🎙️ Caleb's Journey with Lane Warenski | Burnin’ Daylight Podcast

I sat down with author Lane Warenski, the man behind Caleb’s Journey and a whole bunch of damn good Western novels. We dug deep into frontier history, the legacy of the mountain men, the Mormon migration, the rise of the beef industry, and what makes a Western story worth telling.

We also talked Louis L’Amour, Kit Carson, the Oregon Trail, and why you’ll still find dog-eared cowboy paperbacks in every bunkhouse across the West. If you're into real history, great storytelling, or just want to hear two guys shoot the breeze about America’s wild past, you're in the right place.

📚 Grab Caleb’s Journey and more from Lane: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lane-Warenski/
🎵 Theme song: “Burnin’ Daylight” by Matt Wilson

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⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 – Intro
01:32 – Meet Lane Warenski & Caleb’s Journey
05:50 – Favorite Western authors: L’Amour, Kelton, McCarthy
09:45 – Cowboy lit in the bunkhouse
13:00 – Why Lane writes about mountain men and pioneers
17:20 – The Oregon Trail, the beef boom & early cattle drives
21:55 – The Mormon migration & frontier ingenuity
29:10 – Settling Utah: Lane’s family history
33:35 – Clash of cultures: settlers vs. Plains tribes
39:50 – The buffalo, the food supply, and how the West was won
45:15 – Custer, Sitting Bull & what really ended the Indian Wars
52:00 – Kit Carson, the Navajo campaign, and cutting off resources
56:30 – How beef built America (and broke England’s)
1:01:45 – Writing Westerns with grit & historical honesty
1:06:00 – Thoughts on American Primeval & Hollywood takes
1:11:25 – The Utah War, Johnson’s Army & Mormon politics
1:17:00 – Characters with empathy: building Caleb & Latigo
1:22:45 – Army life back then vs. now
1:28:20 – Fort Bragg, the Civil War & integrating the South
1:32:30 – Crow scouts, Sioux leaders, and frontier betrayal
1:38:15 – History ain’t always pretty—why you still need to tell it
1:43:40 – Mark Twain, Virginia City & Western humor
1:48:00 – Final thoughts, future books & where to find Lane