October 24, 2024 at 9:41 am
I just remembered I have been to an Anne Oakley recreation exhibition when I was a kid in backwoods Kentucky. I loved it and its what got me into shooting so much. It’s weird how some memories are forgotten until something comes up and reminds you.
@ddavis8988
October 24, 2024 at 10:31 am
Any time Bass Reeves can get shine is co-signed by me.
One historical figure that is very underrepresented.
Instead of making media about Bass Reeves, they make clones of Bass Reeves.
@wetbaes
October 24, 2024 at 10:54 am
7:24 you can really look the sadness in his eyes with that “when there’s no more horses on the streets”
@MR_JERWHITE
October 24, 2024 at 11:37 am
This is amazing.
@APcaveman
October 24, 2024 at 11:45 am
I was always told by my family that were literally born while the old west was still happening, that the old west ended with the last stagecoach robbery.
@katicat7580
October 24, 2024 at 12:19 pm
I will say, horses did first evolve in North America though
@TheSpacePyro-rn9po
October 24, 2024 at 12:50 pm
“What could possibly go wrong”-general Custer
@JesperMGHatcherArt
October 24, 2024 at 1:56 pm
More of Mark Lee! I enjoyed every minute of this guy!
@ChaseACheck8
October 24, 2024 at 2:01 pm
20:10 holy sh*t its micah bell
@tezlaactual6582
October 24, 2024 at 2:01 pm
oof, even outlaws have better writing than me
@MrCorchado10
October 24, 2024 at 2:25 pm
Love the information that’s given in videos like these.
@NicotineRosberg
October 24, 2024 at 6:23 pm
They were not Indians
@gabrielbruce1977
October 24, 2024 at 7:18 pm
Wild Bill Hickock rocking that Metis drip, we love to see it
@vibeworldx
October 24, 2024 at 10:35 pm
3:31 he do go hard wit the banjo🙏🏽🔥🔥🔥
@gaminion3118
October 25, 2024 at 12:39 am
A year’s supply of toilet paper for $1 is crazy.
@ashlynorbin6986
October 25, 2024 at 1:44 am
Too much pro ppa ganda
@thesauc33
October 25, 2024 at 4:28 am
this ignored the intentional genocidal act of killing buffalo in order to kill and forcibly assimilate native people
@amberisaway3971
October 25, 2024 at 10:12 am
This is exactly who I would expect to teach me about the wild west.
@penguin902
October 25, 2024 at 10:50 am
Wow what an expert historian.
@atol71
October 25, 2024 at 11:40 am
Are you familiar with hangman game? Are you absolutely certain about the content of this video?
@alirehman4858
October 25, 2024 at 11:54 am
No one would sleep in any History class around the world if he is the professor.
@k3nyanp3pp3r8
October 25, 2024 at 12:06 pm
13:19 is literally the Bill Burr gun joke
@TimoYlhainen
October 25, 2024 at 12:38 pm
Fairytales don’t make you more interesting.
@JTD472
October 25, 2024 at 12:50 pm
7:31
I thought there were never “buffalo” in North America, and that they are actually bison?
@almightyswizz
October 25, 2024 at 2:52 pm
Cowboy music sounds like English Mexican music
@1fault
October 25, 2024 at 5:32 pm
Didn’t talk at all about Mexicans 👎
@lagershutz3527
October 25, 2024 at 6:02 pm
27:50 you took it by force.
@Nordicat.
October 25, 2024 at 6:21 pm
Nobody gonna be offended by him calling them indians?
@Nipponing
October 25, 2024 at 6:30 pm
Asks about the first game but shows the second…
@eriquejr88m59
October 25, 2024 at 7:53 pm
I know man in Conroe Texas that is related to John Wesley Hardin. It was his great uncle
@clueless4085
October 25, 2024 at 7:54 pm
THIS GUY IS AWESOME
@OrinPhelps
October 25, 2024 at 8:26 pm
Who was the most fearsome tribe?
Comanche. Hands down, Comanche.
@TheRoCkHaRdOrDiE
October 25, 2024 at 8:51 pm
lol bro said “i couldnt live off pork n beans, thats just grim” as if there arent still a million fine buffalo steaks roaming around or anything. people would kill for a buffalo steak nowadays, and i might just be one of those people
@santaclaus5411
October 25, 2024 at 8:58 pm
I needed this
@BunnyQueen97
October 25, 2024 at 9:01 pm
To be fair, people did duel. But I think most people regarded it as pretty silly, and it was definitely illegal.
