1 00:00:08,762 --> 00:00:12,522 Speaker 1: Fireheart originals. This is an iHeart original. 2 00:00:26,882 --> 00:00:31,082 Speaker 2: Imagine it's eighteen seventy six and you're riding the passenger 3 00:00:31,162 --> 00:00:36,642 Speaker 2: trains from Chicago to San Francisco. The steam engine has 4 00:00:36,802 --> 00:00:40,642 Speaker 2: rumbled through the Great Plains, wheeled up the rockies, and 5 00:00:40,762 --> 00:00:45,762 Speaker 2: descended onto the vast salt flats of Utah. Now you're 6 00:00:45,802 --> 00:00:51,282 Speaker 2: surrounded by the desert of Nevada. The train bends around 7 00:00:51,362 --> 00:00:55,242 Speaker 2: a canyon and slows ahead. You see a little town 8 00:00:55,362 --> 00:00:59,602 Speaker 2: with a depot, a corral with some horses, and a saloon. 9 00:01:00,602 --> 00:01:04,162 Speaker 2: As the train lurches to a stop, the conductor tells 10 00:01:04,202 --> 00:01:07,882 Speaker 2: you that the engine is filling up on water. Passengers 11 00:01:07,882 --> 00:01:13,802 Speaker 2: have ten minutes to stretch their legs. You step outside 12 00:01:13,842 --> 00:01:17,522 Speaker 2: onto the station platform, and it feels like you've walked 13 00:01:17,602 --> 00:01:18,562 Speaker 2: into an oven. 14 00:01:19,402 --> 00:01:20,802 Speaker 3: The town is dead. 15 00:01:21,442 --> 00:01:25,162 Speaker 2: The horses at the corral swat flies with their tails. 16 00:01:26,842 --> 00:01:32,642 Speaker 2: A lone cowboy leans against the fence. Suddenly, the cowboy 17 00:01:32,882 --> 00:01:35,442 Speaker 2: spits in the dirt and points his finger at a 18 00:01:35,482 --> 00:01:37,162 Speaker 2: man walking down the street. 19 00:01:37,762 --> 00:01:40,362 Speaker 1: There you are, you, low down pole cat. 20 00:01:40,922 --> 00:01:44,922 Speaker 2: The cowboy's hand hovers over the ivory handle of a pistol. 21 00:01:45,562 --> 00:01:46,802 Speaker 4: I've been waiting for you. 22 00:01:47,722 --> 00:01:49,962 Speaker 5: I'm going to kill you because of what you did 23 00:01:50,002 --> 00:01:50,842 Speaker 5: to my sister. 24 00:01:51,602 --> 00:01:59,162 Speaker 2: The cowboy pulls off an elaborate quick draw, and that 25 00:01:59,762 --> 00:02:05,202 Speaker 2: is your introduction to Palisade, Nevada. In the eighteen seventies, 26 00:02:05,602 --> 00:02:09,642 Speaker 2: Palisade was the keenest little town west of the Mississippi. 27 00:02:10,442 --> 00:02:12,522 Speaker 3: Every week, newspapers. 28 00:02:11,842 --> 00:02:16,282 Speaker 2: Announced a cowboy gunfight, or an Indian massacre, or some 29 00:02:16,562 --> 00:02:20,602 Speaker 2: gunpowder fueled drama with bank robbers duking it out against 30 00:02:20,682 --> 00:02:26,522 Speaker 2: highway bandits. Palisade put the wild in the wild West, 31 00:02:27,282 --> 00:02:29,482 Speaker 2: but there was a lot more to the story that 32 00:02:29,882 --> 00:02:36,002 Speaker 2: didn't make the papers. Welcome to very special episodes and 33 00:02:36,122 --> 00:02:41,202 Speaker 2: iHeart original podcast. I'm your host, Danish Schwartz, and this 34 00:02:41,482 --> 00:02:43,562 Speaker 2: is Westward Hoax. 35 00:02:47,602 --> 00:02:50,802 Speaker 5: Welcome to very special episodes. Indeed, my name is Jason 36 00:02:50,802 --> 00:02:54,682 Speaker 5: English and I'm joined by two California based podcast legends, 37 00:02:54,802 --> 00:02:57,762 Speaker 5: Danish Schwartz and Zaren Burnett. Hey, guys, what of just 38 00:02:58,042 --> 00:03:00,562 Speaker 5: thank you for that intro. I mentioned your state of 39 00:03:00,602 --> 00:03:04,002 Speaker 5: residence for a reason. Let me pull back the curtain here. 40 00:03:04,402 --> 00:03:07,162 Speaker 5: I'm in New Jersey. We're recording this on a Friday, 41 00:03:07,762 --> 00:03:09,722 Speaker 5: and I just slipped through my first earthquake. 42 00:03:09,802 --> 00:03:11,522 Speaker 3: Oh how are you feeling? 43 00:03:12,082 --> 00:03:13,962 Speaker 5: You know, it's a lot of excitement. I would imagine 44 00:03:13,962 --> 00:03:17,642 Speaker 5: in California, a four point eight probably doesn't trigger multiple 45 00:03:17,842 --> 00:03:22,242 Speaker 5: emergency calls and texts and emails and push alerts and 46 00:03:23,202 --> 00:03:23,962 Speaker 5: alta state. 47 00:03:25,762 --> 00:03:28,482 Speaker 2: I've actually, I've never felt an earthquake. I've lived in 48 00:03:28,482 --> 00:03:31,042 Speaker 2: California for a pretty long time, and I always either 49 00:03:31,162 --> 00:03:34,522 Speaker 2: just like sleep through them. I'm a really heavy sleeper, 50 00:03:34,762 --> 00:03:36,882 Speaker 2: so it's never been a thing that I've dealt with. 51 00:03:36,922 --> 00:03:38,682 Speaker 2: And I kind of feel left out. Like everyone on 52 00:03:38,722 --> 00:03:41,082 Speaker 2: Twitter and like you know, social media is always like, 53 00:03:41,122 --> 00:03:42,042 Speaker 2: oh my god, did you feel that? 54 00:03:42,082 --> 00:03:45,522 Speaker 5: And I'm just like, no, Saren, have you lived through 55 00:03:45,562 --> 00:03:45,962 Speaker 5: your share? 56 00:03:46,122 --> 00:03:48,442 Speaker 1: Oh my god, same experience as Dana. I've lived in 57 00:03:48,562 --> 00:03:50,362 Speaker 1: California for a long time. I lived in La through 58 00:03:50,402 --> 00:03:52,762 Speaker 1: a number of earthquakes, but I always happened to leave 59 00:03:52,802 --> 00:03:55,082 Speaker 1: town right before the earthquake, so I'd always miss it, 60 00:03:55,122 --> 00:03:57,482 Speaker 1: and then people would tell me, Burnette, you missed it again. 61 00:03:57,522 --> 00:03:59,802 Speaker 1: I was like, oh man. So when I finally got 62 00:03:59,802 --> 00:04:02,202 Speaker 1: to live through an earthquake, I was so excited. Everyone 63 00:04:02,202 --> 00:04:03,882 Speaker 1: else is like, man, this sucks, and I'm like, no, 64 00:04:04,002 --> 00:04:06,402 Speaker 1: this is the best. You feel that rumbling, oh my god, 65 00:04:06,722 --> 00:04:07,922 Speaker 1: the waves. 66 00:04:07,522 --> 00:04:10,602 Speaker 5: Yeah, that feels evolutionary like in your bones, you know 67 00:04:10,722 --> 00:04:13,962 Speaker 5: when to get away from danger and advance. 68 00:04:14,882 --> 00:04:16,842 Speaker 1: But I have the exact opposite with cars on fire. 69 00:04:16,922 --> 00:04:18,082 Speaker 1: So you know, given. 