Willie Kennard: The Legend of Colorado’s First Black Marshal
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 20 October 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, in a Colorado mining town torn apart by violence and lawlessness, a man named Willie Kennard rode in to restore order. He was Black, he was new to town, and he was willing to take on a job no one else would. What followed turned him into a frontier legend. Armed with quiet confidence and a strong sense of right and wrong, Kennard faced down gunmen, earned the respect of miners, and kept peace in a place that didn’t expect it from him. Our American Stories regular contributor Richard Muniz joins us to tell the story.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:15.4 | And we return to our American stories. |
| 0:18.7 | And up next, a story about the first black lawman in Colorado, Willie Kennard. |
| 0:24.2 | Here to tell the story is our regular contributor, Richard Mueness. |
| 0:28.2 | Take it away, Rich. |
| 0:33.7 | The man on horseback paused about a mile from the town. |
| 0:36.9 | Like so many old west communities, |
| 0:38.3 | the town was made of logs, roughly saw on boards, and nailed together with dreams. |
| 0:42.3 | He studied the community for a moment before urging the horse towards it. He didn't look like much. |
| 0:48.3 | He just a rangy, middle-aged cow hand like so many cowhands across the west. |
| 0:53.3 | But if he studied him, you notice things about him. |
| 0:56.4 | He wears guns low. |
| 0:58.0 | This was the sign of a man accustomed to fighting for his life. |
| 1:01.2 | People looked at him with shock as he came into town. |
| 1:03.5 | Now, this was a novelty. |
| 1:05.6 | Some wondered what he was doing here. |
| 1:07.3 | After all, the river view was kind around. |
| 1:09.5 | Maybe he was lost. |
| 1:12.1 | But the miners in the town of Yankee Hill, Colorado were certain of one thing. This man was trouble. Why else would a black |
| 1:17.1 | man be riding into their town? |
| 1:24.7 | It was 1874. The mining town was called Yankee Hill, Colorado, was high in the mountains. |
| 1:30.5 | And it happened to be the personal playground of a man named Barney Caswit. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.