The Wild West Extravaganza is a history podcast that delves into the fascinating and often tumultuous world of the American Old West. From famous outlaws like Billy the Kid and Jesse James to lawmen like Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickok to trailblazing pioneers, Native Americans, and frontiersmen, The Wild West Extravaganza tells the stories of the real-life characters who shaped this iconic period of American history. So saddle up and discover the true history of the American frontier – the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s a journey you don’t want to miss.
“It’s just as easy to make big money as little money. In my profession, a hundred dollars is just chicken feed. We think in thousands, not tens. Experience has taught me that it is as easy to separate a sucker – the right sucker – from five thousand dollars as from fifty. We always offered our services to well-to-do men, holding out the promise that their investments were certain to net them profit in three to four figures, at least – and that’s the real bait for the sucker – particularly if he’s the close-fisted kind that always wants something for nothing. Yes, there always was a lot of satisfaction as well as cash profit in trimming some old skin flint who would rob his grandmother if he had a chance.” – Doc Bags; a legendary con artist and frontier gambler who plied his trade throughout the West. Although Doc is largely forgotten today, his lasting legacy was his most notorious apprentice, a young man from Georgia who’d come to be known as Soapy Smith. You see it’s on the streets of Denver that Smith learned all Doc Bags had to teach. And when it came time for Doc to move on, young Soapy took his spot as the undisputed kingpin of the mile-high city. But he wasn’t a gunman, at least not really. Instead of colt revolvers, Soapy’s weapon of choice was a quick wit coupled with a silver tongue, a whole helluva lot of charisma, and the magical ability to make people see and believe things that did not exist; all of which would earn him the title of King of the Frontier Conmen. That said, Soapy certainly wasn’t afraid of resorting to violence if the situation called for it. With an army of thugs at his disposal, Smith would face down more than a few deadly killers. And like many other icons of the Old West, Soapy would ultimately go down in a blaze of gunfire. They say fortune favors the bold and they don’t get much bolder than Soapy Smith, a charming rogue who spent his life operating in the shadows, leaving behind a legend as complex as the frontier he called home. Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ King Con: The Story of Soapy Smith by Jane G. Haigh – https://www.amazon.com/dp/0962753076?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzjoshta02-20&creativeASIN=0962753076&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.YEHGNY7KFAU7&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_asin Merchandise! https://www.teepublic.com/user/wild-west-extravaganza Book Recommendations! https://www.amazon.com/shop/wildwestextravaganza/list/YEHGNY7KFAU7?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d
There’s just something about uncontacted tribes that’s always piqued my curiosity. Perhaps you’ve heard of Ishi, who, as the last of his people, emerged from California’s Sierra foothills in the summer of 1911. It’s estimated that Ishi was around 50 years of age and spent the vast majority of his life completely cut off from modern society. And for good reason, after all his tribe was literally slaughtered in a series of massacres.
Then there’s the Bronco Apache I covered here on The Wild West Extravaganza way back when. Link in the description. These guys and gals were still making raids into Arizona and New Mexico as late as 1926. Hell, even a decade later they themselves were being hunted in the mountains of northern Mexico. According to Jason Betzinez, an Apache who rode with Geronimo, those Broncos were still out there as recently as 1959.
Now I don’t know how accurate that is, but if true that’s still quite a long time ago. I think it’s safe to say that as of this recording, there are no remaining uncontacted tribes anywhere in North America.
South America is a different story, though. And let’s not forget about Africa or India. Per the experts at Survival International, there are currently over one hundred uncontacted tribes worldwide. A number that absolutely blows my mind.
If that seems like a lot, I will say that the term uncontacted is a little misleading. Generally speaking, it’s used to describe certain indigenous peoples who AVOID all contact with outsiders. Doesn’t mean they’ve never met anyone else or that they’ve never physically touched or owned modern objects. So long as they continue to avoid all contact with outsiders, they are considered uncontacted.
And today you’re going to hear about a group who, in my opinion, are about as uncontacted as you can possibly get. They have no trade with neighboring tribes, they brook no interference from outsiders and we don’t even know what language they speak, much less what they call themselves.
The following is courtesy of Rich Napolitano and his podcast, Shipwrecks and Seadogs:
North Sentinel Island is a remote and largely isolated island located in the Bay of Bengal, belonging to the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago of India. The island is known for its indigenous inhabitants, the Sentinelese, who have fiercely resisted contact with the outside world, maintaining their traditional way of life and avoiding interactions with modern society. Due to their isolation and the limited knowledge about their language and culture, the Sentinelese people remain one of the last uncontacted tribes on Earth, making North Sentinel Island a unique and heavily restricted area for anthropological study and preserving their autonomy. Over recorded history, a number of ships have wrecked near the island, causing unpleasant confrontations with the native people of North Sentinel Island.
Seadogs and Shipwrecks – https://shipwrecksandseadogs.com/
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Original theme music for Seadogs and Shipwrecks by Sean Siegfried – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgBMxexyt1grjt6G1gHHwZA
Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/
The Bronco Apache – https://www.wildwestextra.com/the-last-wild-apache/
Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/
Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest
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Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/
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