Cowboy Realities: The total number of men who worked a range as cowboys was about 35,000 people. The cowboys had their heyday roughly between the end of the Civil War and the mid 1880s, a period of about twenty years is all. Of those 35,000 men who from time to time worked in the occupation of "cowboy," about 25% were black. About another 12% were Mexican. Black cowhands were particularly numerous in Texas, along the Gulf Coast, and in the Indian country. In many areas of Texas, a number of cattle ranches were worked exclusively or nearly exclusively by black cowboys. It would be naive to think that those black cowhands were treated with the same full equality as their white counterparts, but nonetheless they enjoyed a camaraderie with their fellow workers that was rather rare in most parts of post Civil War America. .
But again, it's not the black or Mexican cowhand that has emerged in our folklore. It's the tall, white, Anglo-Saxon, the hard drinking, sort of "noble savage" who tamed the west, who saved the girl, who probably never kissed her; he, if he kissed anyone, kissed his favorite creature in the world--his horse--and then he climbed in the saddle and rolled off into the sunset to save another town from the vicious monopolists or evil gamblers and prostitutes. In point of fact, even the white cowboys were, for the most part, short, stumpy human beings. They lacked teeth, they had skin the quality of tanned leather, they were, as one newspaper account put it, describing a Wyoming roundup at 1875: "rough men with shaggy hair and wild staring eyes in butternut trousers stuffed into great rough boots.".
Many of the cattle towns that have lived on in our lore and legend as the places of gunfights and wild unsocialized activities were also part of our myth. Towns like Dodge City, Kansas, Abilene, Kansas, were not centers of brothels and bar rooms. They had dance halls, they had a few brothels.
In other words, Europe was getting older, tired and slowly "died-. ... After the result of Independence War, Americans were free to continue their march to the west. ... And in my opinion it is actually a strike to the "American dream- myth. ... The "American dream- started to build its myth. ... Soviets used the myth of "equal citizens-, US used the "free citizens- one. ...
The cowboy was quickly transformed from the low-paid worker he actually was into a powerful and enduring figure of myth. ... The "Old West" had always been a place of myth for many Americans; a source of some of our culture's most romantic and exciting stories. ... However, despite the views of these historians the image of the Old West as being romantic still survives. One reason the romantic depiction of the Old West has persisted is the astonishing popularity of the "Wild West show." ... The Wild West show Cody began inspired dozens of imitators. ...
Sundance Kid also played cards in an old saloon, which was a typical game that was played back then. ... People from all over the country came to the west to try and become rich. This is why both Butch and the Sundance Kid came to the west and eventually met. ... In my opinion when there was a problem in the west they settle it man to man. ... Also in the old west, the outlaws always out run and outsmarted the law. ...
The whole concept of the American West is a slippery-slope topic, and it is difficult to define. ... Crossing west into the Great Plains marked the beginning of the American West. ... According to Turner, the West is the most American aspect of America. ... The greatest myth about the American West is concept that it was a land that had to be tamed. ... Chance attempted to single-handedly keep Joe Burdette in jail, and simultaneously stop Burdette's older brother and his henchmen. ...
The Myth of the Latin Woman In the story "The Myth of the Latin Woman" Judith Ortiz Cofer discusses how she was treated by various people in numerous countries due to their conception of her as a Latin woman. ... In reality, the myths or behavior is attributable to a small minority of the targeted group. ... These attributes has created a myth that characterizes Hispanic women as "hot tamales" or "sexual aggressive". ... She also had an incident with a young boy on the bus who was singing Maria from West Side story. ... She tells how nervous and excited she was as she walked in w...
The older trees die, falling to the forest floor and begin to decay. ... All of us have our secret places, especially if we live out here in the west. ... When I was older, I went hiking with my family and some friends up in the mountains above Boise and Ketchum. ... We as a whole society have been fed the Myth of Conquest by our ancestors, our government and corporate America. ... What is the value of separating lies and myths from fact and truth? ...
It this new cynical view, which is in direct contradiction to the friendly, more trustworthy characters we became familiar with in films such as, The Man Who Shot Liberty Vance (1962), Rio Bravo (1959), and How the West Was Won (1962). ... Now imagine this playing out in, Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). ... Neither would I imagine Frank from, Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) to allow anyone who stood up against him to be allowed to live under any circumstance, for the logical reason that he may stand up against him again. ... Men were men and women were women and any idea otherwise wou...
This essay will shine some new light on the old legend of Ho Po, the River God of China. The Myth of "Ho Po taking a bride" starts with Hsi-men Poa coming into power as the official of Yeh. ... When he did so he saw that she was an old ugly women in her seventy's. ... He also used Marcle Granet, Festivals and songs of Ancient China, when talking about this side to the myth. ... His-men Poa is translated to "the leopard (pao) of the West Gate (hsi-men): which could be considered to be the natural enemy of the fish. ...
He grew restless and, in1879, ventured west to explore ranching. You may think of Jesse James as a cold-blooded killer, this is only a myth. Like Jesse and Frank hid in every cave in the mid-west. ... He and his mother had a very close bond with each other, and after 1850 when Frank went to become a gold miner on the west coast, the bond intensified. ... I guess the old cliché is true. ...
