Gregg Palmer was a big actor, measuring out at 6’2” and well over 200 lbs. But he was big in other ways.
Palmer was a member of John Wayne’s acting company, appearing in six of the Duke’s movies, starting with 1969’s The Undefeated and running through Wayne’s last production, The Shootist.
But Palmer was a bigger presence on the small screen. He was on “Gunsmoke” 20 times, “Death Valley Days” in 13 episodes, “The Virginian” nine times, and “Bonanza” and “2

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows