EPISODE 98: Machine Gun Blues

“Most people go through life thinking they’re totally safe. People like us, we know the truth. Life is hard and dangerous, and sometimes you just got to chop off somebody’s head to survive.” — Ash vs. Evil Dead

“No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full.” — Lucius Cornelius Sulla 

“Around four o’clock on that Monday afternoon of the thirteenth, with a light rain falling, the bandits attacked. To the sound of a trumpet—for Lampiao did things in style—and the rumble of thunder in the cloudy sky, the outlaws entered the city, on foot and divided into groups.” — Billy Jaynes Chandler 

“The first step toward becoming a true outlaw is the refusal to be victimized.” — Tom Robbins 

This is the tale of the most famous outlaw operating in Brazil in the early 1900s. Much like the Old West in the 1800s in U.S., the backcountry of North-Eastern Brazil was a rough place where disputes were often settled with guns. Extreme wealth inequality, and a lack of opportunities to climb out of poverty, pushed many people toward criminality. Lampiao was the most legendary of them all. After turning to banditry in 1916, Lampiao led a gang that battled with rivals and with the police all the way until 1938. News of his feats reached around the globe, even making the pages of the NY Times. Some people considered him a popular hero. Others believed he was a blood-thirsty criminal. In this episode, we’ll explore his story. 

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content. 

Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at https://dakotapurebison.com/ History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout. 

This episode is sponsored by https://tawkify.com/, the country’s #1 modern matchmaking service that is designed to help you achieve relationship success. History on Fire listeners get a 20% discount by going Tawkify.com/HISTORYONFIRE  

Also, big thank you to Babbel for sponsoring this episode. Right now, get up to 55% off your subscription when you go to https://babbel.com/HOF 

[RERUN] EPISODE 58 Sitting Bull: Wounded Knee (Part 5)

“There a papoose cries by its mother’s breast which, cold and insensible, can nourish it no more; there lies a young girl with her long hair sticky of blood, hiding her mutilated face… And here—here rests the beautiful young squaw whom yesterday I offered a cigarette—dying, with both her legs shot off. She lies there without wailing and greets me with a faint smile on her pale lips.” — First Sergeant Ragnar Ling-Vannerus

“The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries, we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.” — Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 

 “Who would have thought that dancing could make such trouble? We had no thought of fighting.” — Short Bull 

“When he went to the bottom of the ravine, he saw many little children lying dead… He was now pretty weak from his wounds. Now when he saw all those little infants lying there dead in their blood, his feeling was that even if he ate one of the soldiers, it would not appease his anger… The Indians all knew that Dewey was wounded, but those in the ravine wanted him to help them. So, he fought with his life to defend his own people.” — From The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge 

“What we saw was terrible. Dead and wounded women and children and little babies were scattered all along there where they had been trying to run away. The soldiers had followed along the gulch, as they ran, and murdered them in there. Sometimes they were in heaps because they had huddled together, and some were scattered all along. Sometimes bunches of them had been killed and torn to pieces where the wagon guns hit them. I saw a little baby trying to suck its mother, but she was bloody and dead. There were two little boys at one place in this gulch. They had guns and they had been killing soldiers all by themselves. We could see the soldiers they had killed. The boys were all alone there, and they were not hurt. These were very brave little boys.” From Black Elk Speaks 

By 1890, the Ghost Dance religion was spreading like wildfire in many reservations across United States. At a time when most Natives were facing utter hopelessness, it gave them something to hope in. But the murder of Sitting Bull orchestrated by a reservation agent, and the political machinations of the Harrison administration initiated a military crackdown against an otherwise peaceful movement. The sequence of events thus started would end in bloodshed at Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890, as the 7th Cavalry massacred nearly 300 Lakota—mostly women and kids. In this final episode of the Sitting Bull series, we explore the dynamics that led to Wounded Knee, the insane story of Iron Hail (aka Dewey Beard), how the Yanktons dealt with a traitor, the genocidal fantasies of the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and how Lakota culture endured—in spite of it all. 