70 00:04:19,722 --> 00:04:22,322 Speaker 5: So well the curtain is pulled back. This room is 71 00:04:22,522 --> 00:04:25,842 Speaker 5: not soundproof for aftershocks. I'm just letting you know. If 72 00:04:26,322 --> 00:04:28,722 Speaker 5: this is gonna become a thing, you're gonna hear it 73 00:04:28,762 --> 00:04:31,202 Speaker 5: in the recording. But today's story it's going to keep 74 00:04:31,242 --> 00:04:33,082 Speaker 5: you a little bit off balance too. 75 00:04:33,402 --> 00:04:36,042 Speaker 2: I think the only thing that I love more than 76 00:04:36,642 --> 00:04:39,922 Speaker 2: sort of a hoax is one that basically involves an 77 00:04:40,082 --> 00:04:43,002 Speaker 2: entire town getting together to be an improv troop. 78 00:04:44,202 --> 00:04:45,122 Speaker 3: It's very wholesome. 79 00:04:45,682 --> 00:04:47,362 Speaker 1: That's the dream. 80 00:04:47,402 --> 00:04:48,482 Speaker 3: It really is the dream. 81 00:04:48,562 --> 00:04:51,642 Speaker 1: I always say yes. I like how the Nevada, the Palisades, 82 00:04:51,722 --> 00:04:54,122 Speaker 1: Nevada is like, well, just all of Nevada. It's like 83 00:04:54,162 --> 00:04:57,682 Speaker 1: the Australia of America. It's just amazing. And I don't 84 00:04:57,722 --> 00:04:59,242 Speaker 1: know if you know this. In Australia they have the 85 00:04:59,322 --> 00:05:02,402 Speaker 1: spirit of messing with authority figures that they call Alaricanism, 86 00:05:02,722 --> 00:05:05,282 Speaker 1: and this feels like Alaricanism in America. 87 00:05:05,362 --> 00:05:08,802 Speaker 3: Alericanism. That's a great vocab words the best. 88 00:05:11,322 --> 00:05:13,122 Speaker 2: I want to take you back to the start of 89 00:05:13,202 --> 00:05:16,842 Speaker 2: that gunfight because there was a part we missed. 90 00:05:17,602 --> 00:05:19,722 Speaker 3: My poor, poor little sister. 91 00:05:24,002 --> 00:05:27,482 Speaker 2: The dandy falls to the dirt. His body goes limp, 92 00:05:27,842 --> 00:05:33,842 Speaker 2: blood starts to soak through his shirt. Mayhem ensues. Men 93 00:05:33,882 --> 00:05:37,802 Speaker 2: pour out of the saloon. Little kids pull back curtains 94 00:05:37,842 --> 00:05:40,962 Speaker 2: and peer out of windows to see what the commotion 95 00:05:41,202 --> 00:05:44,642 Speaker 2: is about. Meanwhile, you and the gaggle of out of 96 00:05:44,722 --> 00:05:49,442 Speaker 2: towners push back into the train car. As the engine 97 00:05:49,482 --> 00:05:52,482 Speaker 2: lurches forward, You look out the window and see two 98 00:05:52,602 --> 00:05:57,362 Speaker 2: men dragging a lifeless body down the dusty street. A 99 00:05:57,402 --> 00:06:01,242 Speaker 2: group of wranglers have accosted the cowboy, apparently to take 100 00:06:01,322 --> 00:06:04,842 Speaker 2: him to the sheriff. Meanwhile, a fistfight has broken out 101 00:06:04,842 --> 00:06:08,202 Speaker 2: in front of the saloon. You hear distant gunshots and 102 00:06:08,242 --> 00:06:15,282 Speaker 2: whoops and shouts. As the train pulls away. Palisade disappears 103 00:06:15,442 --> 00:06:21,122 Speaker 2: behind you. Once you're out of sight, the cowboy and 104 00:06:21,202 --> 00:06:23,882 Speaker 2: his victim clink glasses. 105 00:06:23,282 --> 00:06:24,042 Speaker 3: In the saloon. 106 00:06:26,082 --> 00:06:28,922 Speaker 2: The rest of the townsfolk would be huddled around them, 107 00:06:29,362 --> 00:06:31,482 Speaker 2: slapping each other's backs with a laugh. 108 00:06:31,922 --> 00:06:33,642 Speaker 6: Did you see the look on their faces? 109 00:06:33,762 --> 00:06:34,042 Speaker 4: Boy? 110 00:06:34,162 --> 00:06:35,322 Speaker 3: We got them good. 111 00:06:37,562 --> 00:06:43,802 Speaker 2: Palisade was reportedly home to hundreds, maybe thousands, of gunfights 112 00:06:43,882 --> 00:06:49,082 Speaker 2: like this. And all of them were fake. The gunfights, 113 00:06:49,202 --> 00:06:53,522 Speaker 2: the Indian massacres, even the blood were all part of 114 00:06:53,562 --> 00:06:59,962 Speaker 2: an elaborate, staged hoax. Palisade wasn't the most dangerous town 115 00:07:00,082 --> 00:07:10,842 Speaker 2: in the West, it was the prankiest. In the eighteen seventies. Palisade, 116 00:07:10,882 --> 00:07:14,202 Speaker 2: Nevada was just a humble way point along the Central 117 00:07:14,202 --> 00:07:15,762 Speaker 2: Pacific Railroad. 118 00:07:15,922 --> 00:07:18,122 Speaker 4: It's a mining town, and so life would be very hard. 119 00:07:18,882 --> 00:07:20,082 Speaker 3: That's Nicholas Witchy. 120 00:07:20,562 --> 00:07:24,922 Speaker 2: He's a dean and professor of English at Western Michigan University. 121 00:07:25,402 --> 00:07:29,562 Speaker 2: He specializes in the Wild West and has written about Palisade. 122 00:07:30,042 --> 00:07:33,202 Speaker 4: Most people would be working ten hour days, six days 123 00:07:33,242 --> 00:07:36,842 Speaker 4: a week, glowing up rock, smacking rock with a pickaxe, 124 00:07:37,282 --> 00:07:40,922 Speaker 4: hauling it in wagons or wheelbarrows that are getting paid 125 00:07:41,122 --> 00:07:44,082 Speaker 4: lousy day wages to move rock around all day long. 126 00:07:44,962 --> 00:07:49,562 Speaker 2: Life in this small, isolated desert town didn't resemble the 127 00:07:49,922 --> 00:07:54,522 Speaker 2: Wild West of popular imagination. In fact, here's how a 128 00:07:54,642 --> 00:07:59,202 Speaker 2: reporter of the weekly Eliko Independent described it back in 129 00:07:59,282 --> 00:08:00,882 Speaker 2: eighteen seventy six. 130 00:08:01,762 --> 00:08:06,522 Speaker 5: The town is unusually dull, but still those who are 131 00:08:06,522 --> 00:08:08,162 Speaker 5: in busy business don't growl. 132 00:08:08,482 --> 00:08:10,522 Speaker 7: They simply pray for better times. 133 00:08:11,522 --> 00:08:17,162 Speaker 2: In other words, life in Palisade was kind of well boring. 134 00:08:18,162 --> 00:08:23,082 Speaker 2: People were barely scraping by. There wasn't a theater for entertainment, 135 00:08:23,482 --> 00:08:26,642 Speaker 2: and the saloon could only distract you for so long. 136 00:08:27,522 --> 00:08:30,322 Speaker 2: There was also a lot of tension in the air too. 137 00:08:31,122 --> 00:08:35,242 Speaker 2: Mining and railroad towns like Palisade were home to a 138 00:08:35,282 --> 00:08:41,522 Speaker 2: lot of foreign laborers, particularly Chinese workers. Not everybody took 139 00:08:41,682 --> 00:08:43,482 Speaker 2: too kindly to the visitors. 