logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2024
17m 58s

The Silver Rush Kings and the "Big Bonan...

iHeartPodcasts
About this episode

On this episode of Our American Stories, straight out of a Horatio Alger novel, the Silver Kings (John Mackay, James Fair, William O'Brien, and James Flood) epitomized the rags-to-riches American dream story. Roger McGrath tells the story of the richest mineral discovery in American history - the Comstock Lode.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Today
St. Louie Louie: The Rise and Fall of a Pool Hall Legend
On this episode of Our American Stories, in pool halls across St. Louis, there was a player people spoke about in hushed tones. They called him St. Louie Louie, a natural talent with a cue stick who could run a table clean and leave even seasoned players high and dry. But his rei ... Show More
10m 49s
Today
A Presidential-Sized Comeback: The Story of Ulysses S. Grant
On this episode of Our American Stories, before he led the Union Army to victory in the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant was a man who seemed to be going nowhere. He graduated near the bottom of his class at West Point, struggled on remote frontier posts, and left the Army under a clo ... Show More
27m 27s
Today
The Streets Were My Father: A Chicago Gang Member’s Road to Redemption
On this episode of Our American Stories, Carlos Colon spent his early years searching for a father figure and found it in the streets of Chicago. Gang life gave him identity and purpose, but it also drew him into violence that followed him into prison after he took another man’s ... Show More
20m 18s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2020
Part One: The Dumbest Colonizer in History
tail spinning
1h 11m
Oct 2023
S2 E42 - Michael Harriot
Ed talks with columnist, writer and political commentator Michael Harriot. They talk about his latest New Times best seller, Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed history of America. The book looks at American History from A Black perspective and offers an unvarnished and sometime ... Show More
30m 34s
Feb 2024
James Baldwin's Shadow (Throwback)
James Baldwin believed that America has been lying to itself since its founding. An insightful commentator on Black identity, American democracy, and racism, he saw something deep and ugly and stubborn in American culture, and never hesitated to call it by its name — to bear witn ... Show More
44m 24s
Aug 2022
OFH Throwback- Episode #96- What is America's Weirdest Secret Society?
In this "throwback episode" we look back at episode #96. In the 1930’s a famous California history professor thought he had discovered a long lost historical treasure. It was a brass plate apparently inscribed by the famous English adventurer Sir. Francis Drake. The plate was her ... Show More
1h 2m
Aug 2023
The Hungerford Deed
<p>When a <a href="https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/tale-three-contracts?utm_source=si.edu&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=oneSmithsonian" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">200-year-old legal document</a> anonymously arrived at his office, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives c ... Show More
29m 8s
Mar 2024
SYMHC Classics: James G. Fair
This 2019 episode covers James G. Fair, known as the Silver King. But though Fair often appears on lists of the richest men in U.S. history, his image was also tainted by scandal. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
31m 8s
Jan 2023
American Dreamer
Ryan Hurst (Remember The Titans, Sons of Anarchy) stars in this episode, which follows the romance between a young couple that is split apart when war sends one of them across the world. You can hear more about this story by reading the novel it's based on, American Dreamer: A Lo ... Show More
29m 40s
Jan 2024
Martin Luther King, the Jewelry Genius, and the Art of Public Speaking (Classic)
One speechmaker inspired millions with his words, the other utterly destroyed his own multi-million-dollar business with just a few phrases. Civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr (played by Jeffrey Wright of American Fiction, Westworld and The Hunger Games) and jewelry store ow ... Show More
36m 49s
Jun 2023
CLASSIC: Ernest Withers: Civil Rights Hero, FBI Spy
55 years ago, the American Civil Rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. His legacy lives on in recorded speeches, memorials across the country, photographs by legendary photojournalist Ernest C. Withers and more. Withers remains a hero in his ... Show More
49m 47s
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami