1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: The Halls of American History team with legendary folk heroes 7 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: from Johnny Appleseed to Paul Bunyan and John Henry. But 8 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: for the people of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, one figure 9 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: stands above the rest. His name was Snowshoe Thompson, a 10 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: Norwegian American postman who delivered mail in the Sierra Nevadas 11 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: during the mid nineteenth century. During that period of Western expansion, 12 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of Americans crossed the mountains to seek 13 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:07,119 Speaker 1: their fortunes in California, but virtually all of those pioneers 14 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: only made the journey once, and many, like the infamous 15 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,559 Speaker 1: Donner Party, never even made it to their destination at all. 16 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: Snowshoe Thompson, though, crossed the Sierras more often than anyone 17 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: could count. As a mail carrier for the US Post Office, 18 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: he braved remote mountain passes unreachable by freight train and 19 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: too dangerous for the pony Express. He looked like a 20 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: hero straight out of a Norse myth, six feet tall, 21 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: with a thick blonde beard and striking blue eyes. He 22 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: could often be seen streaking through the mountains on his 23 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: massive skis, way down by a sack of letters. His 24 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: friends knew that Snowshoe's story was as American as they come. 25 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: He was born in Norway in eighteen twenty seven and 26 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,559 Speaker 1: emigrated to America with his mother when he was ten. 27 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: They lived in a Norwegian immigrant settlement, first in Illinois 28 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: and then in Missouri, and then in eighteen fifty one, 29 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: at the age of twenty four, he headed west to California, 30 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: where he briefly tried his hand at prospecting gold mining, 31 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,360 Speaker 1: though frustrated him, and four years later he was starting 32 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: to despair that he would never be a success. Then 33 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: one day he read a story in a Sacramento newspaper. 34 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: The US Post Office wanted to establish a mail delivery 35 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: line through the mountains, but was struggling to find anyone 36 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: brave and athletic enough to do the work involved. Thompson 37 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: headed straight there and applied for the job. He made 38 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: his first trek as a postman in eighteen fifty six 39 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: during the dead of winter, and he never looked back. 40 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: Navigating these Sierra Nevadas was difficult, but it seemed like 41 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: Snowshoe had been born for it. To make travel easier, 42 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: he crafted long, wooden skis, similar to the kind that 43 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: he would use in Norway back as a boy. Like 44 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: John Henry's hammer, These skis soon gained legendary status. People 45 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: said that they were ten feet long, six inches wide, 46 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: and weighed twenty five pounds apiece. Meanwhile, stories about the 47 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: mail carrying the Northmen proliferated throughout the mountains. According to 48 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: his most famous tale, Snowshoe once encountered a prospector trapped 49 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: inside a snow covered cabin. The man's feet were frozen 50 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: solid with frostbites, leaving him in excruciating pain and unable 51 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,639 Speaker 1: to walk. The mail would have to wait. Snowshoe quickly 52 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: gathered some firewood and built a fire in the cabin's hearth. 53 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: Once the injured man was as comfortable as could be expected, 54 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: he set off for Genoa, a mountain town near Lake Tahoe. 55 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: Once there, he gathered a team of six men and 56 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: raced back to the cabin. The fire had started to 57 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: dwindle by then, but the prospector was still alive. Snowshoe 58 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: and his companions loaded him onto a makeshift sled and 59 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: hurried back to Genoa. Doctors examined the prospector's feet and 60 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: concluded that there was no saving them. The frost bite 61 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: was severe and they had to be amputated before ganggreen 62 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: set in. There was just one problem. No doctor in 63 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: the area had the chloroform they needed to perform the surgery. 64 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: It was another job for Snowshoe Thompson. The mailman hopped 65 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: on his skis and raced a Sacramento for the chloroform, 66 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: then hurried back to Genoa in time to save the 67 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: prospector's life. By the time all was said and done, 68 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: he had traveled over four hundred miles on skis through 69 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 1: mountainous terrain in the dead of winter, and he wasn't 70 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: done just yet. Saving the prospector had cost him a 71 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: few days, which meant that Snowshoe Thompson now had a 72 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 1: lot of lost time to make up before the prospector 73 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 1: or the doctor has got the chance to even thank him. 74 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: He took a skiz and his mail bag and headed 75 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: back out into the freshly falling snow. Standing in an 76 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: airfield in Guymon, Oklahoma, William mcboyle scanned the skies. It 77 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: was nineteen twenty six, and he was waiting anxiously for 78 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: the sign that his grand scheme was going according to plan. 79 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,479 Speaker 1: And then suddenly he saw it, a smudge on the 80 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: horizon growing closer. Just minutes later, he smiled as his 81 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: pilot landed the small plane safely on