Defying Death: Captain Jonathan R. Davis 

Josh is a one of a kind Old West story teller. He gets a 10/10 in my book!

I can't believe this guy doesn't have 2 million subscribers, very good content 👏

LETS !!SHARE!! THIS MANS “ALWAYS AWESOME”CONTENT GUYS!!!! He definitely does some of the best narration and storytelling out there and you can really tell he loves doing it. Let’s all help to get this guy more well known.

If you ever RU-vid the story of Vietnam war hero Roy Benavidez, it's mind blowing. He was shot, stabbed, and clubbed dozens of times and killed who knows how many of the enemy (easily 11) all while rescuing his fellow soldiers. His story makes this one seem quite tame in comparison. And his is completely verified. He won the Congressional Medal of Honor over this incident. So, I'd have to say it's very possible for Captain Davis' story to be 100% true.

You described a "tactical reload" with black powder pretty accurately, very chaotic !

You have 8400 subs as of 3/20/22 why it's not much more is a mystery as you have a unique style and endless content possibilities I love the channel

I tune into this for the history but jesus I just laugh my ass off all the way through every episode 🤣

You’ve become a morning listen for my wife and me. Great content and presentation. Have you ever considered an episode on the biggest gunfight in California? Took place in Willits, CA. during Civil War. Detailed by John Bossenecker in the same book as JR Davis, I believe. Thanks for all the hard work!

The 1851 colt navy was a good choice at the time. low recoil made for good shot placement. And it was light enough to pack a couple of them while prospecting.

Dude! I love listening to the stories you tell and the way you tell them !!! You would’ve made an awesome history teacher!!!! Cudos to you Sir!!!

I own several black powder rifles, (most 50 caliber) and some of them are very accurate at short to medium range. But takes a fair amount of time to reload.

My man ..you are my new favorite historian. You have a comedic timing and material I absolutely LOVE. You make hearing history way more exciting than reading it. I don’t know of this amazing fighter. Thanks again for the great story. If you EVER come to San Antonio, I hope we can meet up and visit the cities old cemeteries. A lot of history here.

Love the way you tell a story, it keeps me paying attention all the way through the video.

The Colt 1851 Navy revolver was and is an amazing weapon. The comments on this video reflect this. Once you learn its quirks, it is a first-rate shooter. Maybe Davis used one or two.

It was my Dad carried the yellow Case Cattleman's knife when I was a kid. Thanks for the memory and another great story well told.

My 5th great-grandfather was also called Captain Davis. Name was Daniel but he was known as Captain.

Very informative. I’ve read about him before but this has got to be the most in-depth program on the subject

On separate note, your comic relief is good stuff. Keep up the great vids brother, I greatly enjoy it. Hope things are well for you in the real world. See ya next time Bloody.......

I have a replica 36 navy. I have been known to carry it in the woods. Always carry hammer down on an empty chamber. But you can get a replica decently cheap (get the steel frame model). I always made a rough side out leather “slim Jim” holster for it. I plan on either getting a 1851 “conversion” or converting mine to shoot .38spcl. Cap n ball revolvers are fun, get one. Keep up the good content, I just recently came across this channel and it’s entertaining and educational.

Josh by far this is one of the best ones you've done it was hilarious it was entertaining it kept me glued to it the whole time hanging onto your every word You're doing a great job thank you so much keep doing what you're doing and don't change a thing no matter what anybody says 🙏

Yahoo a new bloody beaver RU-vid

I suppose half a dozen shots could put 17 holes in the hat, but how they could miss the man's head is mystery, unless it was a really big hat. A hat with a tall brim and crown could be penetrated four times by one shot, especially if the hat was worn high on the head.

This guy reminds me of Josie Wales as he kept his cool against such a large number. Only this was real. I emailed my favorite author John Boessenecker who wrote about this pretty throughly in the book you mentioned and asked him if he knew the exact location of this fight. But he said he never nailed it down but said it was in El Dorado County where Placerville is like you said. I wanted to hike to the site if possible but no luck. Wherever it is, there’s a bunch guys buried there.

*walks around with barbell* "yup, gonna have tape muh junk left in order to carry this iron around the right hip" 😂😂😂

Some of the greatest acts of heroism including many Medal of Honor recipients are the result of fear and rage. Fear is an amazing motivator and when someone is trying to kill tou and has killed your friends you'd be surprised how brutal you can be. I doubt Davis expected to survive he probably just wanted to take as many bandits with him as possible and avenge his murdered companions.under stress, people are incredibly dangerous.