140 00:08:44,122 --> 00:08:48,162 Speaker 4: Tensions over the Chinese coming in and taking jobs was 141 00:08:48,322 --> 00:08:49,242 Speaker 4: really ramping up. 142 00:08:50,082 --> 00:08:55,682 Speaker 2: Chinese workers were frequently victims of xenophobia and exclusionary laws. 143 00:08:56,642 --> 00:09:01,602 Speaker 2: The hard lifestyle, the boredom, the racial tensions. All of 144 00:09:01,642 --> 00:09:06,242 Speaker 2: this made life in this hard scrabbled town even more tough, 145 00:09:06,722 --> 00:09:11,242 Speaker 2: and people were desperate to blow off some steam. So, 146 00:09:11,602 --> 00:09:15,802 Speaker 2: rather than fight each other, the town found a common 147 00:09:16,042 --> 00:09:22,402 Speaker 2: target the gullible tourists passing through on the Transcontinental Railroad. 148 00:09:22,962 --> 00:09:25,602 Speaker 4: What are you gonna do when train pulls into town 149 00:09:25,642 --> 00:09:28,242 Speaker 4: and you've been schlepping rock for ten hours a day, 150 00:09:28,682 --> 00:09:29,762 Speaker 4: Why not have a little fun. 151 00:09:30,522 --> 00:09:34,482 Speaker 2: In eighteen seventy six, most people traveling west had no 152 00:09:34,642 --> 00:09:38,522 Speaker 2: concept of Nevada. Maybe they had read about cowboys and 153 00:09:38,602 --> 00:09:43,362 Speaker 2: Indians in the yellow Pages of tawdry dime novels, So 154 00:09:43,602 --> 00:09:47,202 Speaker 2: the people of Palisade decided to give them a show. 155 00:09:48,442 --> 00:09:50,642 Speaker 4: The travelers would step out of the platform and next 156 00:09:50,642 --> 00:09:52,682 Speaker 4: thing you know, there'd be buckets of blood all over 157 00:09:52,722 --> 00:09:56,282 Speaker 4: the platform, and then screaming and dead bodies being hauled off. 158 00:09:56,322 --> 00:09:58,522 Speaker 4: And then the tourists would all pile into the train 159 00:09:58,602 --> 00:10:01,322 Speaker 4: and be shaking and frightened and worried about this wordless 160 00:10:01,322 --> 00:10:02,962 Speaker 4: wild West that they'd come into, and the train would 161 00:10:02,962 --> 00:10:07,002 Speaker 4: pull out of town, all the dead bodies would ry, 162 00:10:07,082 --> 00:10:08,802 Speaker 4: and everybody go to the saloon and have a good 163 00:10:08,882 --> 00:10:10,882 Speaker 4: laugh because they just put one over on a tourists. 164 00:10:12,882 --> 00:10:17,762 Speaker 2: Residents of Palisade leaned into the stereotype of the wild West, 165 00:10:18,322 --> 00:10:22,002 Speaker 2: you know, cowboys and big hats yelling yeeha as they 166 00:10:22,002 --> 00:10:27,642 Speaker 2: fight Native Americans, bounty hunters on horseback, lassoing murderous outlaws, 167 00:10:27,962 --> 00:10:31,442 Speaker 2: dragging them to the gallows for justice. The thing is, 168 00:10:31,642 --> 00:10:36,602 Speaker 2: these stereotypes aren't accurate now, and they weren't accurate then. 169 00:10:38,802 --> 00:10:40,642 Speaker 4: What we think of the American West is a bunch 170 00:10:40,682 --> 00:10:43,362 Speaker 4: of guys blasting ay at each other. Yes, there was 171 00:10:43,362 --> 00:10:46,762 Speaker 4: a gunfight at the Ok Corral, but that lasted thirty seconds. 172 00:10:47,042 --> 00:10:50,562 Speaker 4: In the meantime, there were scores of people living, working, 173 00:10:50,802 --> 00:10:53,722 Speaker 4: going to shows, going to restaurants, doing what they do, coming, 174 00:10:53,842 --> 00:10:56,482 Speaker 4: going the mines, all sorts of things. 175 00:10:57,242 --> 00:11:01,922 Speaker 2: The fact is, life in the wild West wasn't that wild. 176 00:11:02,562 --> 00:11:04,362 Speaker 3: It wasn't even that dangerous. 177 00:11:04,922 --> 00:11:06,802 Speaker 4: The element of the American West that we often as 178 00:11:06,922 --> 00:11:10,602 Speaker 4: associate with lawlessness and violence, it was real. It was 179 00:11:10,642 --> 00:11:12,962 Speaker 4: a part of what was going on in the West. 180 00:11:13,202 --> 00:11:17,002 Speaker 4: But most scholars are pretty quick to point out that 181 00:11:17,522 --> 00:11:20,402 Speaker 4: in terms of numbers, the prevalence of gun use, the 182 00:11:20,402 --> 00:11:24,242 Speaker 4: prevalence of violence, the prevalence of hangings was really not 183 00:11:24,762 --> 00:11:27,122 Speaker 4: much greater than it was in other parts of the 184 00:11:27,122 --> 00:11:28,082 Speaker 4: country at that time. 185 00:11:28,802 --> 00:11:33,602 Speaker 2: Even the stereotypical image of cowboys, a white John Wayne 186 00:11:33,602 --> 00:11:36,482 Speaker 2: figure ready to get into a shootout at any moment, 187 00:11:37,122 --> 00:11:38,642 Speaker 2: isn't entirely correct. 188 00:11:39,082 --> 00:11:42,202 Speaker 4: Yes there were cowboys, Yes they wore big hats and chaps, 189 00:11:42,202 --> 00:11:44,482 Speaker 4: and some of them even carried guns. But at the 190 00:11:44,522 --> 00:11:47,242 Speaker 4: same time, fully half of them were either Hispanic or 191 00:11:47,242 --> 00:11:48,122 Speaker 4: African American. 192 00:11:49,402 --> 00:11:52,842 Speaker 2: In fact, most of these stereotypes of a root and 193 00:11:52,962 --> 00:12:00,082 Speaker 2: tootin wild West started with novelists like Ned Buntline. In 194 00:12:00,122 --> 00:12:04,962 Speaker 2: eighteen sixty nine, Buntline interviewed William F. Cody, a buffalo 195 00:12:05,082 --> 00:12:08,442 Speaker 2: hunter and army scout who had served during the American 196 00:12:08,442 --> 00:12:14,882 Speaker 2: Indian Wars. The result was a sensationalist story called Buffalo Bill, 197 00:12:15,282 --> 00:12:18,842 Speaker 2: The King of the border Men. It would eventually become 198 00:12:18,922 --> 00:12:22,682 Speaker 2: part of a new genre of cheaply made books called 199 00:12:22,922 --> 00:12:27,842 Speaker 2: dime novels that swept the country. They introduced readers to 200 00:12:27,922 --> 00:12:33,602 Speaker 2: a world where cowboys and Indians, gun slingers and outlaws reigned. 201 00:12:34,082 --> 00:12:37,002 Speaker 4: The dime novel certainly had their function as telling the 202 00:12:37,002 --> 00:12:39,362 Speaker 4: story that the American West and ways that are blood 203 00:12:39,362 --> 00:12:41,362 Speaker 4: and thunder is the phrase it's often use to describe 204 00:12:41,362 --> 00:12:42,522 Speaker 4: the dime novel experience. 205 00:12:43,442 --> 00:12:47,602 Speaker 2: You know, the old journalism chestnut. If it bleeds, it leads, 206 00:12:48,162 --> 00:12:51,682 Speaker 2: That was the dime novel in a nutshell. In addition 207 00:12:51,762 --> 00:12:55,802 Speaker 2: to getting readers hooked on a fictional wild West, Ned 208 00:12:55,802 --> 00:12:59,482 Speaker 2: bunt Line helped convince Buffalo Bill to give up his 209 00:12:59,642 --> 00:13:04,682 Speaker 2: job hunting Buffalo for the glitzy lights of show business. 