1876: Year of the Gun

The Year Bat, Wyatt, Custer, Jesse, and the Two Bills (Buffalo and Wild) Created the Wild West, and Why It's Still with Us

By: Steve Wiegand

Narrated by: Fred Filbrich

Veteran journalist, prolific author, and much-lauded historian Steve Wiegand takes listeners across the post-Civil War Wild West in his 1876: The Year of the Gun. Wiegand introduces—or reintroduces—us to lawmen such as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp and outlaws such as the Younger and James Brothers, as well as larger-than-life figures such as Buffalo Bill and George Custer.

He details the stories of these real-life legends, their legacies, and the innumerable myths frequently attributed to them. Juxtaposing their real lives with the often-outlandish accounts of their exploits, 1876 swings from lighthearted humor to cliff-hanger suspense. It also portrays how the Wild West’s initial, tantalizing promise of fame and glamour often disintegrated.

But 1876: The Year of the Gun also offers listeners a unique element noticeably absent from most Wild West books: historical context. Wiegand expands his contemporary spotlight on America’s 100th birthday year to encompass what was going on in the rest of the country. On the very same day George Armstrong Custer was dying on a parched hill in Southeastern Montana and immortalizing himself as both hero and villain, for example, Alexander Graham Bell was at America’s first World’s Fair in Philadelphia, demonstrating his new invention—the telephone.

At the same time Wyatt Earp was moseying into Dodge City to join the town’s police force, Albert Goodwill Spalding was on a pitcher’s mound in Chicago, establishing baseball as the national pastime and creating a sporting goods empire.

And even as the James Boys and Younger Brothers were robbing banks, Democrats and Republicans were conspiring to steal the White House from the American voter. This book brings all this together in one place.

Fueled by the author’s childhood interest in cowboys, train and bank robberies, and high noon shootouts, and their portrayal in iconic TV shows, 1876 is not only a well-researched, highly listenable account of a pivotal centennial year in America’s history, but also a delightful homage to famous Wild West figures who, with media help, helped shape the American character.

©2022 Steve Wiegand (P)2022 Bancroft Press

Awesome!!

Highly details the year 1876. the year of America's Centennial was a very eventful one. Details Frank & Jesse James greatly and they're robbery of the First National Bank. Very detailed accounts of George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry and they're battle with Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse and the Lakota & Sioux nation at the Little Big Horn also known as the Battle of the Greasy Grass. Also in detail is the election of 1876 and the ballot count that took months to tally ultimately leading to Rutherford B. Hayes' election as 19th President of the United States. I loved they went in great detail on Bill Cody's life and career as a wild west hero and actor as he toured with his Wild West Show all around the country. Such a great book I highly enjoyed it and I think you will too!

Most informed Cowboy history.

I thoroughly enjoyed the detail, history and how it was written. I felt myself embedded into every part and every section as it moved through time periods. Plan to listen to it several more times. Thank you.

Great story with robotic narration

Absolutely fantastic 'story' of what lead up to the wild west events of 1876, the aftermath, and how history has chosen to remember them. Any fan of the American West will love this book.

Narration was somewhat choppy and robotic. There were times when I thought I might not be able to finish but the stories were too good to stop.

Great

I enjoyed every moment of the old west as depicted in this book very good!

Fascinating

Very well written and a great listen. Very interesting, I enjoyed learning more about these people and their lives.

Very Enjoyable

Rich with details about iconic characters at a pivot point in history. Read. Repeat. Repeat.

Five stars on every metric.

I loved everything about this book. The story was well written and the narration was superb.

fascinating history

The author presents the events that laid the foundation for many legendary figures, working diligently to separate facts from fiction. For example, Wyatt Earp is widely viewed as upstanding lawman from the old west, but he was also a horse theft, bribed public officials, and fled prosecution. One source indicting that he was moody and a generally unlikable individual. Wiegand examines the evidence of what happened to George Custer's corpse after his defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The author takes the reader back to Northfield, Minnesota, and the downfall of the feared James-Younger gang. Wiegand does a brilliant job of telling old west tales in conjunction with 1876 historical events such as the invention of the telephone, the rise of Eli Lilly, and the establishment of baseball's National League. This book proves that the old west is very much alive.

The interspersing stories are terrific!

1876: Year of the Gun

Steve Wiegand

I loved this book. It is one I will likely revisit in a couple of years. Mostly because I really enjoy highlighting unexpected connections in history. Mr. Wiegand does so very well in this book.

He covers Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp (and his brothers) George Armstrong Custer, Jesse James and associates, Wild Bill and Buffalo Bill and more.

The fact there legendary incidents culminated in 1876 is amazing enough. The intersections are what I find fascinating. We think of the Wild West as a different time than the industrialization of America. It was not. Custer lay dying as Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone at the World’s Fair. Bat Masterson, one time Dodge City lawman and quasi-criminal, became the US Marshal for NY and a famed sports journalist with the recommendation and help of a cowboy he had met in the badlands… Theodore Roosevelt.

If you are an big fan of any of these people, you may not learn a great deal, but the connections and amazing lives they all led make this book fascinating.