@orellaminx3530
October 25, 2024 at 9:04 pm
17:10 Farmer’s Almanacs on the homestead.
@nibblesnbits
October 25, 2024 at 10:04 pm
3:00 I choose to believe this was 100% unplanned and organic.
@bloodmoonseance2228
October 25, 2024 at 10:22 pm
I really appreciate his compassionate perspective towards native americans and the respect he gives to their plights and experiences with being colonized rather than feeding into the idea that they were just some ruthless savages. Wonderful historian and amazing video.
@alyasfukename3355
October 25, 2024 at 11:00 pm
I’m hired up on Diamond Joe boys, gave me a string of horses could barely stand
@Techyjenkins
October 25, 2024 at 11:23 pm
He reminds me of Jerry’s uncle, Og’s will understand lol. What you think about that ne ne ne nephew!!!
@richardmcginnis5344
October 25, 2024 at 11:31 pm
okay so how do “they” know the tin type wasn’t reversed after it was taken?
@Moraenil
October 26, 2024 at 1:46 am
The thing about Red Dead Redemption 2, it was only fairly accurate when it came to the people. The breeds of horses and the land was not very accurate. Many of the breeds in the game did not exist in the west or even in the country until the 1900s, some not until the 1950s or even 1990s. The landscape is also very condensed. The game has the landscape and terrain of Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, all smushed together into a much tighter area with towns closer together as well. The landscape and the horses really bugs me about the game, especially when I see the developers bragging about how accurate the game is, because it’s not.
@kat1284
October 26, 2024 at 3:20 am
Where can we find this historian on social media??? Would love to see more content with him!!!
@MightyKongPlays
October 26, 2024 at 4:03 am
Thi guy is the RDR 🔥🔥🔥🔥
@bertvsrob
October 26, 2024 at 7:15 am
people seem to forget that the idians were ferocious to eachother – savagery and butchery was just their way of life
@Nurolight
October 26, 2024 at 7:24 am
I imagine chatting with him in real life and he just keeps pulling out maps to prove a point.
@kamegoshin8954
October 26, 2024 at 7:37 am
4:00 Like the sound of the gutstring
@dosop8936
October 26, 2024 at 8:05 am
This guy is amazing
@brittany_geneva
October 26, 2024 at 10:47 am
We stan an inclusive historical view of the Old West
@Jmurda1983
October 26, 2024 at 11:49 am
He looks like doug dimmadome owner of the dimmedale dimmadome
@charlyb5235
October 26, 2024 at 12:17 pm
Played Red Dead Redemption 1 recently and currently planning to get RDR2. I came for the thumbnail and stayed due to him.
@Cokeastur
October 26, 2024 at 12:26 pm
Indians started making blankets because the spaniards showed them how to do it. Most american native tribes spoke spanish (SittingBull and Jerónimo did. Jerónimo is a spanish name, like Colorado, Montana, Nevada, California, Florida, Texas, Indiana, Carolina, Oregon, etc…) and that’s proof on how the spaniards were not conquerors, they were civilizators. The english, french and north americans (including canadians) slaughtered the natives. If you are taught otherwise then it’s because a fake and invented narrative
@YKs412
October 26, 2024 at 12:29 pm
14:35 is what brought us here
@Charan_Vendra
October 26, 2024 at 1:41 pm
Can anyone tell me in which silent film Charlie Siringo appears?
@williamwallace3057
October 26, 2024 at 2:26 pm
love this guy.
@dhuwdhuwdhuw
October 26, 2024 at 3:49 pm
I dont have questions but I do want 2 hours more of answers.
@moonstruck8245
October 26, 2024 at 5:16 pm
I find it kind of hilarious that back in the day you couldn’t walk around places like Tombstone with your guns, but today almost EVERYONE there walks around with ’em – I passed through there once when I was a kid and not only was everyone dressed like an old western set piece, but almost everyone openly displayed a gun on their hips. Not a prop one either, REAL ones. I grew up mostly in Texas in rural areas so I didn’t think much of it then.
@BillKerney
October 26, 2024 at 6:53 pm
The notion that gun control was prevalent in the Wild West is actually something of an urban legend. It was not actually more strict than it is now. The laws to check their guns were not very much enforced.
@lilsamm-cq3sl
October 26, 2024 at 6:13 pm
Is Colonel Sanders a historian now, i just thought he was the creater of KFC and died a long time ago