210 00:13:05,282 --> 00:13:08,922 Speaker 4: Ned Buntline is the guy who also gets William F. 211 00:13:08,962 --> 00:13:12,882 Speaker 4: Cody Buffalo Bill to portray himself on stage, and so 212 00:13:13,042 --> 00:13:16,482 Speaker 4: eighteen seventy two, Buffalo Bill starts performing in New York 213 00:13:16,722 --> 00:13:18,682 Speaker 4: what It's like to be Buffalo Bill in the Wild. 214 00:13:19,562 --> 00:13:23,682 Speaker 2: Buffalo Bill would soon become a full time showman with 215 00:13:23,802 --> 00:13:28,602 Speaker 2: his own traveling circus. Audience members could watch re enactments 216 00:13:28,642 --> 00:13:32,802 Speaker 2: of Indian attacks and see live acts like the sharpshooter 217 00:13:32,922 --> 00:13:36,482 Speaker 2: Annie Oakley, who by the way, was born and raised 218 00:13:36,602 --> 00:13:41,282 Speaker 2: not in the Wild West, but in Ohio. All of 219 00:13:41,322 --> 00:13:45,762 Speaker 2: this is to say dime novels and Old West acts, 220 00:13:46,162 --> 00:13:49,402 Speaker 2: as well as newspaper coverage of the Indian Wars such 221 00:13:49,442 --> 00:13:54,322 Speaker 2: as Custer's Last Stand, built a stereotype that the West 222 00:13:54,482 --> 00:13:58,922 Speaker 2: was a violent, lawless place, perpetually clouded with gun smoke. 223 00:14:00,082 --> 00:14:03,722 Speaker 2: So the citizens of Palisade decided to help. 224 00:14:04,362 --> 00:14:06,762 Speaker 4: I see a group of people who are like, Okay, 225 00:14:06,922 --> 00:14:09,522 Speaker 4: this is what the world expects of us, Let's give 226 00:14:09,562 --> 00:14:10,442 Speaker 4: it to them. 227 00:14:10,602 --> 00:14:14,522 Speaker 2: In October of eighteen seventy six, a journalist with the 228 00:14:14,642 --> 00:14:20,082 Speaker 2: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise witnessed the Palisaded prank in action. 229 00:14:21,282 --> 00:14:25,202 Speaker 8: Half a dozen Native Americans, for a reasonable compensation, would 230 00:14:25,202 --> 00:14:28,042 Speaker 8: submit to being bound hand and foot and laid on 231 00:14:28,082 --> 00:14:31,962 Speaker 8: the platform during the stay of the train. Around their bodies, 232 00:14:32,002 --> 00:14:36,042 Speaker 8: a guard of citizens armed with immense revolvers long rifles 233 00:14:36,082 --> 00:14:41,362 Speaker 8: and bloodthirsted looking knives would march. Shotguns and revolvers would 234 00:14:41,362 --> 00:14:44,922 Speaker 8: loaded with powder ball omitted, and in a moment the 235 00:14:44,962 --> 00:14:48,802 Speaker 8: air would reek with powder, smoke, and profanity and blood 236 00:14:48,882 --> 00:14:53,762 Speaker 8: previously procured from the slaughterhouse besprinkled the platform as plentifully 237 00:14:53,922 --> 00:14:57,642 Speaker 8: as water. Sympathetic friends carried off the dead and wounded 238 00:14:57,682 --> 00:15:02,122 Speaker 8: to some neighboring saloon, while the frightened and bewildered immigrants 239 00:15:02,202 --> 00:15:06,442 Speaker 8: crawled from under seats and behind cars, their blanched faces 240 00:15:06,482 --> 00:15:10,642 Speaker 8: in tram blend limbs attesting their belief in the genuineness 241 00:15:10,682 --> 00:15:11,202 Speaker 8: of the thigh. 242 00:15:13,482 --> 00:15:17,922 Speaker 2: Hoaxes like this weren't exactly new. In eighteen sixty six, 243 00:15:18,122 --> 00:15:22,722 Speaker 2: the Union Pacific Railroad entertained its workers by staging a 244 00:15:22,762 --> 00:15:27,162 Speaker 2: phony fight between the Pawnee and Sioux. But in Palisade 245 00:15:27,202 --> 00:15:31,602 Speaker 2: this wasn't a one off. According to the historian Gerald B. Higgs, 246 00:15:31,642 --> 00:15:35,082 Speaker 2: who wrote the book Lost Legends of the Silver State, 247 00:15:35,722 --> 00:15:40,762 Speaker 2: the ruse lasted for three years. Over that time, the 248 00:15:40,842 --> 00:15:46,562 Speaker 2: Palisade Thesbian players, as they allegedly called themselves, put on 249 00:15:46,802 --> 00:15:52,562 Speaker 2: more than one thousand acts. Basically, the residents of Palisade 250 00:15:52,882 --> 00:15:56,162 Speaker 2: had become an improv troop that put on a show 251 00:15:56,522 --> 00:16:01,242 Speaker 2: every night. According to Higgs, local authorities and the railroad 252 00:16:01,242 --> 00:16:04,442 Speaker 2: workers were all in on the joke, and the hoax 253 00:16:04,602 --> 00:16:09,522 Speaker 2: was making Palisade sort of fakes. Palisade was getting write 254 00:16:09,562 --> 00:16:14,082 Speaker 2: ups in editorials across the country, with travelers complaining about 255 00:16:14,082 --> 00:16:19,842 Speaker 2: their terrifying experiences passing through the Nevada town. Frankly, it's 256 00:16:19,882 --> 00:16:25,122 Speaker 2: a brilliant tale. Decades before Wild West amusement parks like 257 00:16:25,282 --> 00:16:30,762 Speaker 2: Frontier Town Wherever invented, the residents of a real Frontier 258 00:16:30,842 --> 00:16:36,402 Speaker 2: town were playing the part and punking gullible, high falutin 259 00:16:36,522 --> 00:16:42,882 Speaker 2: outsiders on the daily. There's just one problem. There's no 260 00:16:43,082 --> 00:16:47,322 Speaker 2: evidence the Palisade pranks ever happened. 261 00:16:47,962 --> 00:16:51,082 Speaker 4: One of the questions that I could never resolve was 262 00:16:51,482 --> 00:16:52,402 Speaker 4: were they actually real? 263 00:16:53,882 --> 00:16:58,962 Speaker 2: The story of the Palisade hoax might be a hoax. 264 00:17:07,802 --> 00:17:10,922 Speaker 2: If you were alive during the eighteen seventies, you were 265 00:17:10,922 --> 00:17:14,802 Speaker 2: living through what was, if you'll pardon my French, a 266 00:17:14,962 --> 00:17:21,122 Speaker 2: golden age of bullshit. There were quacks, hucksters and Charlatan's galore. 267 00:17:21,602 --> 00:17:27,082 Speaker 2: Schmucks and spiritualists occupied every street corner, hawking snake oil, 268 00:17:27,242 --> 00:17:31,642 Speaker 2: salvation and direct lines to the dead p T. Barnum 269 00:17:31,722 --> 00:17:35,242 Speaker 2: had turned the art of the prank into a money 270 00:17:35,322 --> 00:17:39,962 Speaker 2: making bonanza. Meanwhile, at every carnival funhouse you could see 271 00:17:39,962 --> 00:17:44,202 Speaker 2: the bodies of petrified giants and the flaky husks of 272 00:17:44,442 --> 00:17:46,322 Speaker 2: desiccated mermaids. 273 00:17:46,922 --> 00:17:49,762 Speaker 4: It's an interesting time for a lot of people fooling 274 00:17:49,962 --> 00:17:51,162 Speaker 4: around or being fooled. 275 00:17:51,842 --> 00:17:56,322 Speaker 2: That again is Professor Nick Witchie of Western Michigan University, 276 00:17:56,962 --> 00:18:01,722 Speaker 2: and he explained that people in Palisade, Nevada were living 277 00:18:01,882 --> 00:18:04,482 Speaker 2: smack in the middle of bullshit Central. 