Fearless cowboys, bloodthirsty Indians and lawlessness: 7 myths about the Wild West

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Alas, in westerns and adventure novels, almost everything is not true.

Launched in 1804, an expedition led by US Army officers Meriwether Lewis and William Clarke began the exploration of the vast expanses of North America west of the Mississippi River. In these territories, thousands of settlers were later able to establish 22 out of 50 American states.

Throughout the 19th century and up to the 20s of the 20th century, these lands were being developed: Indians were driven out, deposits were developed and bison were massively exterminated. This period is called the era of the Wild West. However, sometimes it is limited to only 25 years: from 1865 (this is the end of the American Civil War) to 1890.

There are many myths around the Wild West that still flourish in fiction books, films, and the mass consciousness. The Americans themselves played a large role in their popularization, publishing novels about cowboys and Indians and filming westerns.

The life hacker has sorted out seven popular misconceptions about this era.

1. Cowboys are noble guys who can solve any problem

Most cowboys appear to be something like the one in the photo above: a man in jeans and a wide-brimmed hat, armed with a Colt and Winchester, riding a horse. In westerns and adventure novels, cowboys help sheriffs to put in order and put bandits in place, expose corrupt lawyers, shoot straight, drink whiskey and save beautiful girls from the Indians. Almost all of this is fiction.

Let's start with how and why cowboys appeared. The fact is that the climatic conditions of the Wild West favored the breeding of cows - they could graze on endless plains all year round. This became especially true after the entry of Texas into the United States. Here, from the Spanish colonialists, a huge herd of feral cows remained - and their capture became a profitable business: for example, livestock in Texas cost 10 times cheaper than in the eastern states.

So, cowboys worked for cattle and meat traders: they caught wild animals, knocked them into herds, drove them to fatten, and then to slaughter or sell.

By and large, these are just shepherds, as the English word itself says: cow - "cow", boy - "boy" or "guy".

Sometimes cowboys had to travel more than 1,000 kilometers with the herd to reach the nearest town or train station to the grazing area. Such migrations were made twice a year: in spring and autumn - and they required hard work.

There were about 250 head of cattle for one shepherd. It was necessary to watch the animals day and night, lead them, risking death under the hooves of the herd frightened by some sharp sound. Cowboys also had to be able to examine and treat cows, and also slaughter them if necessary.

The working day could last up to 14 hours. Dust, a modest diet, and other disadvantages of outdoor living undermined health. Few could hold out in such a regime for more than 7 years. Moreover, for such dangerous and hard work far from civilization and other people, cowboys received less than skilled workers.

Mostly young people became cowboys (on average 23-24 years old, and sometimes even teenagers), unmarried and from poor families. Many were blacks, Hispanics, Indians. There were also women among the shepherds, although not often.

The cowboys really carried weapons with them - to protect them from wild animals, Indians and robbers. Often it was given by the owner of the herd, since it was expensive and not every shepherd could afford it. The same goes for horses.

It was forbidden to drink alcohol and gamble during the hauls - the owners of the herds could fine their cowboys for this. Also, according to US federal laws, alcoholic beverages could not be transported through Indian lands.

But after the drive, the cowboy could rest and have fun. The center of the livestock trade and the most "cowboy" city was Dodge City, which was home to many saloons, brothels and casinos. In them, the cowboys let their earned money after several months of toil on the prairie. At the same time, it was not whiskey at all that was considered a favorite drink, but beer - as a cheaper and more common one.

Long-term isolation from civilization and alcohol, coupled with visits to casinos and brothels, did not contribute to the positive reputation of the cowboys who returned from their "watch". In the press of those years, they gained fame as drunken crooks, vagabonds and idlers, or even armed bandits.

None of this is very reminiscent of the romanticized heroes of Westerns.

2. Chaos reigned everywhere, and the sheriffs were the only stronghold of the law

In movies, adventure novels and video games about the Wild West, we see complete lawlessness, every bulletin board is pasted over with leaflets for bounty hunters, and bandits and cowboys constantly arrange firefights. But all these artistic images are infinitely far from reality.

Although the official power in the cities and settlements of the Wild West was established slowly, its absence was quite effectively compensated by private offices created at the initiative of the residents themselves. For example, there was the San Francisco Vigilance Committee, which was quite successful in fighting crime in California in the 1850s. The same organization was in Texas, where, as in any border state, criminals felt more at ease thanks to the possibility of hiding in Mexico.

The sheriff in the city usually did not act alone: he could be assisted by marshals, rangers and mounted police. Lawyers did not have to shoot constantly either. They mainly looked after drunks, disarmed those who violated the regulations on carrying weapons, detained violent visitors to gambling houses and brothels. On a voluntary basis, ordinary citizens also helped lawyers. Even then, many Americans had weapons, including in order to protect themselves.