Another great video Josh! Shared with my entire weapons class, thanks!

Three years you were trying to get 1000 subscribers.. as of 2024, 40k+! I’m glad you made it this far! Love your story telling. I might’ve listened in school if my teachers had your style. Nah… probably not. But you got a subscriber here in central Mo. 🇺🇸

This is one of the most insane old west stories ever. Can you imagine 1 v 14, even with modern weapons and they've all got primitive weapons? close range, you've got an Ar15, they all have single shot muzzleloaders/6 shot cap and ball revolvers you're in the open and they have the surprise. You're so totally screwed even in that stacked scenario, going by all the odds anyway. To answer your inquiry, you got the gun info mostly correct. There were common use double barrel rifles, but that's about it, as far as common use weapons. Double barrel rifles were far more common back then than people realize. A lot of people, especially hunters would load one barrel with shot and one barrel with a solid slug. Making it a shotgun/rifle. There were even tri barrels and quad barrels but they were exceedingly uncommon, especially the quad barrel. Other than that, you were spot on. That being said, the ambushers likely only had single shot rifles and 6 shot revolvers. Could I suggest a couple topics? Ned Kelly, if you're not sticking to specifically to American history. Jed smith maybe? Cole younger?

Good stuff👍 Mr Davis having come from S.Carolina no Doubt saw his share of Southern Big Knife fights. Hilarious the wild exaggeration /embellishment these Newspaper folks used when reporting stuff like this. Fact is-Many a Miner was Bushwhacked’ in those Days. Revolvers were still percussion in 1853 -and some if they could afford it packed 2 Colts and even a derringer or pepper box. Throw in a Big Bowie and maybe a small Hawk/hatchet a man could protect himself. Very Likely some those Scoundrels in that attacking group didn’t have a firearm. Another great video 👍🇺🇸

The Bowie knife comment is perfect, I seen a man “process” a Ram he killed, with a BASKET GUARD SWORD, like a conquistadors sword.

Love this stuff! Stoked I found your channel.

Nice one again!👍👍👍 Great stuff.

I've got access to a .44-40 and a .50 caliber black powder pistol & rifle respectively if you're ever in the Taos area of New Mexico let me know, we can send some lead down range. Keep up the good work.

Interested in either a Butch Cassidy and, or the sun dance kid, and also a Porter Rockwell video!

When you said he never had any more violent episodes I can understand nobody wanted mess with him

I love your sense of humor. Especially these days on YT when people are afraid to say anything that's not "family friendly" for fear of being demonetized, age restricted, or flat out cancelled. I'm just sad that it took until a couple months ago for me to come across this channel and subscribe. Never change.👍 😀

The tradition of carrying your pistol on an empty chamber was only for the cartridge guns like the 1873 Single Action Army as they did not have the notch to rest the hammer between loaded chambers unlike the cap and ball revolvers you spoke about. Also, folklore says that cowboys would put a 10 dollar bill in the empty chamber to cover their funeral expense in the event of an untimely death. The Army manuals of the time tell soldiers to load 6 and rest the hammer in the notch between cylinders. Keep up the good work, I listen to your channel when on the road.

Though Jim Bowie gets credit for inventing the knife, it was supposedly his brother who forged the first one.

I know a jiu jitsu master who was attacked by three men in Rio de Janeiro when he was still a young man (around 1940), he did beat them up unscathed, but he told me he got LUCKY.

Hey bloody beaver I just wanted to comment on your video for the 51 navy. I on an original 51 Navy, and it is safe to load six Chambers because there is a pin between the cylinders so you can drop the hammer in between the cylinder and it locks on the pen and it also locks the cylinder. Making it impossible for the gun to accidentally go off. And thats why alot of people remained using the cap and ball revolvers after cartridge revolvers came out. you can carry 6 safely. But today most people including me load only 5 cylinders because if you shoot a lot with cap and ball revolvers and you switch to cartridge revolvers. habits can get you hurt. Load them all the same so you dont mess up loading when not paying attention. Also today you can buy firing replicas of most cap and ball revolvers from The Walker the dragoons to the baby dragoons the Patterson. the 51 Navy's they're around $300. and they are a lot of fun. they're very accurate to the original revolver. a lot of the parts on the replicas fit on my original 51 Navy. not all but most. Keep up the good work. you have become one of my favorite RU-vidrs

He was lucky not to get hit but it was 11 bad shots versus 1 very good shot. He didn't miss..makes all the difference...

Podcast added. BTW, I love when you do the more obscure ones like this. Thx.

