Few periods in American history have been more romanticized than the era of the “Wild West.” The period began with the first European colonial settlements in North America during the early 17th century, but what can be regarded as the classic era of the Old West — with its cowboys, gunslingers, prospectors and outlaws — stretched from around the 1850s to the early 1900s. Dime novels and Western movies created a frontier myth in which rugged men rode out to conquer a barren landscape and fight “bad guys,” and the image became a popular and enduring part of American culture, despite the many historical inaccuracies involved.
As a testament to the power of this mythmaking, many ideas and iconic images associated with the Old West are still widely accepted today, despite being factually incorrect. Here are seven of the most common misconceptions, debunked.
Myth: Wild West Cowboys Wore Cowboy Hats
Nothing says “cowboy” more than a classic cowboy hat. But the Stetson didn’t come onto the market until 1865, and the original hat didn’t look like the iconic Stetsons we know today (it had a high top and was missing the crease in the crown typical of cowboy hats). A more common choice among Old West cowboys was the derby hat, also known as the bowler hat, partly because it didn’t blow off easily in strong winds or while riding a horse. Many famous cowboys and outlaws, including Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, Black Bart, and Billy the Kid, wore bowler hats.
Myth: Quick-Draw Gun Duels Were Common
Quick-draw gun duels are a staple of Western dime novels and movies, typically with two steely-eyed gunfighters facing off in a dusty street while nervous locals watch from behind saloon doors and dirty windows. These kinds of duels, however, almost never happened. Typical shootouts were normally chaotic and impulsive events, often involving more than two men and with bullets flying in all directions — not the slow and calculated high-noon face-offs depicted in popular culture. One of the very few examples of a one-on-one quick-draw duel in a public place is the famous encounter between “Wild Bill” Hickok and the gambler Davis Tutt. Hickok killed Tutt, becoming a folk hero in the process.
Myth: Banks Were Easy Pickings
If Westerns are to be believed, robbing banks was a common pastime for any self-respecting outlaw. The criminals would ride into town in broad daylight, hold up a bank, ride off with their saddlebags full of money, and disappear into the wilderness. But this is very much a Hollywood creation. According to historian Larry Schweikart, there were fewer than 10 confirmed bank robberies between 1859 and 1900 across 15 frontier states. Other sources suggest the number was higher than 10, but still fewer than you would suspect. As Schweikart wrote, “There are more bank robberies in modern-day Dayton, Ohio, in a year than there were in the entire Old West in a decade, perhaps in the entire frontier period!” Myth: Cowboys Frequently Fought With “Indians”
Myth: Cowboys Frequently Fought With “Indians”
The popular “cowboys and Indians” narrative has both parties constantly at each other’s throats. (The use of the word “Indian” originated with Christopher Columbus, who mistakenly believed he had reached the shores of South Asia when he arrived in America, and referred to the native population as “Indios.”) But cowboys rarely fought with Indigenous peoples, and certainly not to the extent shown in Western movies. Tension did exist between ranchers and Native Americans, but cowboys normally avoided potentially hostile encounters (they were more inclined to let soldiers deal with that). Native Americans, meanwhile, didn’t ambush pioneer wagon trains nearly as much as we are led to believe — they mainly tolerated wagon trains and were more likely to trade than attack. Between 1840 and 1860, Native Americans killed 362 emigrants (and even more were killed by emigrants), making them far less dangerous than many other threats in the Wild West, including river crossings, hunting accidents, and falling off your own horse.
Myth: All Cowboys Were White
John Wayne, Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Clint Eastwood — think of nearly any actor known for starring in classic Westerns and they have one thing in common: They’re all white. The popular narrative, however, doesn’t tell the full story. Historians estimate that as many as one in four American cowboys were Black, as many formerly enslaved African Americans found work on the ranches out West in the wake of the Civil War. What’s more, the cowboy culture didn’t even originate in the United States; it came from a style of ranching introduced by Spanish colonists in the 16th century and adopted originally in Mexico, where cattle ranchers and herders were known as “vaqueros.” By the late 19th century, as many as one in three cowboys were Mexican.
Myth: The Typical Frontiersman Was a Romantic Figure
Cowboys and Wild West lawmen are often portrayed as romantic types — either the strong, silent type or the gallant hero who rides to the rescue, looking quite dapper in his clean shirt and shiny boots. But these frontiersmen were nowhere near as neat and tidy as we see on our screens, and, to put it bluntly, they stank. Author and historian Harry E. Chrisman wrote that cowboys “smelled of cow and horse dung, and seldom bathed. They wore beards that easily became nests for lice, fleas, or other vermin and provided secure foci of infection for barber’s itch.”
Myth: Everyone Was Packing a Six-Shooter
In the movies, it seems like every cowboy, cowhand, and dubious wandering stranger carries a revolver or a rifle. In reality, guns were heavily regulated in many towns and cities on the frontier. Most people did own guns in the West, but when it came to entering a town, you either had to leave your weapon at home or hand it over to local authorities. Dodge City, a famously wild frontier town in Kansas, had a large sign in the middle of town reading: “The Carrying of Firearms Strictly Prohibited.” Indeed, the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona — the most famous shootout in the history of the Old West — reached a head when lawman Wyatt Earp ordered a group of cowboys to drop their weapons in accordance with local laws. According to Adam Winkler, a specialist in U.S. constitutional law, “Tombstone had much more restrictive laws on carrying guns in public in the 1880s than it has today.
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