But it is also impossible to say that the inhabitants of the Wild West fired from their revolvers and carbines to the right and to the left. For example, in the "city of cowboys" Dodge City, the carrying of weapons was quickly banned, and the practice was widespread.

So the idea of a shooter walking freely around the city with two revolvers on his hip is just a beautiful image.

Therefore, it cannot at all be argued that mining and cattle-breeding towns, like mushrooms that appeared in the American West, were hotbeds of anarchy and violence. Thanks to close cooperation between private and public services, collective agreements concluded between citizens, the crime rate was not so high.

You should be especially skeptical about the scenes from the movies in which the bandits defiantly enter the city. People with a dark past or present tried to stay away from large settlements and predominantly lived in rural areas and border areas.

Of course, there were livestock and robbery gangs and bounty hunters (bounty hunters) to capture them. But the scale of crime was again very modest. So, from 1859 to 1900 in 15 states of Old Old West - lands west of the Mississippi River - Approx. the author. West”there were only eight bank robberies. For comparison: in modern Dayton, Ohio, a city with a population of 140 thousand people, there are more such incidents in a year.

Bank buildings were designed using the most modern technologies and were usually located next to the sheriff's office. Trains and stagecoaches with valuable cargo were also fairly well guarded. Most often, lone travelers, horsemen and charioteers became the target of bandits.

Punishments for crimes were severe - often bandits paid with their lives for their atrocities. Enraged citizens could be hanged or shot on the spot without trial or investigation, even for horse stealing.

Honor duels also featured Wild Bill Hickok fights first western showdown. History.com location. But they rarely happened and did not look as romantic as in the movies. The participants were hiding in shelters, and from the powder smoke no one really understood where they were shooting. The main thing in this business was the ability to shoot first, and then finish off the opponent. During one of the most famous duels Wild Bill Hickok fights first western showdown. History.com, a duel between Wild Bill Hickok and Davis Tutt, both managed to open fire, but Tutt missed.

More often than not, gangsters were killed in ambushes, not gunfights. For example, the bandit Jesse James and the same Hickok were shot in the back.

3. Everybody wore Stetson hats

The "cowboy" Stetson became associated with the Wild West only with the growing popularity of film stars. Stereotypical images have largely appeared due to the fact that cowboys dressed up for photography as they never looked during working hours: shirts, huge hats, boots with stars and spectacular revolvers.

In fact, a wide variety of hats were worn in the Wild West. For example, the legendary criminal Billy the Kid in his weird headdress:

And here is one of the most famous shooters Wild Bill Hickok, the legend of the West:

And this is what the famous lawyer, bison hunter and gambler William Bat Masterson looked like:

In general, bowler hats were much more popular then. They were even called "who conquered the West."

If anyone wore large, wide-brimmed hats, they usually chose simple hats without folds. For the first time they began to produce the same John Stetson, and they were called "Master of the Plains" (Boss of Plains).

4. The best shooters fired from both hands

Shooters in popular culture not only know how to quickly snatch their Colt and hit a fly in the eye from it, but also perfectly wield two pistols at the same time.

Again, this is just a beautiful fantasy. Many really carried more than one barrel with them, but this was not due to the ability to shoot from both hands, but to the long reloading of revolvers. Having fired all the cartridges from one weapon, one could simply take another and continue the process. So, gangsters Jesse James and William Bloody Bill Anderson could take on up to six pistols.

At the same time, heavy, uncomfortable, with a low range of bullets, revolvers cannot be called the most popular weapons of the Wild West. Shooters of that time had no less respect for rifles-carbines and shotguns, for example, the same Winchester.

5. Indians constantly attacked American settlers

Almost no Western is complete without an Indian attack on a village or a column of settlers. But in fact, the opposite situation happened much more often.

Not all Indians embarked on the warpath with Europeans. Many tribes avoided clashes, and some even fought on the side of the United States: against the armies of colonial powers or even other tribes. The lands of the indigenous people of America were first bought out, and the government of the States entered into treaties with the leaders.

But during and after the Civil War, these relatively peaceful relations came to naught. In 1871, the US government refused to further ratify treaties with the tribes and proceeded to aggressive development of the Great Plains.

The real destruction of the Indians followed. They were driven into reservations with unsuitable conditions for life and were simply exterminated.

One of the earliest and most revealing episodes is the Sand Creek massacre on November 29, 1864. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians lived on a reservation in a village near the Sand Creek in Colorado. The government signed an agreement with them and assured them that they would not be touched here. Aboriginal people even hung a US flag over the village.

