1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Ye, 2 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: welcome back to the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you so 3 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: much for tuning in. Super producer Casey Pegram, could you 4 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: play us in with a little bit of a wild 5 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: westy music vibe. I don't know whether we can get 6 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: any no more cone for this, but a sound alike maybe. 7 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: Oh there, it is perfect. I'm beat. Yeah, it's just 8 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: good enough that we're not gonna have to pay for 9 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,480 Speaker 1: the bunch of money for him. That's that's the plan. 10 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: We're hoping to recreate the experience of being in the 11 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: wild West or watching a spaghetti western without getting sued. 12 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: You watch that Mandalorian ben I did? Yeah, I did? 13 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:04,040 Speaker 1: I did? Do you notice that was a little bit 14 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: of a you know, morricone sounded like kind of music 15 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: that listening almost almost egregiously so very much kind of vibe. 16 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: It was very like clearly like even uh structured like 17 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: in terms of like the way the movements of the 18 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: peace went very much after the good, the Bad and 19 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:26,479 Speaker 1: ugly soundtrack, and the way the plot moves is very 20 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: much a Western. It's a Western that happens to have 21 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: some space stuff involved. You know what I mean lots 22 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: of dust and lots of dust and lots of those troopes, 23 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,279 Speaker 1: you know, a stranger comes to town. We're righting or wrong. 24 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: We're teaching the townspeople to fight against these Nafari's forces, right, 25 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: I mean the very first sequence was a showdown in 26 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: a saloon. If I'm not mistaken, right, good call. You know, 27 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: the Mandalorian is a perfect way to enter today's story 28 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: because the Mandalorian was one of the reasons, without spoiling 29 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: us that so compelling for a lot of people is 30 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: that there is this a little bit of genre bending 31 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: because on paper it's a sci fi but in the 32 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: hearts of minds of the viewers, it's definitely pulling the 33 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: strings of a Western and mainly Baby Yoda. That's mainly 34 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,919 Speaker 1: why people like the show. Technically the child, the child, 35 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: that's right. It's so funny that it's become this baby Yoda. 36 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: Thinking that's not that's total misnomer. Talk to someone like 37 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: Holly Fry, she will set you straight. She we we 38 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: hung out with her this weekend and I mentioned um. 39 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: I asked her how she felt about people referring to 40 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: it as Baby Yoda. She goes nobody knows Yoda's species, right, 41 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: and that's Cannon. Uh that I think that comes from Lucas, 42 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 1: if not directly from Lucas, It's been well established, non negotiable. 43 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: No one knows the species to which Yoda, Master Yoda belongs. 44 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: There is another example of his species that is canon. 45 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: And then there's the third, which is referred to as 46 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: the Child and the Mandalorian. So in in the Mandalorian, 47 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: there is this creature that's you know what. It's kind 48 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: of like how in TLC, or maybe it was in 49 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: Discovery when they did as series on child pageants, which 50 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: Casey and I had to get involved in editing. You 51 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 1: remember that, Casey, I do remember this. I'm trying to 52 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: remember her name of the show. I can't remember the 53 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: name of the show, but I remember, Uh. I guess 54 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 1: it wasn't Honey Boo boo, was it? It was? It 55 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: was it was the soil from which Honey Boo Boo sprang. 56 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: Who used to have a name, but people just loved 57 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: a statement that this character made so much that it 58 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: became her name. They would just call her honey Boo boo. Uh. Now, 59 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: even though it's technically the child, the studios have kind 60 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: of acceded to the demand and have allowed it to 61 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: be called Baby Yoda. You know, why wouldn't that. I'm 62 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: really looking forward to that new Baby Yoda plus she 63 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: from Bill da Bear. I will be buying one for 64 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: my daughter and possibly one for myself. Yeah. I'm probably 65 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: gonna get like a onesie. What are those Japanese kigarumi? Yeah, yeah, 66 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: I'm gonna get one of those. I'm very excited about 67 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 1: the action figures. I enjoy action figures. It'll only need 68 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: to like have very limited movement though. I only need 69 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: to have his little hands be able to go up 70 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: ever so slightly, and it's a little neck to be 71 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: able to swivel. Yeah, I want the deluxe model with 72 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: like eighteen unnecessary points of articulation, you know, so like 73 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: the little the three little fingers can move and making 74 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: fingers and making Yoda hands he has. It's really creeping 75 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: me out. I want one that comes with that little 76 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: floating egg. Yeah that I want to be fully functional. 77 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: But that's asking kind of a lot, But we digress. 