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content.

For the rest of the year, History on Fire will be sponsored by BlueChew. BlueChew is a unique online service that delivers the same active ingredients as Viagra, Cialis,and Levitra -- but in CHEWABLE tablets and at a fraction of the cost!

Try BlueChew FREE when you use our promo code HISTORY at checkout--just pay $5 shipping. Go to https://bluechew.com

Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at https://dakotapurebison.com/ History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout.

This episode is also sponsored by https://tawkify.com/, the country’s #1 modern matchmaking service that is designed to help you achieve relationship success. History on Fire listeners get a 20% discount by going Tawkify.com/HISTORYONFIRE

[RERUN] EPISODE 57 Sitting Bull: Compulsory Civilization with a Side of Murder (Part 4)

“Sent to report on a story that wasn’t there, reporters invented one.” — Heather Cox Richardson  

“Lakota will kill you.” — A meadowlark speaking to Sitting Bull in a vision 

“If the white men want me to die, they ought not to put up the Indians to kill me… Let the soldiers come and take me away and kill me, wherever they like. I am not afraid. I was born a warrior.” — Sitting Bull 

In historical terms, it was just a blink of an eye ago. In the mid-1800s, the Great Plains in the United States were still firmly in the hands of nomadic, buffalo hunting tribes. The looming threat of American expansion was still barely noticeable. But things changed quickly, and soon the tribes were locked in an existential struggle with the U.S. for control of the heartland of North America. One man rose among these tribes to lead his people to resisting the inevitable for over two decades. By the time he was 10 years old, the boy who would become the Lakota leader Sitting Bull, had killed his first bison by running him down and putting an arrow through its heart. In the opinion of his fellow tribesmen, his ability as a hunter and as a warrior was only second to his generosity in taking care of widows and orphans. 

In this fourth episode of this series, we’ll see how incompetent government agents, unscrupulous journalists, corrupt politicians, and army officers blinded by their egos manufactured a crisis where there wasn’t one. We’ll also discuss Sitting Bull’s take on the Ghost Dance, Agent McLaughlin’s murderous plans, Buffalo Bill trying to save Sitting Bull, and a murder that sets in motion a much bigger tragedy. 

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content. 

For the rest of the year, History on Fire will be sponsored by BlueChew.  BlueChew is a unique online service that delivers the same active ingredients as Viagra, Cialis,and Levitra -- but in CHEWABLE tablets and at a fraction of the cost!

Try BlueChew FREE when you use our promo code HISTORY at checkout--just pay $5 shipping. Go to https://bluechew.com 

Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at https://dakotapurebison.com/ History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout. 

Big thank you to Wondery for sponsoring this episode. Follow their American History Tellers podcast wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.  Their most recent season focuses on The Insurrection of Aaron Burr - a Founding Father who fought valiantly for the Revolution – and would later become the highest ranking American official ever charged with treason.

[RERUN] EPISODE 56 Sitting Bull: Compulsory Civilization with a Side of Murder (Part 3)

“Kill the Indian and save the man.” — Richard Pratt 

“The life my people want is a life of freedom. I have seen nothing that a white man has, houses or railways or clothing or food, that is good as the right to move in the open country, and live in our own fashion.” — Sitting Bull 

“The white man knows how to make everything, but he does not know how to distribute it.” — Sitting Bull 

“Possession—a war that doesn’t end.” — John Trudell 

“We were faint with hunger and maddened by despair. We held our dying children and felt their little bodies tremble as their souls went out and left only a dead weight in our hands. They were not very heavy, but we ourselves were very faint, and the dead weighed us down. There was no hope on earth, and God seemed to have forgotten us.” — Red Cloud

“Don’t talk to me about Indians; there are no Indians left except those in my band.” — Sitting Bull 

“We shall live again.” — Comanche Ghost Dance song

In historical terms, it was just a blink of an eye ago. In the mid-1800s, the Great Plains in the United States were still firmly in the hands of nomadic, buffalo hunting tribes. The looming threat of American expansion was still barely noticeable. But things changed quickly, and soon the tribes were locked in an existential struggle with the U.S. for control of the heartland of North America. One man rose among these tribes to lead his people to resisting the inevitable for over two decades. By the time he was 10 years old, the boy who would become the Lakota leader Sitting Bull, had killed his first bison by running him down and putting an arrow through its heart. In the opinion of his fellow tribesmen, his ability as a hunter and as a warrior was only second to his generosity in taking care of widows and orphans. 

