In the early years of the series, the Old Ranger tells us that the stories are true stories from the Death Valley area. There are two problems with this claim.
The first is that many stories are set in areas many hundreds of miles from Death Valley and have no connection to it.
The second, and more serious problem is that most of the stories are not historically accurate. In many cases, they are not even close to the truth.
Here are two examples.
1) The Johnny Ringo story is filled with inaccuracies, such as the statement that is real last name was Ringold. That name was only used once in newspapers in one area where they misspelled his name. They also claimed he was college educated, but historical records prove he and is family wandered the west and he did not attend any university in his lifetime. The also claim he was erudite, and refined, when historical records show he was a thug , troublemaker, and gunfighter his entire life.
2) The. Episode titled, "Forbidden Wedding" has a completely fictional account which has absolutely no historical facts to support it. In addition, they got the name of the bell wrong, and the supposed photograph of the bell is wrong as proven by online photos of the REAL bell.
The stories are enjoyable as works of fiction, but please do not be misled into thinking they have any real historical value. They are fiction, pure and simple.
The first is that many stories are set in areas many hundreds of miles from Death Valley and have no connection to it.
The second, and more serious problem is that most of the stories are not historically accurate. In many cases, they are not even close to the truth.
Here are two examples.
1) The Johnny Ringo story is filled with inaccuracies, such as the statement that is real last name was Ringold. That name was only used once in newspapers in one area where they misspelled his name. They also claimed he was college educated, but historical records prove he and is family wandered the west and he did not attend any university in his lifetime. The also claim he was erudite, and refined, when historical records show he was a thug , troublemaker, and gunfighter his entire life.
2) The. Episode titled, "Forbidden Wedding" has a completely fictional account which has absolutely no historical facts to support it. In addition, they got the name of the bell wrong, and the supposed photograph of the bell is wrong as proven by online photos of the REAL bell.
The stories are enjoyable as works of fiction, but please do not be misled into thinking they have any real historical value. They are fiction, pure and simple.