78 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: Baby Yoda aside, the Mandalorian is in fact a space 79 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: Western follows a lot of those tropes. It has that 80 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: whole like the town situation where the streets are empty 81 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: and the lone gunman comes walking into town. Only then 82 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: do all the bounty hunters emerge, you know, in this 83 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: case on jet packs or whatever. But I think the 84 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: cool thing about the Mandalorian is Western and his sci 85 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: Fi is that we all understand it is fictional. It 86 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: takes place in a fictional universe, right, and as much 87 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: as we may love these characters, they and the events 88 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: depicted in the show are not real. It may surprise 89 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,600 Speaker 1: some of us listening today to know that the concept 90 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: of the wild West in general has been greatly exaggerated. 91 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: The period that we would call the wild West, the 92 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: actual wild West in the United States, it's actually a 93 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,720 Speaker 1: very short span of time, and despite being a short 94 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: span of time, it captured the national imagination. You know. 95 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 1: People wanted to be out on the horizon, uh, singing, 96 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: get along, little doggies. They wanted to rope cattle, they 97 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: wanted the whole nine the ten gallon hat. And it 98 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: turns out that just living vicariously through the world of 99 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 1: film was not quite enough to satisfy the wild West 100 00:05:55,560 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: itch of audience members, and so people began to recreate 101 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,720 Speaker 1: to the best of their ability the scenes they had 102 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: seen depicted on film, and they also depicted these sort 103 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: of like a oh, it's like a re enactment village. 104 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:14,039 Speaker 1: You know what I mean if you've ever been to 105 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: the Virginia's or you know one of those like colonial 106 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,159 Speaker 1: towns where they go, this is how we turn butter 107 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: and you know, we have to uh, we have to 108 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:26,359 Speaker 1: burn these people as witches. I'm kidding hopefully about that 109 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: last part. That's a little dark. But all of these things, 110 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: these tropes, these depictions of fiction, these recreated experiences, they 111 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: all come to a head in a small town called Palisade, Nevada, 112 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: not Palisades, just the one Palisade, Nevada. Today there's nothing left. 113 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: But once upon a time it used to be a 114 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: cavalcade of Wild West themed adventures. Yes, it's true, almost 115 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: like a low tech West world. Um. Because in the 116 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: eighteen seventies, uh, Palace said, Nevada had kind of a 117 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: rep as being a pretty tough place full of outlaws 118 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: and bounty hunters and you know, loose women and the like. Um. 119 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: And you know, the place that was prone to stagecoach robberies, 120 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: shootouts or even attacks from Indian tribes from from the area. 121 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: But here's the thing. It was actually like West World, 122 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: a whole bunch of theater minus the the ridiculous lee 123 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: advanced ai um. But just the same, it did get 124 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: that reputation, and there were some people that weren't in 125 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: on the joke. Uh. Newspaper reporters for example, who wrote 126 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: about the place as though it were real. Um with 127 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: that that whole notion of being a real, you know, 128 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: rough and tumble place full of tough customers and outlaws, etcetera. 129 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: It's interesting. So Palisade, Nevada, during the the age of 130 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: the railroad, it only had a population of about three hundred. 131 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: It was kind of like it was one of those 132 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: towns that just sprang up because of the railroad, and 133 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: it was this isolated, kind of kind of rough place, 134 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: you know. It was named originally it was named Palisades 135 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: in the plural uh, named after the rock cliffs that 136 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: were the east of town. They were on the banks 137 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: of the Humble River, and according to publication called The 138 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: Pacific Tourist, which was a guidebook for people traveling by 139 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:34,439 Speaker 1: rail in the late eighteen hundreds, the town was halfway 140 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:41,679 Speaker 1: down this crazy wild Canyon, and it was largely untraveled, 141 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,559 Speaker 1: and the upper half of the canyon was so rugged 142 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 1: that quote not even a horseman venta through it. So 143 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: this town, even it was found in eighteen sixty eight. 