In this third episode of this series, we’ll see how the U.S. government forcibly tried to change Lakota culture by outlawing their religion, removing kids from parents, and taking their land through laws such as the Dawes Act. We’ll also discuss the corruption of the agents in charge of reservations, Sitting Bull joining the Wild West Show, adopting Annie Oakley, befriending William Cody, giving away all he earned, Senator Henry Dawes wanting to ‘teach Indians to be selfish’, President’s Harrison terrible policies, the birth of the Ghost Dance movement, and much, much more. 

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content. 

For the rest of the year, History on Fire will be sponsored by BlueChew.  BlueChew is a unique online service that delivers the same active ingredients as Viagra, Cialis,and Levitra -- but in CHEWABLE tablets and at a fraction of the cost!

Try BlueChew FREE when you use our promo code HISTORY at checkout--just pay $5 shipping. Go to https://bluechew.com 

Bison is some of the healthiest meat you could possibly eat. Get yours at https://dakotapurebison.com/ History on Fire listeners get a discount by using the code HOF10 at checkout. 

This episode is also sponsored by https://tawkify.com/, the country’s #1 modern matchmaking service that is designed to help you achieve relationship success. History on Fire listeners get a 20% discount by going Tawkify.com/HISTORYONFIRE 

[RERUN] EPISODE 55 Sitting Bull (Part 2)

“I don’t want to have anything to do with people who make one carry water on the shoulders and haul manure. You are fools to make yourselves slaves to a piece of fat bacon, some hardtack, and a little sugar and coffee. The whites may get me at last, but I will have good times till then.” — Sitting Bull 

“Let me live deep while I live.” — Robert E. Howard

“Were I to run away from the enemy, no one will consider me a man.” — Kit Fox warrior society song 

“A warrior I have been. Now it is all over. A hard time I have.” — Sitting Bull song 

In historical terms, it was just a blink of an eye ago. In the mid-1800s, the Great Plains in the United States were still firmly in the hands of nomadic, buffalo hunting tribes. The looming threat of American expansion was still barely noticeable. But things changed quickly, and soon the tribes were locked in an existential struggle with the U.S. for control of the heartland of North America. One man rose among these tribes to lead his people to resisting the inevitable for over two decades. By the time he was 10 years old, the boy who would become the Lakota leader Sitting Bull, had killed his first bison by running him down and putting an arrow through its heart. In the opinion of his fellow tribesmen, his ability as a hunter and as a warrior was only second to his generosity in taking care of widows and orphans. In this second episode of this series, we’ll see Sitting Bull emerging as the main leader for the free Lakota, fighting in a brutal intertribal battle, challenging the expansion of the Northern Pacific Railroad, saving the Cheyenne from starvation, Sun Dancing and having premonitory visions of the Little Big Horn battle, leading his people to Canada, befriending a major for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, helping Nez Perce’ refugees across the border, fighting in a duel at 49 years of age, returning to the U.S. as a POW, and much, much more.

If you feel generous and enjoy History on Fire, please consider joining my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/historyonfire to access plenty of bonus content. 

For the rest of the year, History on Fire will be sponsored by BlueChew.  BlueChew is a unique online service that delivers the same active ingredients as Viagra, Cialis,and Levitra -- but in CHEWABLE tablets and at a fraction of the cost!

Try BlueChew FREE when you use our promo code HISTORY at checkout--just pay $5 shipping. Go to https://bluechew.com