On this episode of Our American Stories, Old West historian Roger McGrath is here to tell the story of a time before the world knew Samuel Clemons by his pen name, Mark Twain. The time he spent in the American West helped Clemens develop a distinctive Western voice and provided him with material that would make him America’s first celebrity author.
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How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain

Our American Stories tells stories that aren’t being told. Positive stories about generosity and courage, resilience and redemption, faith and love. Stories about the past and present. And stories about ordinary Americans who do extraordinary things each and every day. Stories from our listeners about their lives. And their history. In that pursuit, we hope we’ll be a place where listeners can refresh their spirit, and be inspired by our stories.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, to Bat Masterson, gunslingers were hoodlums who killed for fun. He used guns to enforce the law or defend a friend. In the end, he’d achieved a feat almost none of the Old West legends had attained: he lived to see old age. Here to tell the story of Bat Masterson is the best Old West storyteller in the country, Dr. Roger McGrath.
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The Man Who Changed The West: Gunfighter/Lawman/Gambler Bat Masterson

On this episode of Our American Stories, in our 25th Episode of The Story of America Series, Dr. Bill McClay tells the story of how the South became beholden to a system that brought massive wealth to a select few and enormous suffering to many others.
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The Story of America: The Tragedy of King Cotton

On this episode of Our American Stories, Our American Stories listener Jocelyn Green tells the story of what she learned about faith and friendship after coming in contact with the devastation at the Pentagon—not far from her home.
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What I Learned About Faith and Friendship After 9/11

On this episode of Our American Stories, born in Australia, Tommy Emmanuel fell in love with American country guitar legend, Chet Atkins. The rest, as they say, is history—Tommy explains. We'll be playing his music throughout this story.
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Guitar Virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel: I Came To America Because Everything Here Is Better

On this episode of Our American Stories, our next story comes to us from a listener in West Virginia. Here’s Joe Quinn with his story.
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How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain

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