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Bill Downing wasn’t just another outlaw in the Arizona Territory—he was the most hated man in the state. From his violent temper and lawless saloon to his connections with the outlaw/lawmen Burt Alvord, Downing carved out a reputation for brutality that left scars on every town he touched. He ran crooked games, taught his women the art of pickpocketing, and wasn’t afraid to beat anyone—friend or foe—who crossed him. Even the law despised him. By the time his story ended, Arizona was united in celebration at his downfall.

In this episode of Wild West Deep Dives, we explore the rise and bloody fall of Bill Downing, why he became a symbol of everything rotten in frontier Arizona, and how his own reckless choices made him an outlaw remembered only for his cruelty.

Check out the Youtube Channel! This episode's video goes live Wednesday, the 10th of September at 6pm ET!

Thank you all for the support recently, I know I say it a lot but y'all are absolutely amazing! I couldn't do it without y'all!

Sources;

o https://truewestmagazine.com/bill-downing-six-shooter/ (1)

o https://truewestmagazine.com/article/jeff-milton-burt-alvord-gang/ (2)

o https://www.historynet.com/the-lowdown-on-quarrelsome-bill-downing/ (3)

o https://www.myheraldreview.com/downing-tops-willcox-bad-man-list/article_b75c6802-d347-5f2a-9046-1a043761bcca.html (4)

§ Article by Phyllis De La Garza

o https://www.legendsofamerica.com/az-cochiserobbery/ (5)

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Frank Butler wrote a book titled, The Life of Dave, As Told by Himself.

It’s a short story of his life from his perspective and I thought it would be a fun little episode.

But I will warn you, it is his full life, from when Frank picked him up, to his death. I talk about people dying in shootouts, from accidents, but man, I struggle when talking about dogs, so just wanted to give everyone a heads up but it’s still a fun book.

Dave lived one heck of a life, hunting, admiring Annie and Frank, doing tricks and getting into some trouble, as ever good boy does!

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Howdy and Welcome back to Wild West Deep Dives.

This is our final part of our Revised Deep Dive into the life of Annie Oakley.

Last week, we discussed the Buffalo Bills Wild West Show going to England, Annie’s rivalry with another woman sharp shooter, which resulted in her leaving the show temporarily… Her return, how she saved the shows hide and their return trip to East.

This week, we will discuss the end of the Wild West Show, some accidents she was involved in, her later years and the impact she had on the world.

This has been an unbelievable series, a ton of work went into it and it took a long time to produce but I wanted to make sure I did a good job with it.

I think things like this is what makes history so interesting, for a hundred years, we all believed that the story of Annie Oakley was the truth, all the things we talked about, her childhood, how she met Frank and had the long told shooting match, how she started as a shooter, all of it, then through diligent research, we find new information that completely changes the story.

I hope y’all enjoyed this special series on Annie Oakley. If you did, please leaving a rating and review, it is an amazing way for this podcast to grow! Thank you for all the support!

Check out the video we made on this series on Youtube! It is absolutely amazing, filled with pictures of Annie, the Wild West Show and some never before seen pictures!

As always, please join me on Pateron, for the recent future, you will get access to episodes one week early, so the final part is already available and as always access to some bonus episodes that are only available on Pateron!

If you enjoy Wild West Deep Dives, please leave a rating, it is an amazing way for this podcast to grow and don’t be afraid to share us with someone you love, I appreciate y’all.

Please email me with any comments, corrections, concerns that you may have, and I’ll get back to you quickly, you can email me at wildwestdeepdives@gmail.com

Lastly, another huge thanks to the Annie Oakley Center for all their help, they are an amazing group and I feel very thankful that they brought me into the museum and Ellien made me feel welcome and thank you Ellien, Karen, Brenda and Don who helped me tremendously in putting this together with the correct information.

Go check out the Garst Museum in Greenville! You won’t regret it!

Sources;

Annie Oakley by Shirl Kasper

Annie Oakley Center, Eileen Litchfield, Chairman, Cathy & Don Wagner, Historians, Brenda Arnett, Historian, Karen Besecker, Historian

Annie Oakley by Courtney Riley Cooper

Annie Oakley by Captivating History

Autobiography by Annie Oakley

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