144 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,080 Speaker 1: I'm getting a little ahead of myself there. When it 145 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: was founded, it was just a place to water the 146 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 1: steam engines on the Control Pacific Railroad. And it grew 147 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 1: into a depot in the eighteen seventies, so it was 148 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: at one time it was a real you know, wild 149 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: West town, that's right. It actually was a pretty popular 150 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: depot in the eighteen seventies. Um Elko and Carlon were 151 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 1: two other depost stops, and it it was it gave 152 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: them a run for their money on the Central Pacific 153 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: line that was for wagon free and stage lines. UM 154 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: on the way to Mineral Hill, Eureka and Hamilton's uh 155 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: And Palisade was a very big shipping hub destro center 156 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 1: for sheep and cattle UM and also other types of 157 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: shipments coming from the east and west. And we have 158 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 1: a really great account of some of these details on 159 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: the Elko Daily dot com. And it's interesting. Um the 160 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: town was very resive, very resilient little town. It actually 161 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 1: survived a pretty serious fire, um and a flood around 162 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: nineteen ten. Um. But yeah, I mean, the the whole 163 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:13,199 Speaker 1: idea behind this place is that it had this reputation. 164 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 1: There were reports that they were all of these crazy 165 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: massacres that were happening on the regular uh, specifically when 166 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 1: the train would pass through. Um and and was this 167 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,080 Speaker 1: a coincidence? It turns out it wasn't a coincidence because 168 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 1: the residents of Palisay were um, actually putting on a 169 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:33,680 Speaker 1: bit of a show. It was all a bunch of 170 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: theater for the tourists. They would you know, league up 171 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: even with local Native American tribes from the Shoshonee tribe, 172 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: and they would put on these massacres, using everything from 173 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: you know, blank rounds, two gallons of cattle blood to 174 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: create the illusion that these were real shootouts. Um. So, 175 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 1: and the thing that I was confused about, and then 176 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: I was asking about earlier, is do you think that 177 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: the folks were in on it? Um, the folks who 178 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: rode by and saw these things. I'm guessing that eventually 179 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,440 Speaker 1: they may be aware, but uh, it certainly seems that 180 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: some folks weren't in on the joke, because there were 181 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: newspaper articles being written left and right about how this 182 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: place was so rough. Um. But as it turns out, 183 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: all these folks were just amateur actors. That's correct. According 184 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: to an article in the Eureka Sentinel by Dave Maxwell, 185 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:31,680 Speaker 1: it turned out that the vast majority of people who 186 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:34,720 Speaker 1: were passing through on the Central Pacific train line had 187 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:40,000 Speaker 1: no idea that these robberies and these attacks were staged. Now, 188 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: we are not sure at this point exactly how these uh, 189 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 1: this idea of fake shootouts began, but you'll see some 190 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: historians saying that a train conductor once talked to a 191 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: resident of Palisade, Nevada, and said, you know, my passengers 192 00:11:56,679 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: loved the idea of the wild West. They read it 193 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 1: and dime novels and all this other stuff, and they're 194 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: kind of disappointed. They're a little defleated when they passed 195 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: through and it's just a regular town. So what seems 196 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: to have occurred is that the town people said, oh, 197 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: you want, you want a wild West experience, Well, by golly, 198 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: you're going to have it. So anyway, they were already actors. 199 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:19,959 Speaker 1: They just happened to be a town of like nascent 200 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: actors that were looking for an outlet to apply their craft, 201 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: and it was just a perfect storm where they're like, 202 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,240 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, Okay, now we've got finally we've 203 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:30,080 Speaker 1: been thirsting to tread the boards, and now here we 204 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: are with the perfect opportunity. What do you think that 205 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:35,440 Speaker 1: this is all very interesting to me? It seems like 206 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: because because they're amateurs, it seems like they took inspiration. 207 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: Maybe there were a few sort of repressed would be actors, uh, 208 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: but but I think they really began doing this purposely 209 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:55,320 Speaker 1: for the railroad. The townspeople started recruiting amongst themselves. They 210 00:12:55,400 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: got railroad workers in on the job, and they even, 211 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: as you said, got a local community of Native Americans 212 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: to join in. And for three years they would do 213 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,439 Speaker 1: these fake gunfights. Uh. These these attacks they would use 214 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: beef blood from the local slaughter house. And they were 215 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 1: able to pull this off because when these trains pulled 216 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 1: into town, they would be bound for places like San 217 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 1: Francisco or Chicago, and this is where they would make 218 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:26,200 Speaker 1: a stop. So you wouldn't be cramped up in the 219 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 1: passenger car all day. Of course, you want to get out, 220 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: you want to walk around, pick up some snacks and 221 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,199 Speaker 1: that's when the quote unquote attacks would ocur. I mean, 222 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:42,320 Speaker 1: I guess that's lucky that nobody got hurt, right. I 223 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: can't get over the West World comparison here, because this 224 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: is like West World, but yet this is during the 225 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: time or supposedly