This episode explores the life and movies of Jimmy Stewart, and the contribution he made to the film library of American Westerns. We visit Indiana, Pennsylvania, and tour the Jimmy Stewart Museum to delve into his military career and his film legacy.

Where the West Commences podcast

The Life and Movies of Jimmy Stewart

The Boys pay tribute to The Rifleman TV Show.

Tribute to The Rifleman

In a moment of impulsiveness, the core members of the infamous "Hole in the Wall Gang" dressed up and posed for a group picture in a Ft. Worth professional studio. Once that picture was developed, it was posted and circulated into the hands of every law enforcement agency in the country. That photo sealed the doom of this illusive gang, because no longer did the police have to rely on sketches, drawings, and verbal recollections of what these men looked like. They now had an actual photograph of Butch Cassidy and his gang to work from.

The Fate of the Ft.. Worth Five

As a tribute to the legendary actor who filmed 18 westerns in his acting career, we celebrate the life and films of Kirk Douglas.

Tribute to Kirk Douglas

Daring and gutsy men were not alone in leaving their mark on the wild west. A handful of audacious women carved out their names in the western hall of fame. We will single out four of the many women who conquered the west in their own unique way - Annie Oakly, Calamity Jane, Susie Anderson, and Josie Earp.

The Women of the Wild West

March 6, 2020 marked the 184th anniversary of the Battle of the Alamo. In honor of this crucial event in the history of the west, the boys pay tribute to the 13 days of glory at the siege of Alamo.

Remember the Alamo

This episode celebrates the short-lived cross-country mail delivery service known as The Pony Express, which operated from April 1860 to October 1861. Daring riders fulfilled the promise of delivering a letter from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, in just ten days by horseback. Riders included such celebrated characters as Buffalo Bill Cody, who signed on at the tender age of 15.

The Pony Express

Once the railroads became popular with American travelers, the flaws inherent in relying on "Solar Time" for railroad arrival and departure schedules required a remedy. In this episode we delve into the creation of the four standard time zones for the continental US.

Keeping Time in the West

The Transcontinental Railroad joined our nation together in 1869, making it possible to travel from New York to San Francisco in less than five days - a mind-boggling improvement over the usual 6-month wagon train ordeal. We salute this amazing achievement and the leap forward it contributed to the settlement of the west. 

Coast to Coast

The hallowed traditional cowboy "Code of the West" comes under careful scrutiny, with a point by point analysis of each of the ten behaviors expected of buckaroos in the old west.

The Code of the West

The quality of medical care rendered to wounded soldiers on the battlefield during the American Civil War is explored, as well as lessons learned that greatly improved all aspects of the medical profession for generations to come.

Civil War Medicine

Tom & Larry serve up clips from the 5 most popular episodes from their first 24 podcasts.

Fan Favorites

In this episode we celebrate that essential mode of transportation in the glory days of the wild west - the stagecoach. Along with the railroad and covered wagons, the stagecoach was synonymous with western travel in the 19th century. By today's standards it was cramped, crude, dusty, and bone-jarring, but in its day it was considered a luxury. 

The Stagecoach

There are rumblings in Hollywood that the traditional western as a movie genre is dead. We beg to differ. Tom and Larry offer their theories as to why western films have fallen into disfavor, and what needs to be done to fix it.

The Future of the Western Genre

The wild west wasn't all fist fights and shootouts. Some of our western heroes made time to connect with the ultimate love of their life. In this episode Tom and Larry share some of the epic love stories of the old west, where life was fragile and the future uncertain, making affairs of the heart even more urgent.

The Great Romances of the West

Western authors and brothers Larry and Tom Richardson gather around the kitchen table to compare their nostalgic love for the rich legacy of the American West and the profound ways it shaped our culture. With a touch of humor and a dash of reverie, they pay homage to a time that once was and still calls to that cowboy in all of us.

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Where the West Commences podcast

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