logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2024
30m 17s

Brent M. Rogers, "Buffalo Bill and the M...

NEW BOOKS NETWORK
About this episode

In this never-before-told history of Buffalo Bill and the Mormons, Brent M. Rogers presents the intersections in the epic histories of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and the Latter-day Saints from 1846 through 1917. In Cody's autobiography he claimed to have been a member of the U.S. Army wagon train that was burned by the Saints during the Utah War of 1857-58. Less than twenty years later he began his stage career and gained notoriety by performing anti-Mormon dramas. By early 1900 he actively recruited Latter-day Saints to help build infrastructure and encourage growth in the region surrounding his town of Cody, Wyoming.

In Buffalo Bill and the Mormons (U Nebraska Press, 2024), Rogers unravels this history and the fascinating trajectory that took America's most famous celebrity from foe to friend of the Latter-day Saints. In doing so, the book demonstrates how the evolving relationship between Cody and the Latter-day Saints can help readers better understand the political and cultural perceptions of Mormons and the American West.

Brent M. Rogers connects the histories of William F. ""Buffalo Bill"" Cody and the Mormons, highlighting two pillars of the American West to better understand cultural and political perceptions, image-making, and performance from the 1840s through the early 1900s.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-west

Up next
Sep 30
Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez and Anita Huízar-Hernández eds., "meXicana Roots and Routes: Listening to People, Places, and Pasts" (U Arizona Press, 2025)
Community voices are often an underrepresented aspect of our historical and cultural knowledge of the U.S. Southwest. In this episode, we sit down with Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez and Anita Huízar-Hernández, editors of meXicana Roots and Routes: Listening to People, Places, and Pasts ... Show More
22 m
Sep 25
Ecodefense: Dave Foreman and Earth First!’s Deep Ecology
A cowboy hat-wearing Goldwater conservative named Dave Foreman got religion and then founded the most radical environmental group of recent memory, Earth First! They dreamed of a ‘deep ecology’ that recognized the inherent value of nature, and they committed to protecting that na ... Show More
59m 58s
Sep 24
Mark Archuleta, "The Reel Thrilling Events of Bank Robber Henry Starr: From Gentleman Bandit to Movie Star and Back Again" (U North Texas Press, 2025)
In 1921 headlines across the country announced the death of Henry Starr, a burgeoning silent film star who was killed while attempting to rob a bank in Harrison, Arkansas. Cynics who knew the real Starr were not surprised. Before becoming a matinee idol, Starr had been the greate ... Show More
39m 56s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2022
MORMONS with Jake Howie
Today there are more than 16 million Mormons around the world. The Mormon Church is one of the fastest growing religions worldwide and it’s the third wealthiest. Pretty impressive for an organisation started by a conman from New York less than 200 years ago…  Joseph Smith Jr was ... Show More
1h 23m
Apr 2025
The Story of the Town That Created Mark Twain: Hannibal, Missouri
On this episode of Our American Stories, the river town of Hannibal, Missouri, spared Mark Twain from nothing, exposing him to poverty, death, racism, and the need to make decisions for himself. Here's Richard Garey, a Mark Twain aficionado, with the story of this all-important t ... Show More
20m 18s
Nov 2021
Native Americans and the Constitution
In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, join experts Maggie Blackhawk of New York University School of Law; Donald Grinde, Jr. of the University at Buffalo and co-author of Exemplar of Liberty: Native America and the Evolution of Democracy; Gregory Dowd of the Universit ... Show More
52m 11s
Jan 2024
BUFFALO BILL Ep. 6 | “‘Tin Jesus On Horseback’”
Difficult times are ahead for Buffalo Bill Cody in the final years of his life. He helps found the town of Cody, Wyoming, but its creation, and other investments, lead to dire financial trouble. Bill’s marriage falls apart in a public scandal and he experiences more personal trag ... Show More
31m 38s
Jul 2024
Listen Now: American History Tellers, First Ladies
The Cold War, Prohibition, the Gold Rush, the Space Race. Every part of your life - the words you speak, the ideas you share - can be traced to our history, but how well do you really know the stories that made America? We'll take you to the events, the times and the people that ... Show More
7m 55s
Oct 2022
Erin Keane, "Runaway: Notes on the Myths That Made Me" (Belt Publishing, 2022)
From Erin Keane, editor in chief at Salon, comes Runaway: Notes in the Myths that Made Me (Belt Publishing, 2022), a touching memoir about the search for truths in the stories families tell. In 1970, Erin Keane's mother ran away from home for the first time. She was thirteen year ... Show More
1h 11m
Aug 25
The Everglades, Croczilla & Preserving America’s Wilderness ft. Filmmaker Alexander Joseph | Ep. 47
What if America’s greatest untold stories weren’t in Hollywood—but hidden in the swamps, deserts, and mountains all around us? In this powerful episode of The David Rutherford Show, Navy SEAL David Rutherford sits down with Alexander “Xander” Joseph, founder of Xplorist.org, to d ... Show More
56m 28s
May 2025
How the Whitman Murders Redefined the American West
May 30, 1855. Five thousand Native Americans come to Walla Walla to negotiate a treaty. However, it’s not exactly a fair negotiation – the territorial governor basically tells these tribes that they have no choice but to live on reservations in order to maintain peace. This momen ... Show More
39m 18s
Oct 2024
Alexander the Great: Soldier, Priest, and God. Interview with Professor Fred Naiden
Professor Fred Naiden wrote one of my favorite books on Alexander the Great - Soldier, Priest, and God - and it provides a much different view of Alexander than the warrior king we so often see in modern treatments. Alexander was a deeply religious person, and his ideas and belie ... Show More
56m 9s
Dec 2024
The Story of the Mason-Dixon Line: The Colonial-Era Border Battle That Defined the Civil War
On this episode of Our American Stories, the Mason-Dixon Line defined the American "house divided" between antislavery and pro-slavery. Yet this border war was pre-dated by another battle—a colonial-era quarrel that ended only when the area separating Pennsylvania and Maryland’s ... Show More
20m 18s