that type of scene existed, and folks 226 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 1: might remember or if not, you should check it out. 227 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: We did an episode pretty early in the history of 228 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:00,199 Speaker 1: the show called the Wild West was pretty dull or 229 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:03,240 Speaker 1: wasn't really that wild at all? And um, that really 230 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: does go and to show how uh, these law these 231 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: these super lawless and violent um towns were quite largely 232 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:17,680 Speaker 1: the product of of some fictionalization and and fabulousm from 233 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: uh you know, yellow journalism to you know, actual fictionalized accounts. Um. 234 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: But this was taking that and and pushing it to 235 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,240 Speaker 1: the next level. I just imagine people kind of getting 236 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: off and that that that I'm going to San Francisco, 237 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:33,080 Speaker 1: gonna get me a little snag, hopes better step over this, 238 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: uh you know, bloodied corpse here, and uh, this is 239 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: all really fun and thrilling. I mean, I just you know, 240 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: you would think that people would stop wanting to travel 241 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: through it, but I think they were so thrilled by 242 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: it that they the word of mouth spread and they're like, oh, 243 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: this is great. And yet it's still not clear if 244 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: everybody knew that it was staged or not. It's true 245 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: from what we can see, quite a few of the 246 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: passengers had no idea what was pennine. We get some 247 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 1: of this information from a Nevada historian named Dan Ashball, 248 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: and Dan follows the follows, like the order of the 249 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: typical fake attack or fake robbery, the residents of the town, 250 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: or the railroad workers or the Native American community would 251 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: wait till all the passengers got off, and then the 252 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: shooting started. And the people the only people who fell 253 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: when they got shot quote unquote, where the victims passengers 254 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: thought there was straight up an attack, a train robbery, 255 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: they screamed with terror. According to Dan, at least they 256 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: ran for safe spots, and he notes that some people 257 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: even dove under the train cars, which is a very 258 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: dangerous place to be. And I don't think, you know, 259 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: I don't think it was like a haunted house to them. 260 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 1: I think they thought they were going to get shot 261 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: in the head. I think you're right bad. That's that's 262 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: the thing that I'm I'm trying to wrap my head 263 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: around because this was clearly meant to help bolster tourism. 264 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: But I don't want to go on vacation to a 265 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: place where I might get murdered, do you. I mean 266 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: we're very different people. Yeah, and I'm thinking that in 267 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: that way we would be mostly a lot I've got 268 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 1: I've traveled to some weird places that not like not 269 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: on a family trip. I don't think it would be 270 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: fair to take my girlfriends sort of a death wish adventurer. 271 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: You are huh uh, you know, living on the edge. 272 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 1: I think Ari Smith said it best. But I consent 273 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: to do these sorts of things. The people on this 274 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: train very importantly did not. So my question is how 275 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: would this have conceivably helped with tourism? Yeah, you know, 276 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: that's that's the question. Now, this was a boom and 277 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 1: make no mistake, over the span of this I don't 278 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: know what you would call it, immersive theater. Over the 279 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: span of this improv everywhere predecessor. Over the span of 280 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: this con they perpetrated like a thousand something fake rob 281 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 1: reads or attacks. In retrospect, we can laugh at this 282 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: because not a single passenger also called a green horn 283 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,199 Speaker 1: or a tenderfoot, and not a single railroad employee was 284 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:13,920 Speaker 1: ever injured. It turned out only the local folks were 285 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:18,159 Speaker 1: quote unquote injured. Uh. Dan Ashball also notes this is 286 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:20,439 Speaker 1: this is a funny line. He says, none of the 287 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: passengers ever seemed to notice that the victims were quickly 288 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:26,919 Speaker 1: carried over to Johnson Saloon, where they miraculously recovered and 289 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,360 Speaker 1: could watch the last act. The way its structure makes 290 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: me think, yeah, there was there was probably someone with 291 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: some theater background who was leading the charge on this, 292 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,440 Speaker 1: fascinated by the whole thing. Um, I would have loved 293 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 1: to witness that, blessed with the knowledge that I was 294 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: I was not going to get shot in the face. Um. 295 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: But you know, like many good things, I don't know 296 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:50,879 Speaker 1: if this is necessarily a good thing. This honestly seemed 297 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,640 Speaker 1: like a pretty cruel prank to play on these green 298 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:56,120 Speaker 1: horns with a term of abuse thrown around in those 299 00:17:56,200 --> 00:18:00,679 Speaker 1: days for city slickers, folks that don't have the knowledge 300 