Man the more I watch your show the more I love it. I have a 1851 navy. You can carry it with six rounds and the same with the 1860 army. Buttttt if you shoot alot especially if you shoot the 1873 Single Action Army you never carry with 6 so you just make it a habit to always carry with 5. And being weird creatures of habit you just make a habit of five so you never accidentally messed that one up. Again love the channel if you're ever out in Las Vegas hit me up and I'll let you shoot them.

Ok I know you posted this 2 years ago but just saw this today and only the 2nd I've ever seen love how you did this and hope you're still doing it for I've subscribed. Believe it or not there are still some men who believe in their integrity above all else.

I start to like your style of speech, mixed with the cleaned subtitles ,very fine and also funny! Is that story too short for a real movie? I agree with you in the Wayne ranking. Not a empty chamber but a nipple with out a cap under the hammer was used by the Navy carriers . I'm on your old tracks now and you were then a good teacher and perfomer in my own humor !All the best from Northern Germany Ludwig. PS Who whould able to play him ? Western Freak too .

That empty chamber was said to be the place you rolled up a few bills to cover your burial. Load one chamber, skip one the load the rest leaves your hammer on that empty chamber.

Another great story. Got you on Spotify. Keep em coming. Still waiting on John Johnston.

Thank you for an excellent presentation on a fascinating subject. I'm hooked and look forward to more. Outstanding thank you so much.

Love your videos, buddy I have left comments before, but when you said, I feel like I did something and then I realize I didn’t do shit for some reason really made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the stories I love the history and the humor.

Actually, pretty good guess. I reckon it was a '51 Navy. Cap and ball revolvers are a pain to reload. I have a Remington New Model Army of 1858 repro. Prefer the cartridge revolvers. You described one of the downsides of cap and ball revolvers. Chain fires. Not fun. It was S.O.P. to carry a BIG knife and a backup to your revolvers.

Just found your channel!! Love it!!! I subscribed watching the first video!!

A cap/ball revolver was not reloaded in a fight.People carried more than one, because of that slow reload.One model had speed loader,you changed out the cylinder.Watch Pale Rider.😁

Classic example of "Never underestimate your opponent".

Just found your channel. Truly enjoyed your video. Subscribed! Blessings to you

Do one o. the Moravian massacre and the burning of Colenel Crawford.

Liked and subscribed. Good video. I dont do podcasts until now.

The biggest downfall of the Walker was at the loading bar would fall I've carried a walker for many years I have the dragoon and my others along with I a gun historian the first model Patterson was the one that needed to be partially taken apart to reload second model Patterson had a loading lever on but the Patterson was severely underpowered there were other revolvers at the time but they were pepper boxes

Idk if this might be something youd be willing to try either on here or on Patreon, but I think it'd be pretty awesome if you read some books.. like Lonesome Dove series, Louis Lamour books, maybe Dances with Wolves or something. I think that'd be pretty bad ass.

By far the most common Revolver in the gold rush era was the various Colt's .31 caliber , and Pepper Boxes and singke shot Derringers were common . Being a military man with fierce combat experience , Davis couls have gone out of his way to equip himself with .44 or the new .36s . OR , being a millitary man with fierce combat experience , Davis could have used his marksmanship to delibery make head shots , .knowing that was necessary to quickly put down opponents with a small caliber weapon . 11 to 1 , Davis still had to be lucky , and the bandits counting simply taking out their victims with first volly from ambush , and not practiced with tactical manuvering against an oppontent shooting back . Bowie knives did remain popular for a long time , but they did evolve . Initially when they were Primary Sidearms , they were extra big , with 10- 14 inch blade .Later in the 1800's after powerful reliable cartridge Revolvers were common , and knives secondary weapons and utility tools , the commonly shrunk to " only ' 6-9 inches ( still a large knife by modern standards , the USMC " Ka- Bar " combat knife is 7 inch , for context ) . There were several real life instances of 5 to 1 gunfights with the 1 prevailing . Off the top of my head , a Town Marshal in Colorado who found himself nearby to armed robbery of a poker game , a US Ranger bumping into 5 enemies in a hallway in Panama , and off duty police officer waiting in a bank line when a bank robbery unfolded . Notice that nobody ever delibertly set out to take on 5 or more with a pistol . They found themsrlves outnumbered in an Oh S*** situiation , and reacted with cool heads , good marksmanship , and lots of luck .

Some guys used paper cartridges little faster. but wouldn't help in that kind of fight.

