Frontier Fighters

From Robert La Salle’s ventures down the Mississippi River, onward to Lewis and Clark’s fearless trips forging toward the West Coast, the Old Time Radio Show of Frontier Fighters brings you a historical account of the times.

Frontier Fighters was a western drama radio show that took its listeners backinto a time of American history when men and women with brave heartsand pioneering spirits were the first of the European settlers toventure into the unknown West.

The broadcasts of Frontier Fighters were only done in 15 minute increments, but the writers did a great job of presenting an interesting drama of a piece of American history from the 1600s tothe 1800s.

Some of the shows were about individual people who made a difference in American history – either good or bad – and some were about instances, such as the legendary happenings along the Oregon Trail.

These short vignettes of American history often whet the appetite of listeners to know more about the incident or person. They were incredibly produced, designed to dramatize the subject matter as much as possible in a 15 minute venue, which was really only 10 or 11 minutes after the music and commentaries.

The music took up to two minutes, one segment at the beginning and one at the end. The narrator gave a brief description of the episode that was to come and then the drama took place. There were only five to seven minutes of actual drama, including dialog. A closing piece by the narrator summed up the historical drama and then it was over.

Those few moments are not a lot of time to present an accurate account of any historical person or episode in American history, but the people who put Frontier Fighters together did a great job and the essence of each historical account came across clearly.

There were 39 episodes that captured the imaginations of its listeners and helped to ensure a place in Old Time Radio history as one of the most popular and well done shows offered during the early days of radio.

The 1930s radio show was a syndicated program produced by Transco, and not much information is available about writers, directors, actors, music or engineering. These days, episodes (which are numbered) are available in MP3 audio CD formats.

You’ll be able to access episodes about the Bozeman Trail, Custer's Last Stand at Little Big Horn, Wild Bill Hickok and Yellowstone Park among many others. 

I will be ending episodes of Frontier Fighters to RUSC over the coming week.

Happy listening my friends,