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: or experienced life on the range. Um. But you know, 301 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:07,440 Speaker 1: it kind of backs up what I would think would 302 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:09,640 Speaker 1: maybe be more of the reason there was a boom 303 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: in the first place, which was the fact that this 304 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: was a kind of a depot town and the trains 305 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:20,639 Speaker 1: passed through. But when Eureka, UM, when Eureka's minds began 306 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:25,159 Speaker 1: to you know, be um depleted, around eighteen eighty five, 307 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: Palisades started to kind of become a little less relevant. Um. 308 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: By nineteen o two, the railroad company transferred this property 309 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:41,679 Speaker 1: to a new company out of Utah and renamed it 310 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 1: the Eureka and Palisade Railway Company. But then possibly due 311 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: to some improvements in mine technology, it was several years later. 312 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:54,159 Speaker 1: After all, the nineteen oh two Eureka began to experience 313 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: kind of a renewed interest in its mind. They were 314 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: going to give it another go, looking for more old 315 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:04,439 Speaker 1: and oars. So by the nineteen tens, um it was 316 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:06,919 Speaker 1: kind of experiencing the whole area was experiencing sort of 317 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:11,920 Speaker 1: a reboom, let's say, or a new um improvement in 318 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 1: its fortunes. And they found uh quite a big haul 319 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: of or every day uh that was hauled on that 320 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 1: railroad line to Palisay, where it was still you know, 321 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 1: had the qualities of a depot. Uh. So it was 322 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: able to be transferred to another rail line, the Southern 323 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: Pacific rail line and taken too places like Salt Lake 324 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,959 Speaker 1: City where it could then be smelted. But remember I 325 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,200 Speaker 1: referred to this as a pretty resilient town. Um. I 326 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,640 Speaker 1: think I might have mischaracterized that because that actually, uh 327 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,440 Speaker 1: wasn't necessarily the case when it came to the severe 328 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:52,879 Speaker 1: flood and fires that ravaged the place. Uh soon after 329 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: this renewed boom. Um, it wouldn't necessarily recover so well 330 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,160 Speaker 1: from these. The floods of nineteen ten caused a lot 331 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,280 Speaker 1: of damage to the tracks. I ever thought about that then, 332 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: I guess floods if railroad tracks are you know, laid 333 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:13,120 Speaker 1: in areas that could potentially become muddy, they could could 334 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,239 Speaker 1: kind of shake loose, or they could actually like become damage, right, 335 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:18,920 Speaker 1: isn't that sort of the idea. Yeah, because they're they're 336 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: built on the ground, so if the ground beneath them 337 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: or roads, then they have nothing to be moored onto. 338 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,199 Speaker 1: So this was a real problem. I mean, you know, 339 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: there was a lot of damage and erosion caused by 340 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,720 Speaker 1: the floods. Uh, so they weren't really able to kind 341 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: of continue using it in the way that it had 342 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 1: been used in the past. And then we um see 343 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,400 Speaker 1: that the nineteen twelve the property was actually bought by 344 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: George Whittle and the Eureka Nevada Railway Company. Not quite 345 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:44,920 Speaker 1: sure what they were intending to do with it. But 346 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: then we have a new player entering the game. Let's 347 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: introduce a character, John E. Sexton. He is the general 348 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:56,199 Speaker 1: manager of the Eureka Nevada Railway line and he steers 349 00:20:56,359 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: this operation through those difficult flood old stormy years. When 350 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,680 Speaker 1: he passed his away in seven, his brother, Charles B. 351 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,440 Speaker 1: Sexton becomes the general manager. And there you know, they're 352 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,200 Speaker 1: making it work, they're making it go, They're doing their best. 353 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 1: However it ultimately goes could put in September nineteen the 354 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: little railroad between Eureka and Palisade is abandoned and the 355 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:29,160 Speaker 1: rails are literally pulled up out of that flood prone 356 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 1: ground and they are sold as scrap to Japan. With 357 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,840 Speaker 1: the railroad closing down, it turns out that there was 358 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: no reason for a town to be out here. The 359 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: railroad was the lifeblood of the entire community. This is 360 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,880 Speaker 1: something we can see with the creation of the interstate system. 