You hit the loading pretty damned close’

It’s not hard, you pretty much nailed it

Lol! Nearly fell out of my chair laughing @7:39!! Too funny. At some point ya gotta come up for air, irregardless of bad punctuation.

The factor of how criminals often have a fear to them and are always ber nervous. Where a good morally sound man will often be steady and far less fearful. Add in the training he has had and it makes his chances of survival closer to 33%

A hunter on a stand might have steady aim at a doe. A hunter on the ground being charged by a tiger might loose his nerves and aim poorly. Against all odds, some soldiers and marines in WW2 include a few who were charmed and weren't killed when it seems impossible they lived. The Captain was experienced in combat, and retained his composure. Cowards seeing a trained fighting man, a for real combat veteran, effectively returning fire, and they themselves lacking professional training, were as likely as not poor marksmen. Their misfortune was not knowing who they should have concentrated fire upon when the Captain and his associates were off guard.

He may have had some cover and that is why he was not shot at the first, if most of the attacker aimed at the other two in their sight, this might have given him time to shoot several attackers before the rest realized someone was shooting back. They may have also already been out of amo , if he moved well and could shoot and move he may have been able to keep the attackers at bad angles for them to all have a shot at him at once. Then, his skill with a knife overwhelmed his attackers. Bad ass.

The California alta, was the first English language newspaper in California, the newspaper was started by a family member of mine, Robert Bayer semple,, who was one of the bear flaggers, on a side note the California alta eventually became the san Francisco examiner

I've heard a few of your presentations and have enjoyed them. I've just subscribed in hopes of hearing more. One thing that I appreciate is that you give this a personal touch by speaking for yourself and responding to suggestions of which I have only one. If you could consider narrating a little slower and don't forget to breath. You and your subject matter are interesting enough and you got our ear already. You don't need to rush it. Perhaps by not sounding hurried you may give your still exciting adventure a more harmonious result (that last bit borrowed from A. Wilfred Brimley - RIP) - I have had vision problems for a long time and have used audio-books from different sources since the early/mid 1980s. You do have a good speaking voice

God was with Captain Davis. I believe that. Colt Navy revolvers make most sense that the blessed Captain used. You are very entertaining to listen to. You kept me listening. Thanks for a great Western story. I believe the story. Also the outlaws having bylaws seem strange but back then the pirates and outlaws tried to have some structure.

I am a new subscriber but. This is my favorite video I have herd you you do. So far maybe it is because of how you presented it lol.

This would have been two 1851 Navies.

They had paper cartridges in common use, and likely it wasn't a Walker. The Army revolvers were .44 caliber, likely one of the Army's or a Remington and chain-firing was common with any percussion revolver. Metallic cartridges did exist but wasn't common and didn't pop up until the cartridge conversions became prevalent. If you need someone to cover those details for you I would be more than happy to help without compensation.

I know this is old but I will comment. I have a navy Colt. For safety, I leave the hammer at rest between the cylinders. It is a single action shooter so it has to be fully cocked each time it is fired. Great big Iron to shoot but a pain to clean as all cap and ball fire arms are. Good stuff you have here even if you have a potty mouth. lol

Hey, as a native of rhe area this story originates from love the rendition. One problem though, you are pronouncing Placerville wrong. It Plah sir ville, not play sir ville.

I’m pretty sure wild bill unloaded and cleaned his revolver every night. So I’ve heard.

Hey, as you know, John Wesley Harden became a lawyer.

Looking at this photograph I noticed that it may be a 2nd generation Colt Dragoon. The frame appears larger than the 1851 model, and smaller than the 1847 Walker Colt. The gun in the holster has a rounded trigger guard, however not sure of the cylinder notch. The 2nd model was available in. 44calib. Thank you

There was movie called the adventures of Baron Munchausen. Really great. He was also a actual German soldier and historical figure.

I like both True Grits. But that scene in the clearing was so much better in the Hathaway/ Wayne version. Jeff Bridges is great but the dude did not outperform the duke in that scene.

My Bowie knife is 15" overall. 10" blade and 5" handle

As a child, I had a close group of friends. There was a place in town with a bunch of bike jumps. This one time this grown man roughed up one of my friends, There was about five of us that attacked him and beat the living hell out of him he had no chance. we were about 10 or 12 years old. We completely shocked that guy he had no idea we were all together lol.

