So, what are the biggest misconceptions that people have about the Wild West?
Of course the term itself is sort of loaded and artificial but hey, share your gripes
>>891434
Isn't it just about everything? As far as I know, most Wild West stereotypes were created by Buffalo Bill's show of the same name.
>>891434
>what are the biggest misconceptions that people have about the Wild West?
US kept its treaties with Indians.
>>891434
That cowboys were marauding heroes instead of people who spent 90% of their time herding cows and the remaining 10% screwing whores. That life was really exciting and violent instead of boring, hard work. That Dodge City was a dangerous town where people got shot every day when there was really only a murder every month.
Also a little more specific question: What sort of stories would you like to see about this period? I mean, there must be lots of stuff people(or you) have read about and been like "man, this shit is amazing, i wish i'd see a movie about this shit instead of that generic cowboy-stuff"
>>891631
Also, the misconception that in the West everyone was a self-made man, that you could keep whatever you took, own whatever you made, and that it was a land of rugged individuals. Instead, you have a region more or less ruled by influential groups like the railroad and big cattle businesses. Life was a constant struggle between corporate behemoths and the people who had moved west to escape them.
>>891434
Most cowboys were black and/or Mexican and/or native American.
That they were virtually all white.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/15/world/black-cowboys/
Cowboys come the Spanish vaqueros, there is a reason for which similar traditions can be found in the whole continent.
>>891434
That is what an era.
In fact it was closer to a generation, like 30 years of frontier shit and then the party was over. Some old hardy cowboys who started young could have watched Apollo 11 land on the moon from their retirement home.
On the left side, are they just casually passing the booze bottle?
>>891760
Because if you're a soldier and have booze and don't share and share alike, people are gonna hate your shit.
>>891690
Mexicans were the original cowboys thou, who take most of their stuff from Andalusian horse traditions.
>>891434
>wild
>west
it was not wild, it was mostly british corporations growing cattle for domestic production. nor was it west because west is all relative.
>>891434
1. "golden era" of wild west was very short (eg. famous Pony Express lasted only one year and half)
2. duels between two gunslingers were actually extremely rare
>>891434
That they wore "cowboy" hats and pointed boots
>>891434
Furthermore, the Western Frontier was alot less populated and important than we give it credit for. When people think of late 19th century Americans, they think of the Rockies when they should be thinking of Pittsburgh (oddly enough.) It was in this era that URBAN America took off at the expense of rural America.
>>891672
BTW The West has hasn't changed much, except for technology and the names of different businesses and new agencies. Maybe Denver would be an exception, IDK.
