Despite an ancient Native inhabitation and recent European settlements and forays around the perimeter of the West, in the early 19th century much of the interior West was still a place of conjecture, rumor, and mystery. What was out there? What kind of never-known phenomena did the West hold? For the brand-new United States and its Indian Agents, winning the western tribes with trade was essential geopolitics. But as happened with John Colter’s “Hell,” the future Yellowstone Park, those traders often returned with accounts that were hard to believe. Like Colter and in the same years, a trader named Anthony Glass in the southern West convinced the Comanche and Wichita Indians to reveal to him an astounding western mystery that excited the Southwestern frontier for three decades. Hauled to civilization, it would stand as one of America’s most intriguing contributions to global science from the early West. Thank you to our sponsor Velvet Buck: https://www.instagram.com/velvetbuckwine ---------------- Check out the gear the MeatEater Crew uses in the field here: https://store.themeateater.com Follow us: Web: https://www.themeateater.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/meateater Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StevenRinellaMeatEater Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Kevin Monteith's Return 05:07 The Monteith Shop Philosophy 12:08 Antique Knife and War Stories 18:04 Movie News: Bambi's Revenge 22:34 Japanese Fish Dispatch Methods 33:06 Age, Genetics, and Nutrition in Antler Development 42:47 The South Dakota Common Garden Experiment 51:11 Advancing Science One Data Point at a Time 58:53 Wyoming Range: Region G Deep Dive 1:08:40 Bad Winters and Population Crashes 1:19:17 The 2223 Winter: 70% Mortality 1:28:52 How Deer Learn Migration Routes 1:39:43 The Rose Petal Hypothesis 1:49:11 Predation: Why Both Camps Are Wrong 1:57:39 Management vs Science Challenges 2:03:31 Future Research and Lunar Phase Studies 2:11:20 Closing Thoughts and Support