278 00:18:05,362 --> 00:18:09,202 Speaker 4: Why were the residents of Palisades seemingly interested in punkin 279 00:18:09,242 --> 00:18:13,762 Speaker 4: travelers coming through? The shortest, quickest answer is they were 280 00:18:13,802 --> 00:18:16,602 Speaker 4: living in a part of the country that was already 281 00:18:17,002 --> 00:18:21,602 Speaker 4: well deeply invested in hoaxes, in satires, in poking fun 282 00:18:21,762 --> 00:18:23,522 Speaker 4: at people's misconceptions. 283 00:18:24,202 --> 00:18:28,442 Speaker 2: Nevada was a hoaxter's paradise, he tells us. One of 284 00:18:28,442 --> 00:18:30,922 Speaker 2: the big reasons is because it was home to a 285 00:18:31,042 --> 00:18:37,642 Speaker 2: little newspaper called the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, located in 286 00:18:37,762 --> 00:18:42,722 Speaker 2: a silver boomtown in West Nevada. The Virginia City Territorial 287 00:18:42,882 --> 00:18:47,722 Speaker 2: Enterprise was a paper where good and honest journalism shared 288 00:18:47,762 --> 00:18:52,202 Speaker 2: the page with Shenanigan filled fake news. If you picked 289 00:18:52,242 --> 00:18:56,002 Speaker 2: up the newspaper on October twenty eighth, eighteen sixty three, 290 00:18:56,482 --> 00:18:59,162 Speaker 2: you could read an account of a bloody massacre that 291 00:18:59,242 --> 00:19:03,962 Speaker 2: happened in nearby Carson, Nevada. Apparently a man had gone 292 00:19:04,082 --> 00:19:07,282 Speaker 2: mad and butchered his wife and six of his chi children. 293 00:19:07,882 --> 00:19:10,722 Speaker 2: Then he hopped on a horse and took the knife 294 00:19:10,722 --> 00:19:11,442 Speaker 2: to himself. 295 00:19:12,482 --> 00:19:17,042 Speaker 6: About ten o'clock on Monday evening, Hopkins dashed into Carson 296 00:19:17,162 --> 00:19:20,122 Speaker 6: on horseback with his throat cut from ear to ear 297 00:19:20,922 --> 00:19:24,922 Speaker 6: and bearing in his hand a reeking scalp from which 298 00:19:24,962 --> 00:19:28,562 Speaker 6: the warm, smoking blood was still dripping. 299 00:19:30,922 --> 00:19:35,882 Speaker 2: But the story was fake, totally made up. And just 300 00:19:36,042 --> 00:19:40,562 Speaker 2: guess what happened to the journalist who concocted this fiction. 301 00:19:41,282 --> 00:19:45,762 Speaker 2: Did he get fired? Was he tarred and feathered, banished 302 00:19:45,802 --> 00:19:51,042 Speaker 2: from the writing business forever? Of course not. He became famous. 303 00:19:51,802 --> 00:19:56,722 Speaker 2: The reporter's name was Samuel Clemens, who you probably know 304 00:19:56,882 --> 00:19:59,322 Speaker 2: better as Mark Twain. 305 00:20:01,162 --> 00:20:03,202 Speaker 4: This is a part of the country where Mark Twain 306 00:20:03,482 --> 00:20:06,562 Speaker 4: got his name. But he really started in journalism with 307 00:20:07,082 --> 00:20:11,602 Speaker 4: satires and hoaxes, publishing news stories about things that never happened, 308 00:20:11,682 --> 00:20:14,562 Speaker 4: or silly or horrific things that would frighten people if 309 00:20:14,602 --> 00:20:15,442 Speaker 4: they didn't know better. 310 00:20:15,962 --> 00:20:19,522 Speaker 2: At the Virginia City Paper, Twain was making up stories 311 00:20:19,682 --> 00:20:22,002 Speaker 2: all the time, and he wasn't alone. 312 00:20:22,642 --> 00:20:25,242 Speaker 4: He had a whole fellow crew of journalists at the 313 00:20:25,402 --> 00:20:28,802 Speaker 4: Virginia City Territorial Enterprise who were writing up hoaxes. 314 00:20:29,682 --> 00:20:33,762 Speaker 2: Like Twain, journalists Dan de Quill and Fred Hart were 315 00:20:33,842 --> 00:20:36,602 Speaker 2: routinely publishing phony satires. 316 00:20:37,162 --> 00:20:38,562 Speaker 3: There was the story. 317 00:20:38,202 --> 00:20:41,202 Speaker 2: About a dead man who had turned into solid. 318 00:20:41,002 --> 00:20:45,482 Speaker 6: Rock a petrified man was found some time ago in 319 00:20:45,562 --> 00:20:47,962 Speaker 6: the mountains south of gravelly Ford. 320 00:20:48,602 --> 00:20:51,122 Speaker 2: And a story about a man who turned into a 321 00:20:51,242 --> 00:20:54,922 Speaker 2: human popsicle under the glaring desert sun. 322 00:20:55,882 --> 00:20:59,762 Speaker 6: He was dead and frozen stiff. An icicle over a 323 00:20:59,802 --> 00:21:02,242 Speaker 6: foot in length hung from his nose. 324 00:21:03,522 --> 00:21:07,402 Speaker 2: Years after leaving the newspaper, Mark Twain reed called the 325 00:21:07,522 --> 00:21:12,122 Speaker 2: joy of making up stories in the Territorial Enterprise Office. 326 00:21:12,882 --> 00:21:17,362 Speaker 7: We never hesitated about devising hoaxes when the public needed 327 00:21:17,482 --> 00:21:23,242 Speaker 7: matters of thrilling interest for breakfast. The seemingly tranquil Enterprise 328 00:21:23,402 --> 00:21:28,642 Speaker 7: Office was a guest lif factory of slaughter, mulation, and 329 00:21:28,842 --> 00:21:31,522 Speaker 7: general destruction in those days. 330 00:21:32,282 --> 00:21:38,202 Speaker 2: Nowadays, these journalists are remembered as the sagebrush school of writers. 331 00:21:38,922 --> 00:21:42,922 Speaker 2: They were a product of their time. The media landscape 332 00:21:43,042 --> 00:21:49,762 Speaker 2: was changing fast. Telegraphs, literacy rates, and newspaper distribution were booming, 333 00:21:50,282 --> 00:21:53,482 Speaker 2: and these writers decided to exploit it. 334 00:21:53,602 --> 00:21:55,562 Speaker 4: The right mix of people suddenly landed all in the 335 00:21:55,562 --> 00:21:57,922 Speaker 4: same place and felt like, you know what, we can 336 00:21:58,002 --> 00:21:58,682 Speaker 4: have some fun with this. 337 00:21:59,442 --> 00:22:03,522 Speaker 2: So they used humor and tall tales to write satires 338 00:22:03,922 --> 00:22:08,002 Speaker 2: poking fun at the people in power. Readers were okay 339 00:22:08,042 --> 00:22:11,962 Speaker 2: with this because BS was a currency in the West. 340 00:22:12,962 --> 00:22:13,402 Speaker 5: There was a. 341 00:22:13,362 --> 00:22:18,602 Speaker 4: World where value shifted rapidly. One day the price of 342 00:22:18,642 --> 00:22:20,722 Speaker 4: silver could be fought through the roof, and the next 343 00:22:20,802 --> 00:22:22,402 Speaker 4: day of the price of silver would be so low 344 00:22:22,442 --> 00:22:24,322 Speaker 4: that it wouldn't be worthwhile to I'd pull it out 345 00:22:24,362 --> 00:22:27,362 Speaker 4: of the ground. In a world of shifting values, what 346 00:22:27,482 --> 00:22:29,922 Speaker 4: can you hang your hat on. Some people think that 347 00:22:30,202 --> 00:22:32,722 Speaker 4: the hoaxes all came about because of that very reason, 348 00:22:32,722 --> 00:22:34,962 Speaker 4: that this was a world where the one thing you 349 00:22:34,962 --> 00:22:37,562 Speaker 4: could know for certain was the ability to bs, was 350 00:22:37,602 --> 00:22:40,162 Speaker 4: the ability to bullshit someone into thinking you had the 351 00:22:40,282 --> 00:22:42,562 Speaker 4: key to a really interesting piece of knowledge. 