
Ep. 38: The River That Flowed From Nowhere, Part I | The American West
From Gunfighters by MeatEater
July 21, 2026 · 58 min · Season 1
About this episode
The episode discusses the failed Red River Expedition led by Thomas Jefferson in the context of the Louisiana Purchase.
When the U.S. acquired the West with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, President Thomas Jefferson dispatched two scientific expeditions to explore it. Lewis & Clark became legendary. Like Apollo 13, Jefferson’s Red River Expedition into the West was a failure. This is how their story should have gone. Subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. YouTube , Spotify , Apple , iHeart , Pandora , Amazon . MeatEater on Instagram , Facebook , Twitter , Youtube , and Youtube Clips Check out more MeatEater's American History audio originals " The Long Hunters " and " Mountain Men " Subscribe to The MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Shop MeatEater Merch See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
People in this episode
Host: MeatEater
Topics covered
- Louisiana Purchase
- exploration
- scientific expeditions
- American history
- failure of expeditions
Keywords
- Thomas Jefferson
- Lewis & Clark
- Red River Expedition
- Louisiana Purchase
- American West
More episodes of Gunfighters
- Introducing: Gunfighters, with Bryan Burrough · September 8, 2026 · 2 min
- Ep. 42: Favorite Films About the West | The American West · August 18, 2026 · 1h 6m
- Ep. 41: Favorite Books About the West | The American West · August 11, 2026 · 59 min
- Ep. 40: Becoming Natives of Place in the American West | The American West · August 4, 2026 · 55 min
- Ep. 39: The River That Flowed From Nowhere, Part II | The American West · July 28, 2026 · 1h 5m
- Announcing: Blood Trails, Paradise Prison · July 16, 2026 · 1 min
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