361 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 1: Uh you would have towns that existed only because they 362 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 1: were valuable stopovers. Or crossovers for old state roads and 363 00:21:57,359 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 1: things like that. But once you have an I seventy 364 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: five or an I twenty cutting a straight line through 365 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: the wild, these towns have no more reason to exist. Yeah, 366 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: that's very true. And that absolutely became the case for Palisade, 367 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:15,320 Speaker 1: and and it really began to just completely deteriorate over 368 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: time until there really just wasn't that much left to 369 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 1: speak of. Um talk about a ghost town. I mean 370 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:23,840 Speaker 1: it really not only was it abandoned of of humans. Um, 371 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: all of that stuff had been kind of sold for 372 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: scrap to Japan, like you had said, and it was really, 373 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:32,399 Speaker 1: you know, in in complete and utter shambles. Yeah. And 374 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,560 Speaker 1: one of the next times it made the news just 375 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 1: a year later, in ninety nine. Uh, it was because 376 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:42,959 Speaker 1: of an unfortunate event. There was a real disaster. Uh. 377 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: Southern Pacific train named the City of San Francisco derailed 378 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:51,159 Speaker 1: nearby and there were two hundred and twenty passengers and 379 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: crew aboard. Twenty four were killed, a hundred and twenty 380 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:59,480 Speaker 1: one were injured. And so Palisade existed still on paper 381 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:03,280 Speaker 1: in the realm of technicalities and this liminal space, because again, 382 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: there's not really reason for people to live there, but 383 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,879 Speaker 1: there's still government infrastructure, at least that is up until 384 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty one or nineteen sixty two, when the Palisade 385 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:18,919 Speaker 1: Post Office was officially closed. And oh, man, you know 386 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: you're in trouble when the post office in your town closes. 387 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 1: It's like the last school closing, dude. And no exactly. 388 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:25,960 Speaker 1: I mean even like you know, living here in Georgia, 389 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,159 Speaker 1: traveling say to Athens or some of the more um 390 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: rural places you go through to get there, even like us, 391 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: a town that's like a street length long has a 392 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,879 Speaker 1: post office, you know, I mean that that it really 393 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: is the sign of like the last vestiges of civilization, 394 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 1: which is interesting. That's still the case. So fast forward 395 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 1: to the present, roughly so around April of two thousand five. UM. 396 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: This town has been in the Sexton family since the 397 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:01,879 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties, uh, and it had finally come time for 398 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: the uh. The descendant of that original John and Charles Sexton, 399 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: who were the general managers and owners of the town 400 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 1: um back in the day, to unloaded um because he 401 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 1: wanted to send his daughter to college. And you know, 402 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: college isn't isn't cheap, So he sold it for what 403 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: I would consider a pretty reasonable sums about the price 404 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,439 Speaker 1: you'd pay for a mid sized home. Um. You know, 405 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: he sold a whole town for a hundred and fifty 406 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,879 Speaker 1: thousand dollars. Uh. This was in the two thousands, so 407 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 1: that that was having the inflation, isn't that insane? Um 408 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,960 Speaker 1: from two thousand five to nineteen, So I would I 409 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: don't know, we don't have the inflation calculator. I would. 410 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:40,679 Speaker 1: I would guess that it would be maybe in the 411 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: realm of two fifty thousand dollars in today's dollars. But 412 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,399 Speaker 1: that's just a guess, um. But it was actually you know, 413 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: the way it's characterized in this article, uh from the 414 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 1: San Francisco Gate is quote it was the most money 415 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: ever paid for nothing that anyone could remember. So, yeah, 416 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: was a d thirty five year old Nevada ghost town 417 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: um that still existed on paper. But Ben, surely there's 418 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,200 Speaker 1: land involved, right, I mean when when when they say 419 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:14,240 Speaker 1: there's nothing, there's nothing there? But was that you know, 420 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 1: for that for the area and they could actually redevelop 421 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 1: or now So for Sexton, this is a financial decision, 422 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,240 Speaker 1: but it's a it's an emotionally hefty decision for him 423 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:29,680 Speaker 1: as well, because his mother loved the place. John Sexton, 424 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 1: the current Sexton, was around fifty years old at the time, 425 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:37,920 Speaker 1: but he hadn't been back to Palisade for almost forty years, 426 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: thirty five years, and you know, to raise the money 427 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 1: for his daughter's tuition, he decided not to do a 428 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:49,480 Speaker 1: straight up sale but to auction the town because there 429 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:53,360 Speaker 1: was a big kind of wild West themed auction at 430 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:57,040 Speaker 1: what was called the Greg Martin auction House in Salt 431 00:25:57,119 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: Lake City on Third Street. And to your point about 432 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: a whole lot of nothing, Uh, here's here's what they had. Uh. 433 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 1: They have photos that would help people bid on this lot. Uh. 434 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 1: The town was lot number two five one two and 435 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: in the auction catalog you can see photos that show 436 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: what the winner of the bid will actually get. It 437 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: was though, I mean they got land. Yes. Uh. The 438 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:26,640 Speaker 1: nothing to which you're referring is a lack of infrastructure 439 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 1: because other than rattlesnakes, tumbleweeds, casey kicking that Wild West 440 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: music again, half of a rusted car, you know, uh, 441 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:40,639 Speaker 1: washing machine, a cemetery. Uh, there was nothing else. You know, 442 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,080 Speaker 1: there's not a post office. You're not buying like a 443 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: working water. Uh. You know water treatment plant have a 444 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 1: handful of graves. UM. One of them a Miss Mary H. 445 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,480 Speaker 1: Hardy Um who died in nineteen hundred and her gravestone 446 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,919 Speaker 1: red gone but not forgotten, which was a popular at 447 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 1: Beataff at the time. And you know, there were also 448 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 1: a few historical roadside plaques. And according to this SFK article, 449 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,680 Speaker 1: um both used the word decline to describe the place. 