352 00:22:43,362 --> 00:22:48,122 Speaker 2: But also, let's be real, the writers also enjoyed a 353 00:22:48,122 --> 00:22:49,482 Speaker 2: certain pastime. 354 00:22:49,962 --> 00:22:54,442 Speaker 4: Dave drank a lot. They were a thirsty group. 355 00:22:55,602 --> 00:22:58,362 Speaker 2: Now, a lot of the stories by the sage Brush 356 00:22:58,402 --> 00:23:02,922 Speaker 2: writers got picked up by other newspapers and published as truth. 357 00:23:03,442 --> 00:23:05,082 Speaker 3: Some stories were published in. 358 00:23:05,082 --> 00:23:09,642 Speaker 2: Places as far away as all Australia. Local readers, however, 359 00:23:09,762 --> 00:23:13,802 Speaker 2: weren't so gullible. They usually knew the stories were fake. 360 00:23:14,482 --> 00:23:17,442 Speaker 4: The local journalist would put in enough clues to let 361 00:23:17,442 --> 00:23:20,322 Speaker 4: the reader in on the joke, but the reader farther 362 00:23:20,362 --> 00:23:21,962 Speaker 4: away would not necessarily know. 363 00:23:22,642 --> 00:23:27,442 Speaker 2: And that brings us back to the Palisade prank. Because 364 00:23:27,562 --> 00:23:31,482 Speaker 2: here's the weird thing about it. According to lore, the 365 00:23:31,562 --> 00:23:37,122 Speaker 2: people of Palisade pranked unsuspecting train passengers more than one 366 00:23:37,242 --> 00:23:41,362 Speaker 2: thousand times. You'd imagine this would get a lot of 367 00:23:41,402 --> 00:23:46,122 Speaker 2: write ups in various newspapers, but when we scoured databases 368 00:23:46,242 --> 00:23:49,522 Speaker 2: in search of evidence of the prank, we only found 369 00:23:49,682 --> 00:23:56,642 Speaker 2: one article and it was from the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. Yeah, 370 00:23:56,762 --> 00:24:02,282 Speaker 2: the newspaper riddled with hoaxes and fake news. Doctor Witchie 371 00:24:02,322 --> 00:24:05,802 Speaker 2: bumped into the same problem back when he was researching 372 00:24:05,882 --> 00:24:06,682 Speaker 2: the Palisades. 373 00:24:07,842 --> 00:24:10,602 Speaker 4: When I first was researching this and writing this paper, 374 00:24:10,962 --> 00:24:14,122 Speaker 4: historians in the editing process kept asking me, but is 375 00:24:14,122 --> 00:24:17,522 Speaker 4: it real? Did it happen? Could things like this have happened. 376 00:24:17,562 --> 00:24:19,922 Speaker 4: Were there other examples of this sort of thing happening? 377 00:24:20,602 --> 00:24:21,722 Speaker 2: He didn't have an answer. 378 00:24:22,482 --> 00:24:25,042 Speaker 4: I personally have never found anything to corroborate that they 379 00:24:25,082 --> 00:24:26,282 Speaker 4: actually happened. 380 00:24:27,922 --> 00:24:32,962 Speaker 2: Most accounts about the prank, including ours, come from Gerald B. Higgs, 381 00:24:33,082 --> 00:24:36,642 Speaker 2: an amateur historian who wrote about the hoax back in 382 00:24:36,722 --> 00:24:41,162 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy six. Higgs says he learned about it by 383 00:24:41,242 --> 00:24:45,962 Speaker 2: talking to old timers and visiting every county recorder's office 384 00:24:46,042 --> 00:24:50,202 Speaker 2: in Nevada. However, he doesn't cite any sources in his 385 00:24:50,402 --> 00:24:55,802 Speaker 2: telling of the Palisade pranks. Is it possible that the 386 00:24:55,962 --> 00:25:00,522 Speaker 2: Palisade prank was just another prank pulled off by the 387 00:25:00,562 --> 00:25:04,002 Speaker 2: writers of the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. 388 00:25:04,922 --> 00:25:06,082 Speaker 3: It's hard to tell. 389 00:25:06,922 --> 00:25:12,282 Speaker 2: Doctor Witchie told us that newspaper hoaxes usually contained telltale 390 00:25:12,402 --> 00:25:16,122 Speaker 2: clues that would tip off local readers that the story 391 00:25:16,322 --> 00:25:19,682 Speaker 2: was phony, but he couldn't find any hints in the 392 00:25:19,722 --> 00:25:20,842 Speaker 2: Palisades story. 393 00:25:21,282 --> 00:25:23,162 Speaker 4: This is one of the things that's sustinctive about that 394 00:25:23,282 --> 00:25:26,162 Speaker 4: report about the Palisade hoax. If it really is a pox, 395 00:25:26,442 --> 00:25:28,922 Speaker 4: this journalist is describing it in such a way that 396 00:25:29,162 --> 00:25:31,962 Speaker 4: makes a plane like guess what the folks over Pallisader 397 00:25:31,962 --> 00:25:32,802 Speaker 4: are doing to tourists. 398 00:25:33,562 --> 00:25:37,402 Speaker 2: The story is written like a plane news item. If 399 00:25:37,442 --> 00:25:40,922 Speaker 2: the article itself is a hoax, it's a subtle one. 400 00:25:41,762 --> 00:25:46,722 Speaker 2: But perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. The Virginia City Territorial 401 00:25:46,882 --> 00:25:53,002 Speaker 2: Enterprise is, after all, famous for duping people. Even into 402 00:25:53,002 --> 00:25:57,362 Speaker 2: the twentieth century, the newspaper was publishing pranks. In the 403 00:25:57,442 --> 00:26:01,642 Speaker 2: nineteen fifties, the editors published a fake story about a 404 00:26:01,802 --> 00:26:06,042 Speaker 2: camel race coming to town. There was no camel race, 405 00:26:06,162 --> 00:26:10,042 Speaker 2: of course. It was all a joke, but another newspaper 406 00:26:10,162 --> 00:26:14,442 Speaker 2: decided to call them on it, and now Virginia City 407 00:26:14,562 --> 00:26:19,882 Speaker 2: hosts an annual Camel and Ostra Trace, which, if you 408 00:26:20,002 --> 00:26:24,882 Speaker 2: haven't seen adults ride ostriches down a desert dragstrip, is 409 00:26:24,962 --> 00:26:29,962 Speaker 2: worth the trip. Meanwhile, Palisade today is a ghost town. 410 00:26:30,602 --> 00:26:33,882 Speaker 2: The mines in the area went bust, the local post 411 00:26:33,922 --> 00:26:37,642 Speaker 2: office skadaddled in the sixties. In two thousand and five, 412 00:26:37,842 --> 00:26:42,682 Speaker 2: the news website SFGate described what left of Palisade as 413 00:26:42,842 --> 00:26:47,402 Speaker 2: quote tumblewheed rattlesnake holes, half of a rusted car, the 414 00:26:47,482 --> 00:26:51,402 Speaker 2: remains of an old washing machine, and a cemetery all 415 00:26:51,442 --> 00:26:56,202 Speaker 2: that's really left is a story that Nevadens love to share. 