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 * Cowboys and the Wild West: Impact on American Culture**

'Twas once in my saddle I used to be happy 'Was once in my saddle I used to be gay But I first took to drinking, then to gambling A shot from a six-shooter took my life away.

-//A Cowboys Lament (Deming 1996)//

The cowboy holds a unique position as both a factual player in American history and a literary myth far removed from his true nature. The role that the cowboy played in the development of America was small. He was active for only a few decades. However, the myth that was spawned by his experience had vast impact on American culture; one that continues through the present day.


 * Creating the Wild West**

The first cattle drive occurred in 1867, with the delivery of a herd of Texas cattle to Abilene, Kansas (Paxson 1916). This signified the beginning of the physical cowboy in the west. For the next thirty years, cowboys would ride across the west, pushing cattle from the ranges of Texas and the frontier to the train stations in places such as Abilene, Kansas.

In 1890, the U.S. Census Bureau stated in regards to the western frontier“…at the present the unsettled area has been so broken into by isolated bodies of settlement that there can hardly be said to be a frontier line”. Also in 1890, the last long drive of cattle from Texas to Abilene occurred. These acts signified the end of the frontier and the Wild West, thus ending the cowboy era (Turner 1972).

However, in 1883, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show opened for the first time. With the presentation of Buck Taylor as the first mythic cowboy, the cowboy legend was born. Buffalo Bill would transform the image of Buck Taylor, and all cowboys, from that of dangerous hillbilly, to American Hero. He encouraged the publishing of //The Raiders and Rangers: A Story of the Wild and Thrilling Life of William L. Taylor//, the first novel to romanticize the cowhand profession (Savage 1979). Wild Bill’s show would run well into the twentieth century, and the mythic cowboy would only grow in stature.


 * The Myth In Pop Culture**

media type="youtube" key="MHVSCribt3U" height="315" width="420" From 1890 on, the cowboy legend was free to grow without restraints from reality. The legend was first carried on primarily by dime novels such as the one that glamorized the life of Buck Taylor. In 1899, future president Teddy Roosevelt wrote //The Rough Riders,// in which he states, “[the cowboy] does possess, to very high degree, the stern, manly, qualities that are invaluable to the nation” (Savage 1979). Roosevelt must share some credit for the rise of cowboys as a cultural icon. He felt that cowboys represented the individualism he lionized. His status as president and fame as adventurer helped solidify the cowboy image.

As time progressed, the cowboy myth in pop culture grew to new genres as well. It seemed that the image of the cowboy as a rugged individualist was one with which many Americans could identify. By the 1930’s, movie theatres were full of westerns. The list of movie stars that are best known for their western work is quite large for such a genre specific category, including Gene Autry, John Wayne, Glenn Campbell, Clint Eastwood and Tex Ritter (Savage 1979). These stars brought the cowboy myth to life for generations who were far removed from the time of the actual cowboys. In fact, it is in the portrayal of cowboys by these men that we get many of our modern-day cowboy tropes. media type="youtube" key="xqGe3aofVGs" width="425" height="350" A tradition that developed concurrently with, or perhaps a little later than, the cinematic cowboy is the country-western music genre. Western movie stars such as Gene Autry and Tex Ritter were also singers, both enshrined in the Country Music Hall of Fame. The country-western tradition continued with artists such as Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams singing about the lost western lifestyle and incorporating cowboy garb into their musical acts. In this manner, the western tradition carried on, even as the Western movie lost popularity by the end of the 1970’s (Savage 1979). This cowboy imagery is maintained in country music today, with performers dressing in western garb and revering cowboys as idols in much of their music.


 * The Myth Defined**

Today, the reality of cowboy life is layered behind so many myths and legends that discovering the truth is a difficult task. Perhaps the truth behind the myth does not matter much to our society. In many ways, the myth has become reality. The mythic cowboy encompasses a variety of legends and values. While not every portrayal in fiction shows cowboys with the same traits, a synthesis of the themes touched by multiple cowboy myths can lead to an understanding of the legend and its impact on modern culture.

