The Plainsman W.T. Hamilton | My Sixty Years On The Plains

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

Education, History

4.8 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 28 June 2023

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the year 1842, a sickly 19-year-old named William T. Hamilton embarked on a journey to the Rocky Mountains accompanied by famed frontiersman Old Bill Williams. Over the course of the next several decades, Hamilton worked as a fur trapper, trader, lawman, guide, hunter, and scout. He’d ride with other notable figures such as George Armstrong Custer and General George Crook, take part in numerous engagements with hostiles, travel the west extensively, and finally – as a very old man – write a book titled My Sixty Years On The Plains: Trapping, Trading, and Indian Fighting. It's not too often on The Wild West Extravaganza that we hear from first-hand accounts but that’s exactly what we’re going to do today. Join me as Mr. Hamilton talks of leaving St. Louis and falling in with the fur trappers, of their encounters with Kiowa and Cheyenne and he describes, in glorious detail, taking part in a buffalo hunt. And, just as a bonus, if you’ve ever thought about making pemmican, Hamilton gives a pretty detailed recipe as well. Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Merchandise! https://www.teepublic.com/user/wild-west-extravaganza Book Recommendations! https://www.amazon.com/shop/wildwestextravaganza/list/YEHGNY7KFAU7?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d My 60 Years on the Plains by William T. Hamilton - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1695768930?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzjoshta02-20&creativeASIN=1695768930&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.YEHGNY7KFAU7&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ons_d_asin Dépouille/Depuyer recipe - https://aihd.ku.edu/foods/Blackfeet.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:29.7	I don't know about you, but I've often daydreamed about taking part in or even just witnessing
0:34.3	some of the more famous events of the Old West. Imagine walking the
0:38.2	streets of Tombstone or Deadwood when they were still wild and woolly. Or bellying up to a crowded
0:43.2	bar in Dodge City as all those thirsty cowpokes rushed in ready to raise hell. Or even just
0:48.5	being a fly on the wall in Pete Maxwell's room on the night of July 14, 1881. If time travel was real, where would you go,
0:57.4	what would you want to see or do? Me personally, I think going on a buffalo hunt would be at the
1:02.5	top of the list. And I don't mean of the sort conducted by the hide hunters in the 1870s. I'm talking about
1:08.0	a real hunt, Native American style. Good horse underneath you as you
1:12.0	dashed across the prairie, thousands of bison stretched out as far as the eyes can see, painted warriors on each side of you
1:18.3	hollering and screaming. Imagine the thrill of it. And let's be honest, imagine the feast that would
1:23.6	happen later on that day. The sights and smells of the village, buzzing with excitement in the songs and the dancing,
1:30.2	all as the choices cuts are prepared in celebration.
1:33.6	Man, gives me chills just to think about it.
1:35.8	And hopefully this episode will, if but for a moment,
1:39.2	transport you back in time and give you a tiny glimpse of what that would have been like.
1:43.8	But let me back up.
	...

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