I have no idea, and am certainly not 1/100th as badass as Cap. Davis, but I tend to lean toward him carrying the 36 caliber revolver. A bigger caliber's increased recoil would make it tougher to get off quick accurate followup shots. I'd also love to know more about how the attackers were laid out. Was Davis shooting at a lump of them all together, or were they arrayed out in a semi-circle? And were none of them using cover or concealment after jumping out to attack? It would seem the success of Davis would rely somewhat on the incompetence of his attackers at least as much as his incredible skill, which is incredible even if you acknowledge his foes potential tactical mistakes.

Looks like an Arkansas Toothpick, as opposed to a Bowie Knife. Great yarn...thanku.

The Colt Navy revolver, being percussion(AKA "cap and ball") is primitive and slow to load, but the Navy revolver's accuracy and deadly terminal ballistics are not primitive at all. An original Colt Navy in good condition (and the fine Uberti replicas of the Colt Navy) will shoot rings around a modern Glock 9mm auto pistol, accuracy-wise! The Navy revolvers were and are superbly accurate handguns, capable of precisely accurate shots at long pistol range. In a famous gunfight in 1865 in Springfield, MO Wild Bill Hickok shot Dave Tutt thru the heart at 75 YARDS with an 1851 Navy Colt. Nearly 30 witnesses testified at Hickok's 3 day trial, and the court transcripts still exist! In 1857 tests conducted by British Ordnance, British officers were astounded by the 1851 Navy's ability to accurately land lethal hits on man-sized targets at more than 200 yards. And in his great book SIXGUNS, Elmer Keith, tells of learning to shoot as a boy in the early 20th Century, using an original 1851 Navy Colt, that fired at 20 yards tightly bench-rested, would group six 36 caliber balls into a small single hole that resembled a clover leaf. My experience with the Uberti replica 1851 Navy is that it is easy to hit a man-sized silhouette target in the torso at 100 yards. And if carefully bench rested, at 100 yards, the Uberti 1851 Navy replica will consistently group 6 shots on the head of the target, especially if using the conical bullet in place of the round ball. At "In Range TV" here on YT, Karl used a Uberti replica of the 5-shot .36 caliber Colt 1862 Police Revolver to place THIRD in a back up gun match against modern pistols! For the first cylinder, in experienced hands, the cap and ball Colt revolvers can actually run neck and neck against modern pistols, provided the replica is tuned and slicked up to the quality standards of the original Colts! The slow reload factor is what will take the cap and ball Colt revolver out of the race against modern pistols. Which is why a guy like Hickok carried TWO Navy Colts!

The French made M1854 used a self-contained cartridge, but it is doubtful anyone participating in this fight possessed one.

I think you should do some research on the OK corral I have seen in many places that the Clanton's had two guns between them. I have also read that the Earp's worked both sides of the town they where lawmen and ran saloons with nice girls so to speak, to be PC about it.

Rutledge is a common name to this day in South Carolina, as a first, middle or last name. BTW, I love your channel.

The Navy Colt is the obvious choice, consider a pair of Navy's as coming to the party light and well balanced. Credit, Willie Nelson as Doc Holiday.

Billy the Kid was a snitch. Snitched off the wild bunch. Honestly, he was the first witness protection deal .I subscribed

Say Josh, of all these people you've done, those that were from the same time period, do you think they would get along with each other under different circumstances?

The holes in the captains hat may have been counting entrance holes which would be accurate but the other count may have the exit holes and there's your difference

Gus had a Walker as well, I would suspect he either carried walkers or dragoons, I've shot reproduction walkers for over 20 years and find them very reliable even though the 1860 army and 1851 colts are lighter, I'd take the Walker over either because I find them a better pistol . They are essentially point shooting guns which is why I think he was able to achieve what he did.

All these men that are in these stories seem to me to be super heroes back then. These are some tough mothers in these days

Amazing video I loved it, still think you could take 30 six year olds, I believe in you like that.

He went on to be the lead vocalist in a pretty cool Nu Metal band for a while. My guess is that there could be a couple of explanations and maybe a mixture of both. As mentioned in the vid the thieves could have been incompetent or drunk. Maybe he did have the most ideal revolvers available and the thieves were expecting less. Most importantly though, we don't know what the battlefield was like. It might have been in a location that was very beneficial to small numbers. That all said he was prob a bit of a bad ass too.

Lesser known fact ; he was also the singer for Korn. Also I suck @ research.

thank you for your work . enjoy listening in. Placerville. is pronounced plasserville. . placer gold., > the gold in stream

We know you bring squirrels to an untimely demise....Please tell us, why is the beaver bloody.

Downloading castbox just for your podcast. Lol

if that is a picture of capt davis the knife he is carrying is known as an arkansas toothpick it was a double edge long knife with a crossguard.