The legend of the cowboy encompasses much more than the men who actually rode the long drives. It has swollen to include outlaws, ranchers, farmers, pioneers, and sheriffs (Mead 2007). The cowboy legend has been applied to both the outlaws breaking the law and the deputies tasked with enforcing it in various fictional works. This broadening allows other aspects of the myth to grow as well. The stereotypical cowboy has a specific look. He wears chaps and spurs, a brimmed hat, creased along the edges. He wears a gun and rides a horse. While this look may not be historically accurate, it is employed today as a shorthand reference to the ideals that cowboys represent (Wright 2001). Country musicians attempt to portray an outlaw image by donning cowboy hats. When one dons the western clothing made popular by the cowboy myth, he is attempting to communicate his identification with a set of characteristics and ideals.

While the cowboy has a specific look, the more impactful aspect of the cowboy myth is the ideals that he represents. The cowboy is the epitome of Roosevelt’s rugged individual. He relies on no one, does not have family and probably not friends. He is a product of his environment, resourceful and brave. As he lived in the lawlessness of the frontier, the cowboy necessarily has courage. Western bar fights and shootouts are almost universally the result of a slight of honor, either real or perceived (Wright 2001). The cowboy is fiercely protective of his reputation as a man. These are the ideals that we have crafted for our American hero over more than a century of development.

We recognize the cowboy as an American hero. Even outlaws such as Billy the Kid and Jesse James are revered for their place in history. However, there are countless examples of cowboy being used as an insult. Dick Cheney and George Bush were accused of using “cowboy diplomacy” over the course of their administration. This criticism revolved around the perception that cowboys were loners and quick with the gun. These two traits are definitively part of the myth, but they are typically considered positives in the mythic realm. However, the use of cowboy imagery as an insult could insinuate a changing paradigm in American thought. It could signify a change from individualism and exceptionalism as key American ideals.




 * The Real Cowboy**

It is out on the road these sights are to be seen, The antelope, the buffalo, the prairie all so green; The antelope, the buffalo, the rabbit jumped so high,? It’s whack the cattle on boys, Root hog or die. ( Lomax 1911)

It is difficult to create an accurate picture of true cowboys. Their profession did not lend itself to record keeping or historical data collection. The actual profession of cowboy, a young man who led herds of cattle on a long drive, actually employed few men. While estimates vary greatly, no more than thirty five thousand men rode the trails from 1865-1890. These men came from all over, some immigrants, many from the east, and some being born and raised in the west. While we tend to think of cowboys as uniformly white, there is photographic evidence of black cowboys working the drives as well. One estimate places the number of black cowboys at five thousand (Savage 1979).

Much of what else is known about true cowboys is a product of their career. They necessarily were good at handling horses. They were known as loners because of the demands of their profession, leaving them in small bands on the range for months at a time. However, the cowboys were active for more than just the long drives. Cattle were branded with the marks of the rancher who owned them. The round-ups would also require the cowboy’s hand. Once on the drive, the cowboys were responsible for not only moving the cattle, but also keeping up the weight of the animals. The cowboy’s job was varied by location and time, but the work strenuous (Paxson 1917). The reality of the profession did not match the romanticism of the myth.


 * Billy the Kid, a Real-life Cowboy?**

When one thinks of the cowboys of the Wild West, a few names come to mind. Wild Bill Hickok, Jesse James and Billy the Kid are some of the names come to mind when considering the Wild West. These men are the cowboys of myth, but what were their realities? The story of Billy the Kid can help answer this question.

Billy was born Henry McCarthy in 1859 in New York City, eventually moving to New Mexico with his mother. By the time he was seventeen, he had taken the name William Bonney and became involved in a turf war over the cattle ranching industry in Lincoln County Nebraska. He was a hired hand of one of the competing cattle companies, not a principle player in the conflict himself. Nonetheless, by the end of the fighting three years later, he had participating in the killing of at least five men. His murder of a man in Arizona made him a fugitive of the law. He joined a group of cattle thieves in Texas and began driving cattle into New Mexico (Page 1991).

In a saloon in New Mexico in 1881, Bonney tricked a man into drawing an unloaded pistol on him. After the man attempted to shot him, Bonney drew his own pistol and fired, killing the man. After a protracted siege in a nearby house, Billy the Kid was captured and placed in the town’s jail. He was not to remain jailed for long though, as he managed to steal a gun from one of the guards. Killing the two guards in the prison, Bonney escaped by horseback to Fort Sumner. Here, he was gunned down by sheriff Pat Garrett while leaving his room one night. Billy the Kid was dead at age 21 (Page 1991).