416 00:26:57,642 --> 00:27:00,562 Speaker 4: It is utterly fascinating to me that a story that 417 00:27:00,602 --> 00:27:03,602 Speaker 4: may or may not be true regardless, has become a 418 00:27:03,642 --> 00:27:06,562 Speaker 4: story that the people of Nevada love to tell about themselves, 419 00:27:06,602 --> 00:27:08,562 Speaker 4: love the tell each other that this is the kind 420 00:27:08,602 --> 00:27:10,682 Speaker 4: of place that we've inherited, this is the place we 421 00:27:10,722 --> 00:27:11,082 Speaker 4: live in. 422 00:27:12,602 --> 00:27:15,522 Speaker 2: The stories we choose to tell and the stories we 423 00:27:15,602 --> 00:27:18,482 Speaker 2: choose to believe say a lot about who we are 424 00:27:18,602 --> 00:27:22,882 Speaker 2: and how we identify. So perhaps it's appropriate to close 425 00:27:23,042 --> 00:27:27,522 Speaker 2: with a coda. One last story about how Palisade, for 426 00:27:27,602 --> 00:27:31,402 Speaker 2: the briefest of moments, was the most talked about town 427 00:27:31,642 --> 00:27:35,322 Speaker 2: in the country. It was election day nineteen thirty two. 428 00:27:35,882 --> 00:27:39,002 Speaker 2: President Herbert Hoover was riding a train back to his 429 00:27:39,122 --> 00:27:43,322 Speaker 2: home state of California to vote, but as the train 430 00:27:43,482 --> 00:27:46,802 Speaker 2: came upon Palisade, it lurched to a stop. 431 00:27:47,522 --> 00:27:50,242 Speaker 3: The Associated Press reported. 432 00:27:49,722 --> 00:27:54,202 Speaker 2: That the night before, two men had been caught carrying 433 00:27:54,442 --> 00:27:59,442 Speaker 2: seventeen sticks of dynamite, apparently in an attempt to blow 434 00:27:59,522 --> 00:28:03,682 Speaker 2: up the bridge and quote wreck the Hoover train. They 435 00:28:03,722 --> 00:28:07,682 Speaker 2: even tried to shoot and stab the guard keeping watch 436 00:28:07,762 --> 00:28:13,362 Speaker 2: over the tracks. This was huge news an election assassination 437 00:28:13,522 --> 00:28:18,202 Speaker 2: attempt in Palisade, the town of three hundred, was making 438 00:28:18,402 --> 00:28:23,922 Speaker 2: front page headlines in papers across the country. Two weeks later, 439 00:28:24,082 --> 00:28:27,522 Speaker 2: a follow up appeared in the papers. The guard who 440 00:28:27,602 --> 00:28:33,282 Speaker 2: had witnessed the dastardly assassination plot had a confession he 441 00:28:33,362 --> 00:28:37,962 Speaker 2: had made it all up. Palisades Fifteen Minutes of Fame 442 00:28:38,802 --> 00:28:39,762 Speaker 2: was a hoax too. 443 00:28:43,242 --> 00:28:44,482 Speaker 3: So do you think it was real? 444 00:28:44,962 --> 00:28:47,402 Speaker 1: Yes? I think it was real the first time, and 445 00:28:47,442 --> 00:28:48,202 Speaker 1: then after that. 446 00:28:48,442 --> 00:28:50,762 Speaker 3: I think it at least happened once. And they were like, 447 00:28:50,802 --> 00:28:53,202 Speaker 3: this is so funny. It's like a great bit. 448 00:28:53,402 --> 00:28:55,722 Speaker 2: I don't want a great bit to die. 449 00:28:56,602 --> 00:28:58,602 Speaker 5: You only need to do it once because no one 450 00:28:58,602 --> 00:29:00,642 Speaker 5: wants to be the only people who got fooled, so 451 00:29:00,682 --> 00:29:02,522 Speaker 5: they'll everyone will play it up for you. 452 00:29:02,842 --> 00:29:05,002 Speaker 1: Exactly. That's the whole nature of the Old West. Something 453 00:29:05,042 --> 00:29:07,402 Speaker 1: happens once, and everybody gets their hand at the storytelling, 454 00:29:07,442 --> 00:29:10,282 Speaker 1: and it gets bigger and better through the over and 455 00:29:10,322 --> 00:29:11,202 Speaker 1: over storytelling. 456 00:29:11,362 --> 00:29:13,602 Speaker 5: My very special character for this one, kind of a 457 00:29:13,682 --> 00:29:16,962 Speaker 5: very special cameo, my man Mark Twain, who pops up 458 00:29:16,962 --> 00:29:20,362 Speaker 5: out of nowhere, gets some quality minutes off the bench. 459 00:29:20,442 --> 00:29:22,282 Speaker 3: There Missouri's finest. 460 00:29:23,082 --> 00:29:25,722 Speaker 5: You know, the classic thing where TV show will spin 461 00:29:25,762 --> 00:29:28,642 Speaker 5: off a minor character into its own show. Frasier. The 462 00:29:28,682 --> 00:29:32,762 Speaker 5: most obvious example from Cheers saw Goodman from Breaking Bad, 463 00:29:33,402 --> 00:29:36,202 Speaker 5: Missus Garrett Facts of Life to Different Hell. 464 00:29:36,162 --> 00:29:39,642 Speaker 2: Yeah, wow, a lot of I mean people who are 465 00:29:39,642 --> 00:29:41,202 Speaker 2: familiar with the Good Wife. 466 00:29:40,962 --> 00:29:42,162 Speaker 3: That whole universe. 467 00:29:42,442 --> 00:29:45,602 Speaker 1: El Sbeth is that the new spin off? 468 00:29:45,802 --> 00:29:46,162 Speaker 3: Yeah. 469 00:29:46,202 --> 00:29:49,202 Speaker 1: One of the first spinoffs was Gomer Pyle from Andy Griffith, 470 00:29:49,242 --> 00:29:51,562 Speaker 1: and then that became a more popular show. It was 471 00:29:51,602 --> 00:29:52,282 Speaker 1: the bigger hit. 472 00:29:52,642 --> 00:29:56,162 Speaker 5: Well in that spirit, Zaren is working on another episode 473 00:29:56,522 --> 00:29:59,922 Speaker 5: Mark Twain centric. It's kind of like Mark Twain's origin story, 474 00:30:00,002 --> 00:30:02,362 Speaker 5: and so we're just teasing that here that we're going 475 00:30:02,442 --> 00:30:05,762 Speaker 5: to spin him off into his own bigger thing, so 476 00:30:05,922 --> 00:30:06,762 Speaker 5: to be on the lookout. 477 00:30:06,962 --> 00:30:09,562 Speaker 1: It's a whole episode where you learn that he basically 478 00:30:09,602 --> 00:30:11,882 Speaker 1: is part of a bar fight that starts American literature. 479 00:30:11,962 --> 00:30:13,962 Speaker 1: It's a wild story. And then also you get more 480 00:30:13,962 --> 00:30:17,882 Speaker 1: of the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, which is an amazing newspaper. 