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The Wild West Extravaganza

Print Olive: Man Burner

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

Education, History

4.8833 Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2026

⏱️ 26 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Imagine being wrapped alive in a freshly butchered cowhide, tied to a tree, and left to bake in the Texas sun. The old timers called it the death of skins, and according to legend, it's exactly what Texas cattleman Print Olive did to a pair of rustlers in 1876. But that's nothing compared to his actions a few years later, which earned him the nickname Man Burner. Print Olive was a man of many hats: Confederate. Cattle baron. Vigilante. Convicted murderer. One of the largest ranchers in all of Nebraska. He also may have inspired Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove. Also discussed are Doc Middleton, King Ranch, Kansas quarantine laws, and a little-known cow town called Trail City.   Wild West Quiz - https://wildwestquiz.com/   Check out the website! https://www.wildwestextra.com/   Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/   Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/   Buy Me A Coffee!  https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwest   Join Patreon for ad-free bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra   Merch! https://wildwestextramerch.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:32.5

Imagine being wrapped up in a freshly bushered cowhide and then tied to a tree and left out in the Texas sun. As the hide slowly dries at the heat, it begins to constrict, just squeezing tighter and tighter as you're slowly crushed and suffocated. Sounds pretty horrific, right? The old-timers used to call it the death of skins. And according to legend, that's exactly what a Texas cattleman by the name of Print Olive did to a pair of rustlers back in 1876.

0:57.0

Of course, that's nothing compared to what he did just a few years later to earn himself the title a man burner.

1:02.2

Print Olive was a veteran of the Civil War.

1:04.5

Texas cattlemen, a vigilante, convicted murderer, and at one point one of the largest ranchers in the entire state of Nebraska.

1:11.7

He killed men face to face down in Texas, survived being shot all the hell up in Kansas,

1:16.0

and eventually, after losing damn near everything, he died about the way you might expect,

1:21.0

bleeding out on the floor of a saloon in the town that barely existed, killed over a death that

1:25.3

wasn't even worth the paperwork. But who was the real

1:28.1

print olive? Is the story true about the death of skins, or that's just another tall tell from

1:32.9

the old West? What exactly did he do to earn the nickname Manburner? And did Print Olive really

1:38.4

helped to inspire Lonesome Dove? Stick around and find out. My name's Josh, and this is the Wild West extravaganza.

1:55.0

I some Princess Olive was born in Union, Paris, Louisiana, and 1840. Maybe. There are sources claiming that he was born in

2:02.8

Mississippi, but whichever the case by June 1840, when Print was still a newborn, the family was

2:08.4

residing in Louisiana. And by the time Print was just three years old, they were on the move yet

2:13.3

again. This time it was now Williamson County,, Texas, where Prince father James established a ranch.

...

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