Despite a coroner’s report on his death, some controversy still remains as to whether Bonney was actually killed that night. No death certificate exists and the location of the body remains unknown. A few of the people who knew Bonney refused to believe that Pat Garrett could have outsmarted Bonney, and many men came forward later claiming to be Billy the Kid. One man, despite being unable to read and write, nearly convinced the state of New Mexico to pardon him for the crimes of Billy the Kid. However, no experts today believe that Billy the Kid survived past the shot of Pat Garrett’s gun (Page 1991).

The questions surrounding his death supported the developing mythos of Billy the Kid. Estimates of men he killed range into the forties, despite direct evidence of only four. The only surviving photograph of him is actually a mirrored image. In it, he is holding the gun in what looks to be his left hand. This led to nicknames such as “The Left Handed Gun” despite the fact that Billy was right-handed. Books published as soon as 1881 painted Bonney as ruthless villain. However, by 1925, Billy the Kid had transformed into Robin Hood type character, more hero than villain. There have been over forty movies portraying Billy the Kid. This vast exposure has created a myth that supersedes the reality of William Bonney (Page 1991).

While Billy the Kid has grown famous as a cowboy and symbol of the Wild West, he was in, in reality, not a cowboy. He did not participate in the long drives that the cowboys performed. His experience with cattle was limited to the Lincoln County war and his time as cattle rustler. Billy the Kid was more accurately only an outlaw. However, his mythos paints him as a cowboy and this identification has had more sway over the modern conception of a cowboy than the men who actually rode the long drives.


 * Cowboys and the Turner Thesis**

As previously mentioned, the cowboy myth was solidifying just at the same point, 1890, that the American frontier was closing. The Turner thesis, present by Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893, states //The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain American development. The true point of view in the history of this nation not the Atlantic coast, it is the Great West.// The theory states that America was shaped by its frontier, and that with the closing of the frontier, a chapter of American history was ending.

American history up until 1890 had been a series of expansions into a new frontier. The settlers at Jamestown colonizing the Virginian shoreline, the frontiersmen pushing into the Appalachians, Lewis and Clark crossing the Louisiana Purchase, each of these are examples of the American experience being defined by conquering new frontiers. With each band of settlers, the American identity became more unique and further removed from the impact of its European roots (Turner 1972).

The cowboy myth then, became part of the national identity because it was the last and most distinctively American symbol of a lost chapter in American history. While pioneers and settlers were a part of the American experience for hundreds of years, they slowly integrated themselves into society as civilization spread and disappeared. Cowboys represent many of the same ideals expressed by the early settlers. However, cowboys were part of the American fabric, and then, suddenly, they no longer existed. The closing of the frontier ended their era decisively rather than by a slow transition into mainstream society. As America has transitioned from growing empire into aging superpower, the cowboy remains in the national conscience as a symbol of the past we have left behind.


 * Conclusion**

The cowboy myth is one of the most popular and longest enduring legends in the American pantheon. It has had major impacts on various mass media outlets over the past 120 years, from dime novels to spaghetti westerns to country music. While the legend is loosely based upon true cowboys, it has been transformed into a heroic ideal over time. The unique positioning of the cowboy at the end of the frontier allows the myth to stand as symbol of a romantic past. The mythic cowboy ties America of the present to America of the past, and the mythos will continue to evolve with passing of time and the changing of culture.


 * Works Cited**

Deming, A. (1996). //Poetry of the american west//. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

Lomax, J. A. (1911). Cowboy songs of the mexican border.//The Sewanee Review//, //19//(1), 1-18.

Mead, R. A. (2007). Ambivalence and myth in the history and literature of the southern plains. //Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains//, //30//(1), 53-55.

Page, J. (1991). Was billy the kid a superhero- or superscoundrel. //Smithsonian Magazine//, //21//(11), 137-159.

Paxson, F. L. (1916). The cow country. //The American Historical Review//, //22//(1), 65-82.

Savage, Jr, W. W. (1979). //The cowboy hero; his image in american history & culture//. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.

Turner, F. J. (1972). The significance of the frontier in american history. In G. Taylor (Ed.), //The Turner Thesis; Concerning the Role of the Frontier in American History// (pp. 3-28). Lexington, Massachusetts: D.C.Heath and Company.

Wright, W. (2001). //The wild west: The mythical cowboy & social theory//. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Ltd.