Part 1 of 2

In the winter-shadowed mountains of 1870s Colorado, people disappeared with unsettling regularity. Most were claimed by weather, terrain, or bad luck. This story is different. Five men entered the high country chasing gold. Only one came back.

What followed was not a simple tale of survival. It was a cascade of contradictions, shifting confessions, scattered bones, and a discovery so disturbing it permanently renamed the land itself. Sketches published in a national magazine revealed a scene that suggested planning, patience, and something far darker than desperation.

As rumors spread and evidence surfaced, the line between hunger and intent began to blur. Supplies that shouldn’t have existed. Money that shouldn’t have been spent. Stories that changed just enough to stay ahead of the truth. And always, the same question lingering in the thin mountain air: what really happened out there?

This is Part One of a two-part descent into one of the most infamous true crime stories of the American West—an episode that inspired films, legends, and a name still spoken with unease. The gore fades. The mystery deepens. And the mountains, as always, keep their secrets just a little longer.

Can’t wait for the conclusion?

Part Two of this story is already waiting. The manhunt, the trial, the lies unraveling in public, and the legal chaos that followed are all available right now on our Patreon. Visit rainydayrabbitholes.com to unlock ad-free episodes, bonus content, and early access to stories that go places polite history refuses to tread.

You’ll also find photos, sources, and supplemental material connected to this episode on our website, beautifully designed by Letha Davis of easybrzy.com—because even dark history deserves a good-looking home.

This 5 Minute Friday episode takes one strange headline and follows it all the way to the edge of the map.

In 2021, a small coastal town in Japan made international news after using COVID-19 relief funds to build a giant pink squid statue. Critics scoffed. The internet laughed. Headlines spread far beyond the town itself—including this BBC report that first caught our attention:

👉 BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56978075

But the Squid King didn’t appear out of nowhere.

After starting with that headline, we zoom out to explore the remote Noto Peninsula, a rugged corner of Japan shaped by fishing culture, isolation, and a long history of adapting to uncertainty. In places like this, visibility can mean survival—and sometimes that means embracing the absurd.

Then, on January 1, 2024, the ground itself shifted. A powerful earthquake struck the peninsula, damaging towns and reshaping coastlines, reminding everyone just how precarious life in this region can be.

In our 5 Minute Friday episodes, we share some of our favorite headlines and curious stories from around the world—short listens that spiral into much bigger ideas.

Find more episodes, bonus content, and all things Rainy Day Rabbit Holes at:

🌧️ https://rainydayrabbitholes.com

In this episode, Jody tackles what may be the most unhinged athletic event ever sanctioned by adults with clipboards: the 1904 Olympic Marathon. Held in brutal heat, on dusty roads, with questionable medical advice and competitors who probably should not have been left unattended, this race quickly devolved into a survival experiment disguised as sport.

What unfolds is a parade of bad decisions—athletes collapsing, hallucinating, hitching car rides, consuming alarming “performance enhancers,” and redefining what the word marathon was even supposed to mean. Jody walks us through the madness with sharp humor and just enough historical grounding to make the whole thing even funnier. The result is a story that feels less like Olympic glory and more like a cautionary tale about hubris, pseudoscience, and the early 20th century’s extremely loose relationship with safety.

It’s history at its most absurd, and proof that sometimes the past doesn’t whisper lessons—it sprints toward you, covered in dust, doing something deeply inadvisable.

For more strange history, deep dives, and delightful nonsense, visit our website at Rainy Day Rabbit Holes Podcast:

👉 rainydayrabbitholes.com

Want bonus episodes, early access, and extra rabbit holes? You can support the show and unlock more chaos over on Patreon:

👉 patreon.com/rainydayrabbitholes

History is weird. We intend to keep it that way.