450 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 1: And that's sort of it's uh, it's place in history 451 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,880 Speaker 1: is being a place in decline. That's mostly what it's 452 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: known for. But I do still stand by a hundred 453 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:26,160 Speaker 1: and fifty thousand dollars for what a hundred and sixty 454 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,920 Speaker 1: acres Isn't that not a crazy bad deal. It all 455 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,040 Speaker 1: depends on the location. If there is potable water, that 456 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,520 Speaker 1: definitely brings it up. Uh. And you know the thing 457 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 1: is that people were buying this, aren't buying it to resurrected. Uh. 458 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: The bidding came down to three anonymous people who were 459 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: relaying their bids via telephone, and they were fans of 460 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: ghost towns. And the bidding actually faltered at a hundred 461 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 1: and thirty thousand dollars. People dropped out, but whomever bought 462 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:01,879 Speaker 1: this anonymously. By the way, wanted to buy the ghost town. 463 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,959 Speaker 1: They wanted the decline, the emptiness. What a weird flex. Hey, 464 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 1: let me show you my ghost town, my ghost town collection. 465 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 1: That'd be a weird first date, you know, take someone 466 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: to your ghost town and have a romantic picnic lunch 467 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:17,920 Speaker 1: in the abandoned cemetery next to the rusted car. I 468 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:19,920 Speaker 1: would love it. I want a ghost town. I feel 469 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,920 Speaker 1: like that would be a great thing to have, you know, now, Ben, 470 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 1: here's a question for you and I, and I tend 471 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:27,879 Speaker 1: to agree with you. There is Is there a list 472 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 1: of ghost towns that people can visit? There are many lists. 473 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 1: I would love to do that. That would be an interesting, 474 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,600 Speaker 1: a little little trip. Check out some ghost towns. Yeah, 475 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 1: I've been to a few myself. Um, and I would say, 476 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 1: depending on where you live, there are more. Of course, 477 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,760 Speaker 1: they're abandoned buildings everywhere, but there are more ghost towns 478 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:49,120 Speaker 1: out there than you might think. Just be just be 479 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: careful and acknowledge, you know, obey any signs. If you 480 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,200 Speaker 1: see something that says no trespassing out at the city 481 00:28:55,240 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 1: limits of like disappearant in or Vanishville or something whatever. 482 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: Your ghost town is called, there might be somebody there. 483 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 1: And there are a lot of towns out there with 484 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: a population and like less than ten people. So do 485 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: respect their privacy in their space. And do also remember 486 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:16,000 Speaker 1: the Palisade, while it's a ghost town now, was home 487 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: to some other significant historical events. Right. It's true President 488 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: Herbert Hoover UM had an attempt on his life there, 489 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:30,480 Speaker 1: uh in nineteen thirty two. This is you know, allegedly, Um, 490 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:34,640 Speaker 1: there was an attempted assassination right before his train card. 491 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:36,520 Speaker 1: It makes sense because this was this was very much 492 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: a place that would you know, there would be a 493 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 1: pass through for a train transporting someone like this Um. 494 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,960 Speaker 1: Right before his train would have gone through palisade, there 495 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 1: was an inspector who came across Um, a homeless person 496 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: by one of the railroad trestles, who had sticks of 497 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:58,480 Speaker 1: dynamites supposedly intended to blow up the railroad bridge. Yeah, 498 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: but the the inspectors didn't all agree. There was another 499 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: inspector who said, hey, that that vagrant, that vagabond did 500 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,560 Speaker 1: not in fact have any dined in my long story short, 501 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 1: Hoover survived pretty cool, right, And here ends the tale 502 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:18,120 Speaker 1: of Palisade, Nevada. We'd love to hear some stories about 503 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 1: some other ghost towns in your neck of the Global Woods. 