Gunfighters

Ep. 06: Survivors From A Lost World | The American West

Gunfighters

Show Notes

America’s pronghorn antelope has long struck observers as a beautiful feature of western landscapes, but as an enigma. Why does it run so fast? Why can’t it jump obstacles? And for those who really know its biography, why did its population fall from 15 million to a mere 5,000 over the course of a single century? This episode answers all those questions by arguing that the pronghorn is an American original who, like us, is the sole remaining member of a large, ancient family of animals. And that it seems enigmatic only because it is one of the few survivors of America’s Pleistocene extinctions, with behaviors strongly shaped by the vanished world to which it evolved. Thank you to our sponsor Velvet Buck. Subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. YouTube, Spotify, Apple, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips Check out more MeatEater's American History audio originals "The Long Hunters" and "Mountain Men" Subscribe to The MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Shop MeatEater Merch See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More from Gunfighters

Oct 20, 2026

America’s first famous gunfighter also happens to have been a titanic fraud. Join best-selling author Bryan Burrough as he dives separates the into facts from the fictions enveloping the career of Wild Bill Hickok. Thank you to our sponsor, Tecovas. Follow now on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, and YouTube. MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips Check out more MeatEater's American History audio originals "The Long Hunters" and "Mountain Men" Subscribe to The MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Shop MeatEater Merch See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 13, 2026

Join best-selling author Bryan Burrough as he drills deep into the legend of John Wesley Hardin, the teenaged Texas psychopath who may have been the Old West’s deadliest gunfighter. Thank you to our sponsor, Tecovas. Follow now on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, and YouTube. MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips Check out more MeatEater's American History audio originals "The Long Hunters" and "Mountain Men" Subscribe to The MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Shop MeatEater Merch See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 6, 2026

Where did all those gunfighters popping up the Old West actually come? Join best-selling author Bryan Burrough as he explores the extraordinarily violent place that gave birth to a whole lot of them: Texas. Thank you to our sponsor, Tecovas. Follow now on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, and YouTube. MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips Check out more MeatEater's American History audio originals "The Long Hunters" and "Mountain Men" Subscribe to The MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Shop MeatEater Merch See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 29, 2026

Join author Bryan Burrough as he delves into the little-known stories of the first notable Old West gunfighters, from the Texans who popularized the first revolvers during the 1840s to the outlaws of Gold Rush California and the first gunfighter to achieve literary acclaim — thanks to a young Mark Twain. Thank you to our sponsor, Tecovas. Follow now on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, and YouTube. MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips Check out more MeatEater's American History audio originals "The Long Hunters" and "Mountain Men" Subscribe to The MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Shop MeatEater Merch See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 22, 2026

Best-selling author Bryan Burrough explores the surprising origins of Old West gunfights in America’s deep involvement with the duel, a contest used by so many men during the early 1800s, including politicians from Andrew Jackson to Abraham Lincoln, chose to settle their disputes by drawing guns and firing at each other. From the duel that left Alexander Hamilton dead in 1804 to the dozens or more that took place every Sunday during the 1830s in New Orleans’ city park, Burrough traces how these bloody contests over honor evolved into the manic gunfights we remember on the post-Civil War western frontier. Thank you to our sponsor, Tecovas. Follow now on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, and YouTube. MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips Check out more MeatEater's American History audio originals "The Long Hunters" and "Mountain Men" Subscribe to The MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Shop MeatEater Merch See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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