481 00:30:17,922 --> 00:30:19,762 Speaker 5: Did you happen to cast this one? 482 00:30:19,882 --> 00:30:22,842 Speaker 1: I did, actually, thank you for asking this one. I 483 00:30:22,882 --> 00:30:26,082 Speaker 1: went with a comical variety of casting. So imagine this 484 00:30:26,122 --> 00:30:28,922 Speaker 1: as a comedy, right, So we have Buffalo bill as 485 00:30:28,922 --> 00:30:32,402 Speaker 1: the showman played by John c Riley, right, the Ned 486 00:30:32,442 --> 00:30:36,362 Speaker 1: Buntline the novelist played by Owen Wilson. Then how about that, 487 00:30:36,402 --> 00:30:39,082 Speaker 1: Oh you like that one, Daniel Okay, Nicholas Ritchie, the 488 00:30:39,202 --> 00:30:41,642 Speaker 1: historian Sam Elliott as our narrator. 489 00:30:42,722 --> 00:30:45,482 Speaker 2: I kind of feel like this is a Wes Anderson ensemble. 490 00:30:45,602 --> 00:30:48,562 Speaker 2: Oh we're building it feels like a Wes Anderson movie. 491 00:30:48,602 --> 00:30:50,722 Speaker 1: You nailed it, right. And then so now for the 492 00:30:50,762 --> 00:30:54,842 Speaker 1: Palisade thespian players, your favorites, the improv artists themselves. I 493 00:30:55,002 --> 00:30:57,602 Speaker 1: just imagined a group, right, So we have the Mayor 494 00:30:57,642 --> 00:31:00,922 Speaker 1: of Palisade that would be played by Walton Goggint. We 495 00:31:01,002 --> 00:31:05,642 Speaker 1: have the cool gunfighter Lakeith Stanfield, saloon owner Danny McBride. 496 00:31:05,802 --> 00:31:07,882 Speaker 1: How about for our lady of entertainment in the night, 497 00:31:08,202 --> 00:31:11,962 Speaker 1: Billie Eilish in her first dramatic role. And then finally 498 00:31:12,242 --> 00:31:15,162 Speaker 1: gullible tourist couple Tom Holland and Zendaya. 499 00:31:16,522 --> 00:31:18,642 Speaker 2: You know what, for mine, I'm gonna really go with 500 00:31:18,682 --> 00:31:21,322 Speaker 2: the Wes Anderson theme. Yes, and the people in the 501 00:31:21,362 --> 00:31:26,762 Speaker 2: town are like Jason Schwartzman Okay, Edward Norton, Adrian Brodie, 502 00:31:26,802 --> 00:31:29,442 Speaker 2: is the journalist, and then like one of the hapless 503 00:31:29,482 --> 00:31:32,482 Speaker 2: tourists is like is a couple and it's like Bob 504 00:31:32,522 --> 00:31:35,442 Speaker 2: Balaban and like Tilda Swinton them on the train. 505 00:31:36,042 --> 00:31:39,002 Speaker 1: Yeah, that the antimet Bob Balaban, I mean, you got me. 506 00:31:39,442 --> 00:31:41,042 Speaker 1: I'm already pulling money out of my wallet. 507 00:31:41,202 --> 00:31:43,442 Speaker 2: Can't you picture him as just like a hapless tourist 508 00:31:43,482 --> 00:31:45,962 Speaker 2: watching this, And then Tilda Swinton just like being a guest, 509 00:31:46,082 --> 00:31:47,882 Speaker 2: a little other person. 510 00:31:48,082 --> 00:31:50,082 Speaker 1: The faces she could pull come on now, oh. 511 00:31:49,962 --> 00:31:52,082 Speaker 3: Yeah, probably wearing weird teeth all time. 512 00:31:53,722 --> 00:31:57,002 Speaker 5: You guys nailed the dramatic recreations. I think there's also 513 00:31:57,082 --> 00:32:01,402 Speaker 5: a competition reality show Angle where improv troops are brought 514 00:32:01,442 --> 00:32:05,082 Speaker 5: into small towns that have to pull off some major 515 00:32:05,122 --> 00:32:05,882 Speaker 5: scam like this. 516 00:32:06,002 --> 00:32:09,322 Speaker 2: See but Jason here. That's my main takeaway. It's not 517 00:32:09,442 --> 00:32:12,082 Speaker 2: a scam, if it's not for profit, if you're not 518 00:32:12,762 --> 00:32:16,162 Speaker 2: a benevolent scam, is a hoax exactly. This is a hoax, 519 00:32:16,242 --> 00:32:18,642 Speaker 2: and I actually think that we need more hoaxes in 520 00:32:18,682 --> 00:32:23,082 Speaker 2: this country. Totally just good spirited, entertaining hoaxes. We're not 521 00:32:23,122 --> 00:32:25,922 Speaker 2: trying to hurt anyone, We're not trying to steal anyone's money. 522 00:32:26,202 --> 00:32:27,322 Speaker 3: This is just a hoax. 523 00:32:27,482 --> 00:32:28,962 Speaker 1: Yeah, just put the vibe in the air and that 524 00:32:28,962 --> 00:32:29,962 Speaker 1: people have a good laugh. 525 00:32:30,082 --> 00:32:33,362 Speaker 2: I love that, let people have a good time. Let's 526 00:32:33,402 --> 00:32:36,282 Speaker 2: self mythologize what America is, and I think that that's 527 00:32:36,322 --> 00:32:39,682 Speaker 2: what this episode is. This episode is about America self 528 00:32:39,722 --> 00:32:42,002 Speaker 2: mythologizing in real time totally. 529 00:32:41,642 --> 00:32:44,122 Speaker 1: And also the tendencies that we have because we're okay, 530 00:32:44,202 --> 00:32:46,282 Speaker 1: the Old West, right, they had the dime novels like 531 00:32:46,402 --> 00:32:48,882 Speaker 1: pumping the story and the newspapers carrying it back east. 532 00:32:49,122 --> 00:32:51,802 Speaker 1: But it basically the Old West was the Oakland or 533 00:32:51,842 --> 00:32:54,162 Speaker 1: the Chicago of back then where it's just a hype 534 00:32:54,202 --> 00:32:56,362 Speaker 1: of crime. It wasn't really as bad as people made 535 00:32:56,402 --> 00:32:57,962 Speaker 1: it up. Or they're like, oh man, I hate to 536 00:32:58,002 --> 00:33:00,002 Speaker 1: go out to the Old West or you know, I 537 00:33:00,042 --> 00:33:02,322 Speaker 1: guess the Wild West at that point, just like people 538 00:33:02,362 --> 00:33:04,722 Speaker 1: don't want to go to Chicago or where I live, Oakland, 539 00:33:04,762 --> 00:33:06,522 Speaker 1: where it's come on out here, man, We're ready for you. 540 00:33:06,602 --> 00:33:07,242 Speaker 1: It'll be fun. 541 00:33:07,322 --> 00:33:08,162 Speaker 5: No baseball, but. 542 00:33:08,882 --> 00:33:13,162 Speaker 1: Yeah, don't talk about that. Come on now, Sacramento taking 543 00:33:13,202 --> 00:33:13,922 Speaker 1: our team like that. 544 00:33:16,122 --> 00:33:19,402 Speaker 5: Very special episodes is made by some very special people. 545 00:33:19,962 --> 00:33:23,922 Speaker 5: This show is hosted by Danish Wartz Zaren Burnett and 546 00:33:23,962 --> 00:33:28,442 Speaker 5: me Jason English. Today's episode was written by Lucas Riley. 547 00:33:29,202 --> 00:33:33,482 Speaker 5: Our producer is Josh Fisher. Editing and sound design by 548 00:33:33,562 --> 00:33:39,282 Speaker 5: Chris Childs, Mixing and mastering by Beheid Fraser. Original music 549 00:33:39,362 --> 00:33:43,922 Speaker 5: by Elise McCoy. Research in fact checking by Austin Thompson 550 00:33:44,042 --> 00:33:49,682 Speaker 5: and Lucas Riley. Show logo by Lucy Quintinia. Special thanks 551 00:33:49,682 --> 00:33:54,442 Speaker 5: to our voice actors Zaron Josh and Carl Catele. I'm 552 00:33:54,482 --> 00:33:58,602 Speaker 5: your executive producer. We'll see you back here next Wednesday. 553 00:33:59,562 --> 00:34:11,842 Speaker 5: Very Special Episodes is a production of iHeart Podcasts.