504 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:24,160 Speaker 1: We also want to give a shout out to our 505 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:28,520 Speaker 1: previous episode on wild West Myths. You want to laundry 506 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:30,840 Speaker 1: list just a couple Yeah, we we we we Um. 507 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: We found out a lot about that, um real early 508 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:35,640 Speaker 1: on in the show. Um, the idea that cowboy hats 509 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,560 Speaker 1: weren't really as much of a thing as they were depicted, 510 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:42,280 Speaker 1: and overall the wild West just wasn't that wild at all. 511 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 1: There was way less violence than uh, popular fiction and 512 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:49,959 Speaker 1: culture would lead us to believe, far fewer cowboy hats. 513 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 1: Bank robberies were not as common as you think, at 514 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 1: least not real ones. Okay, the bank robbery of Palisade 515 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,280 Speaker 1: pretty regular for a few years, but again fake. And 516 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:04,600 Speaker 1: it really is popular culture and American cinema and of 517 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,640 Speaker 1: course Italian spaghetti westerns that really created the legacy that 518 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 1: we know of the wild West, which was you know, 519 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: much exaggerated. UM just rewatched Once upon a Time in 520 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 1: Hollywood on a flight yesterday and really really enjoyed all 521 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 1: the depictions of the spawn movie ranch UM, which was 522 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: this like really insane movie set kind of ranch out 523 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:29,080 Speaker 1: in the outskirts of Los Angeles where a lot of 524 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 1: westerns and television shows were filmed. And it turns out 525 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 1: that the first ever feature film was actually a western 526 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 1: out of Australia in nineteen o six, and it was 527 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,480 Speaker 1: called the Story of the Kelly Gang uh and followed 528 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:50,120 Speaker 1: uh the real life kind of misadventures of Ned Kelly, 529 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:54,400 Speaker 1: who was a well known um gangster. I guess outlaw um, 530 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: so you know, it really was something that was kind 531 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 1: of cemented by that golden age of how he would 532 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: uh and uh. If you haven't seen Once upon a 533 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:04,480 Speaker 1: Time in Hollywood, I do recommend it. It's got a 534 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,720 Speaker 1: lot of interesting tidbits about this kind of period in 535 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,719 Speaker 1: movie and television history. I'd also like to give a 536 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:14,960 Speaker 1: shout out to my old man, the Colonel himself, who 537 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,840 Speaker 1: you may remember from a previous episode on States That 538 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: Never Were. Turns out, old Colonel bull And grew up 539 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: with a train car that would do the same kind 540 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: of a very similar thing. You would take a ride 541 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 1: on this historic train and you would be subjected to 542 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: a fake uh, fake Native American attack. I actually reached 543 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: out to him earlier to to get the full skinny. 544 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:42,640 Speaker 1: If he has the full skinny, I like it. I 545 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: like it too. If he has some insight into these 546 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: kind of recreations, then I would I would love to 547 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: hear it. We'd also love to hear your stories. Uh. 548 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,200 Speaker 1: And you know what give the wild West and the 549 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,760 Speaker 1: American Zeit guys a tough time if you must. Sure 550 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,200 Speaker 1: the Wild West was largely exact rated, but come on, 551 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,320 Speaker 1: it gave us so much amazing fiction. It gave us, 552 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:06,239 Speaker 1: you know, the Man with No Name, It gave us 553 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:09,400 Speaker 1: the Mandalorian. It gave us one of my favorite musicians 554 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,840 Speaker 1: of all time, anywo, Morri Coney. I cannot hate it, 555 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,240 Speaker 1: even if it's fictional. He gave us baby Yoda, which 556 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 1: is um you know, I would say the greatest gift 557 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:18,280 Speaker 1: of all. And with that we would like to thank you, 558 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:21,720 Speaker 1: as always for tuning in. Big thanks, of course to 559 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:24,840 Speaker 1: our super producer Casey Pegram. Huge thanks to Alex Williams 560 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:29,520 Speaker 1: who composed our theme research associate Gabe Loser, Christopher Hasiota's 561 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 1: here in Spirit, and Jonathan Strickland, that uh notorious and 562 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:37,160 Speaker 1: mischievous quister. Big thanks as well to Eve's Jeff coach 563 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:40,760 Speaker 1: check out her show This Day in History Class where 564 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:45,800 Speaker 1: spoiler alert, you might hear two of you'll hear us 565 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:48,800 Speaker 1: making appearance act surprised. If you wish, you can join 566 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,640 Speaker 1: our Facebook group we are the Ridiculous Historians. You can 567 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,160 Speaker 1: check that out. Just name me or Ben as human 568 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:57,040 Speaker 1: people or you know some other references. We'll get you 569 00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,800 Speaker 1: in the door easily. You can check us out individually 570 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:03,240 Speaker 1: um On social media, I am exclusively on Instagram at 571 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,480 Speaker 1: how Now Noel Brown, and you can find me in 572 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 1: a Burst of Creativity at Ben Bolan on Instagram. Tune 573 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 1: into that one, especially because there are a couple of 574 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:15,959 Speaker 1: weird places I'm going to try to get over the 575 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,800 Speaker 1: next two months. You can also find me on Twitter 576 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:22,960 Speaker 1: where I am at Ben Bolan h s W And 577 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:26,840 Speaker 1: with that we say get along little doggies. I just 578 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:31,440 Speaker 1: wondered where they actually dogs like prairie dogs. Maybe maybe Ben, 579 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:33,720 Speaker 1: you take care of yourself on your adventures, my friend. 580 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,240 Speaker 1: I worry about you sometimes. I want you to be safe, 581 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:47,719 Speaker 1: and safe travels to you as well more than books. 582 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:49,800 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the I 583 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,799 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 584 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:53,760 Speaker 1: your favorite shows,