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)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Yesterday
The Buses That Challenged Jim Crow: The Freedom Riders’ Story
On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1961, a group of young men and women boarded buses to test whether the Supreme Court’s desegregation rulings would be honored in the South. They became known as the Freedom Riders. Their mission was met with brutal violence as mobs and ... Show More
20m 18s
Yesterday
The True Story of the Donner Party’s Struggle for Survival
On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1846, a group of pioneers set out for California with dreams of a better life. Known as the Donner Party, they fell behind on the trail, took a disastrous shortcut, and became trapped in the Sierra Nevada as winter storms closed in. Wit ... Show More
17m 58s
Yesterday
The Making of the Ford GT: America’s Modern Supercar
On this episode of Our American Stories, in 2003, Ford marked its 100th anniversary with something more than a celebration. The company decided to build a supercar that would honor its legendary Le Mans victories while proving it could still compete at the highest level of perfor ... Show More
20m 18s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2020
Part One: The Dumbest Colonizer in History
Robert is joined by Miles Gray to discuss William Walker, the American who tried to conquer Central America.FOOTNOTES: Mercenary Hero William Walker Filibusters and Financiers: The Story of William Walker and His Associates [1916]  William Walker's Wars: How One Man's Private Ame ... Show More
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
When a 200-year-old legal document anonymously arrived at his office, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives conservator William Bennett assumed it would be full of boring legal jargon. Instead, he found a juicy tale of family betrayal that would forever change what we thought we kne ... 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
Jul 2023
The American Dream
Host Celeste Headlee goes on the hunt for the Fanjul brothers in Palm Beach, Florida and uncovers an even more devastating truth about the American sugar industry’s past. J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI and the movie The Godfather play a part in our story.See omnystudio.com/listener for pr ... Show More
43m 42s