the airstrip. Phase 82 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: one of their plan had worked. William's pilot had taken 83 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: a passenger plane from an airfield in Ottawa, Illinois, nearly 84 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: nine hundred miles away without getting caught. Now it was 85 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,479 Speaker 1: time for phase two, make the swap. William went over 86 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: his instructions with the pilot as the man climbed into 87 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 1: another plane. This one was similar to the first, but 88 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: much worse for wear. All the pilot had to do 89 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: was fly back to Ottawa's airfield, leave this inferior plane 90 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: on the airstrip, and the plane's owners would never be 91 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: the wiser, or at least by the time they discovered 92 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,159 Speaker 1: what had happened. Both pilot and plane would be long gone. 93 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: William watched as the decoy plane raced down the runway 94 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,839 Speaker 1: and climbed high into the sky. It was the perfect crime, 95 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: at least it would have been if William's pilot hadn't crashed. 96 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 1: The police showed up at his door. Soon after. William 97 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,919 Speaker 1: discovered their foolproof plot wasn't so foolproof after all, He 98 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: and the pilot were under arrest. William mcboyle and his 99 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: pilot were tried and convicted in federal court for violating 100 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 1: the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act. According to the court, 101 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: William had knowingly transported a stolen motor vehicle over state lines. 102 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: It would have been an open and shut case too, 103 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 1: if not for a clever legal argument and a brand 104 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: new technology. You see, William's lawyers appealed with a bold 105 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,559 Speaker 1: new tactic. Yes, they said William had taken a plane 106 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: that was not his, and yes he had transported it 107 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: across state lines, but none of that mattered because legally speaking, 108 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 1: a plane was not a motor vehicle and there was 109 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: no federal law against stealing planes. Now, you have to remember, 110 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: at this point in history, nineteen twenty six, airplanes were 111 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: a new technology. Just twenty three years earlier, Wilbur and 112 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: Orville Wright had made the first successful man and flight. 113 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,280 Speaker 1: In the year since, people had just started to test 114 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: the limits of airplanes. Until nineteen twenty six, when this 115 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: theft occurred, planes were small and practical. They came into 116 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,119 Speaker 1: play during World War One as fighters and spies. After 117 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: the war, planes were mainly used in air shows, where 118 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: pilots competed for speed and distance records. Most planes were 119 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: not large enough to transport much heavy cargo, and the 120 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: first commercial flights were still decades away. To put this 121 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: incident into context, William mcboyle stole this plane exactly one 122 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: year before Charles Lindberg became an international celebrity for completing 123 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 1: the first solo transatlantic flight. In light of this, mcboyle's 124 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: lawyers argued that the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act was 125 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: too narrowly written to include this new technology. The law 126 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: described a motor vehicle as I quote here automobile, motorcycle, 127 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: or any other self propelled vehicle not designed for running 128 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: on rails. This argument brought the case all the way 129 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: up to the Supreme Court, where, after much deliberation, the 130 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: justices actually agreed with mcboyle. According to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, 131 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: an airplane did not fit the definition of a motor 132 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: vehicle as stated by the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act. 133 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: Similar laws and cases had been decided on the assumption 134 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: that this dev vehicle had to be one that traveled 135 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: across land. Other laws specifically excluded planes as motor vehicles. 136 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: Since there was no other federal law expressly forbidding the 137 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: theft of planes, mcboyle could not be convicted. Technically speaking, 138 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: stealing a plane was not against federal law. Now that's 139 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: not to say that stealing in general was legal at 140 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: the time, but grand larceny, which might cover stealing, say, 141 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: a plane, is a state law. Mcboyle was charged federally, 142 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: and once he was free, neither Illinois nor Oklahoma really 143 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,240 Speaker 1: wanted to charge him. Mcboyle gained his freedom through a 144 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 1: fluke of federal law. The law wouldn't be amended until 145 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five, when the statute was changed to specifically 146 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: include airplanes. This became especially important as commercial passenger flights 147 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: became more common in the nineteen fifties, but none of 148 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: that mattered to mcboyle after pulling off a high flying 149 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: heist like that nothing could bring him down. I hope 150 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 151 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 152 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 153 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 154 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:42,560 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 155 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 156 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,079 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the Worldoflore 157 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.