Nevertheless, a group of American soldiers under the command of John Chivington attacked the settlement. The raid was unexpected and violent. Most Indian men at that time hunted bison, so the soldiers exterminated the elderly, women and children. They finished off the wounded and collected scalps and body parts as trophies. Chivington, who did not coordinate his actions with the command, got off with dismissal from the army.

Similar incidents involving murder and rape have occurred in Grandin G. The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America. Metropolitan Books. 2019 and beyond, causing a corresponding reaction from the Indians.

Moving westward, American forces created forts to guard their settlements and communications, often using scorched earth tactics. Among other things, this was done with the help of the mass extermination of bison, which the Indians hunted not only for food, but also to create clothes and many other household items from skins and bones.

Rath & Wright's skinning yard showcases 40,000 bison skins. 1878 year. Dodge City, Kansas. Photo: U. S. National Archives and Records Administration / Wikimedia Commons

A mountain of buffalo skulls. 1892 Photo: Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library / Wikimedia Commons

According to American statisticians, by 1894 there were more than 40 only official wars with the Indians. They killed at least about 30 thousand representatives of the indigenous population of the continent, and the source says that this number may be only half of the victims.

Nevertheless, it was not so dangerous to pass through the lands of the Indians. According to the diaries of 66 settlers who traveled through what is now Nebraska and Wyoming in 1834-1860, clashes did occur, but not often Munkres R. L. The Plains Indian Threat on the Oregon Trail before 1860. Annals of Wyoming. Only nine out of 66 eyewitnesses report Native American attacks, and four more have heard of them from third parties. The clashes themselves also did not really resemble fierce carnages: mainly the Indians demanded a fare or stole horses and cattle from the settlers. When food was scarce, they could hunt cows and attack cowboys.

At night, the settlers did put the vans in a circle. But they did this not to protect themselves from the Indians, but so that the cattle would not scatter and so that they would not be stolen.

In total, according to documented cases, 362 people died from attacks by Indians, for example, on the Oregon Trail, along which from 10 to 30 thousand American settlers went to the West. More than 400 Aboriginal people were killed by whites in retaliation.

Thus, it is difficult to say that the Indians fought with the settlers. With the army - yes, but in many ways it was due to the policy of the United States government.

But it is also impossible to call American Aborigines noble warriors. In conflicts with each other, they slaughtered entire villages, and the same American statisticians in 1894 reported that about 19 thousand whites died in the wars with the Indians. There were both women and children among them.

Little known is the fact that the North American Indians were also slave owners, and not only members of hostile tribes, but also blacks became slaves.

6. Indians have always scalped their enemies

Scalping was an ancient Native American magic ritual. It was considered Stingle M. Indians without tomahawks. M. 1984 that the scalp is proof of a feat, a way to take away the strength of a slain enemy. But this custom was not so widespread and was not present in all tribes. For example, residents of northwest North America and the Pacific coastline were not involved in scalping.

Most often it was just the white colonialists who practiced it. In the Old World, scalping was Stingle M. Indians without tomahawks. M. 1984 is known long before the discovery of the New and was actively used during the colonization of America. So, the authorities of some states have repeatedly announced Grandin G. The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America. Metropolitan Books. 2019 Indian Scalp Award. Money for them was paid both to bounty hunters, among whom there were many dark personalities, and to Indians who were at war with each other.

7. Women either sat at home, or waited for salvation from the captivity of the Indians

In westerns, the heroines of the plot usually appear only in the background, acting only as guardians of the hearth and victims of bandits and Indians. Of course, the activity of most women in those days was really limited to household chores, but there were exceptions.

For example, as mentioned above, some girls were engaged in the trade of cowboys - driving cattle. "Cowgirl" knew how to shoot as well as men and stayed in the saddle. Some women were also excellent hunters. So, one of the participants in the Buffalo Beale Show, created by entrepreneur and showman William Cody, was sniper Annie Oakley.

Today, Texas even has the Cowgirl Hall of Fame & Museum, the National Museum and the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

In addition, in the western states, women were the earliest in the United States to receive equal rights with men: to vote, fair wages and a simplified divorce procedure. For example, in Wyoming, such laws were Wyoming grants women the right to vote. History.com was adopted as early as 1869.

The history of the Wild West shows that even relatively recent events can turn into a collection of stereotypes and legends. Simplifying reality, exaggerating the scale of events and painting images of heroes and villains, popular culture has created the myth that is called the Wild West. Watching westerns and reading about brave cowboys and noble Indians is still interesting, but now you know how it really was.