The frontier was full of rivers that needed taming and mountains begging to be blasted--and our forebears hoisted a hefty bag of tools to help them do it all. But of course, no one expected a frontier so dangerous--or so tempting! Trains, ships, towns--nothing could stop our expansion, until those technological monsters started biting back. Even then, we didn't always learn, and sometimes, it took massive disasters to teach us some very tough lessons. In this episode, we'll see how man's folly, pride, and stupidity led to some of the Wild West's worst catastrophes.

Mormons massacre a wagon train filled with overland settlers. Horse thieves decimate a camp of Chinese prospectors. Yavapai Indians slay a stagecoach full of passengers. No stranger to the Old West, technology often lent a helping hand to atrocity.

Genocide on the untamed frontier? Western technology did much to help--and harm--folks heading West. We examine various incidents, like the Camp Grant Massacre in Tucson, Arizona in April 1871, when a mongrel band of Anglos, Mexicans, and San Xavier Papagos Indians, savagely slew 140 Apache men, women, and children in their sleep. The Goliad Massacre--Texas, March 1836, hundreds of Mexican soldiers executed 342 Texans in a bloody betrayal during the Texas Revolution. The Council House Massacre--March 1840, in San Antonio, when a band of Comanche are blown away by a vengeful volley of gunfire. The Dragoon Springs Massacre--September 1858, in Arizona, stage company workers are brutally murdered in their sleep at the Dragoon Springs Stage Station. The motives for the massacre are still unknown. David Carradine hosts.

In the wilds of the American West, average citizens often stepped into the fray to keep their towns from being taken over by society's dregs. It seemed like pickpockets and pimps rolled into main street the moment gold was struck.

Journey back to the days when justice was swifter than a saloon girl on a Saturday night and examine the horrors of human design that brought terror to the Old West.

Featuring expert demonstrations, we focus on technologies used by the U.S. military after the Civil War in the western frontier, and show how some of the greatest advancements laid the groundwork.

The trek west was a dangerous one--if the elements didn't get you, disease, hostile people, starvation, and accidents of all kinds could. There were no 911 calls at the time. Hospitals were few and far between. Chances of recovering from illness or mishaps were slim or none. This episode takes a look at how settlers met their deaths. Technology, in particular, played a hand. The reaper, for example, was responsible for the passing of many. As it sped up harvesting, it increased the speed at which farm workers were maimed--or worse. Then there were trains, wild animals, and "friendly" innkeepers, who in the end, weren't so nice.

Savage...sadistic...often justified--America's western frontier triggered many a shootout. The motivation? Money.

The frontier was full of rivers that needed taming and mountains begging to be blasted--and our forebears hoisted a hefty bag of tools to help them do it all. But of course, no one expected a frontier so dangerous--or so tempting! Trains, ships, towns--nothing could stop our expansion, until those technological monsters started biting back. Even then, we didn't always learn, and sometimes, it took massive disasters to teach us some very tough lessons. In this episode, we'll see how man's folly, pride, and stupidity led to some of the Wild West's worst catastrophes.

Mormons massacre a wagon train filled with overland settlers. Horse thieves decimate a camp of Chinese prospectors. Yavapai Indians slay a stagecoach full of passengers. No stranger to the Old West, technology often lent a helping hand to atrocity.

Genocide on the untamed frontier? Western technology did much to help--and harm--folks heading West. We examine various incidents, like the Camp Grant Massacre in Tucson, Arizona in April 1871, when a mongrel band of Anglos, Mexicans, and San Xavier Papagos Indians, savagely slew 140 Apache men, women, and children in their sleep. The Goliad Massacre--Texas, March 1836, hundreds of Mexican soldiers executed 342 Texans in a bloody betrayal during the Texas Revolution. The Council House Massacre--March 1840, in San Antonio, when a band of Comanche are blown away by a vengeful volley of gunfire. The Dragoon Springs Massacre--September 1858, in Arizona, stage company workers are brutally murdered in their sleep at the Dragoon Springs Stage Station. The motives for the massacre are still unknown. David Carradine hosts.

In the wilds of the American West, average citizens often stepped into the fray to keep their towns from being taken over by society's dregs. It seemed like pickpockets and pimps rolled into main street the moment gold was struck.

Journey back to the days when justice was swifter than a saloon girl on a Saturday night and examine the horrors of human design that brought terror to the Old West.

Featuring expert demonstrations, we focus on technologies used by the U.S. military after the Civil War in the western frontier, and show how some of the greatest advancements laid the groundwork.

The trek west was a dangerous one--if the elements didn't get you, disease, hostile people, starvation, and accidents of all kinds could. There were no 911 calls at the time. Hospitals were few and far between. Chances of recovering from illness or mishaps were slim or none. This episode takes a look at how settlers met their deaths. Technology, in particular, played a hand. The reaper, for example, was responsible for the passing of many. As it sped up harvesting, it increased the speed at which farm workers were maimed--or worse. Then there were trains, wild animals, and "friendly" innkeepers, who in the end, weren't so nice.

Savage...sadistic...often justified--America's western frontier triggered many a shootout. The motivation? Money.

The frontier was full of rivers that needed taming and mountains begging to be blasted--and our forebears hoisted a hefty bag of tools to help them do it all. But of course, no one expected a frontier so dangerous--or so tempting! Trains, ships, towns--nothing could stop our expansion, until those technological monsters started biting back. Even then, we didn't always learn, and sometimes, it took massive disasters to teach us some very tough lessons. In this episode, we'll see how man's folly, pride, and stupidity led to some of the Wild West's worst catastrophes.

Mormons massacre a wagon train filled with overland settlers. Horse thieves decimate a camp of Chinese prospectors. Yavapai Indians slay a stagecoach full of passengers. No stranger to the Old West, technology often lent a helping hand to atrocity.

Genocide on the untamed frontier? Western technology did much to help--and harm--folks heading West. We examine various incidents, like the Camp Grant Massacre in Tucson, Arizona in April 1871, when a mongrel band of Anglos, Mexicans, and San Xavier Papagos Indians, savagely slew 140 Apache men, women, and children in their sleep. The Goliad Massacre--Texas, March 1836, hundreds of Mexican soldiers executed 342 Texans in a bloody betrayal during the Texas Revolution. The Council House Massacre--March 1840, in San Antonio, when a band of Comanche are blown away by a vengeful volley of gunfire. The Dragoon Springs Massacre--September 1858, in Arizona, stage company workers are brutally murdered in their sleep at the Dragoon Springs Stage Station. The motives for the massacre are still unknown. David Carradine hosts.

In the wilds of the American West, average citizens often stepped into the fray to keep their towns from being taken over by society's dregs. It seemed like pickpockets and pimps rolled into main street the moment gold was struck.

Journey back to the days when justice was swifter than a saloon girl on a Saturday night and examine the horrors of human design that brought terror to the Old West.

Featuring expert demonstrations, we focus on technologies used by the U.S. military after the Civil War in the western frontier, and show how some of the greatest advancements laid the groundwork.

The trek west was a dangerous one--if the elements didn't get you, disease, hostile people, starvation, and accidents of all kinds could. There were no 911 calls at the time. Hospitals were few and far between. Chances of recovering from illness or mishaps were slim or none. This episode takes a look at how settlers met their deaths. Technology, in particular, played a hand. The reaper, for example, was responsible for the passing of many. As it sped up harvesting, it increased the speed at which farm workers were maimed--or worse. Then there were trains, wild animals, and "friendly" innkeepers, who in the end, weren't so nice.

Savage...sadistic...often justified--America's western frontier triggered many a shootout. The motivation? Money.