But in their heyday in the 1870s and down into the 1880s, most of these communities were strictly governed, strictly ordered, strictly regulated. It was not just the you can't carry-your six guns in town today Charlie, but police roaming the streets, keeping law and order. The shootout that's dear to Hollywood seldom, if ever, occurred in these cattle towns. And yet at least one element of the western saga is true: the great cattle drive and the rise of the cattle kingdom. .
Cattle Drives.
In the post Civil War years, a number of men in Texas began to recognize that great fortunes were waiting to be made if cattle could only be driven from Texas up to the developing railheads in Kansas. In 1865 one head of cattle was selling for three to four dollars. In the East Coast market, that same cow would sell for ten times that amount. And so there began, in the immediate post Civil War years, the legend (the reality that turned into the legend) of the great cattle drive: beginning in Texas, cattle driven by the thousands up the old Chisholm Trail from Southern Texas up through Oklahoma Territory eventually up to the railheads of Abilene, or of Dodge City. Between 1865 and the mid 1870s, about 1 1/2 million cattle were driven from Texas up to those developing railheads in Kansas. By the mid 1880s, nearly 5 million head of cattle had come up the Chisholm Trail, the Dodge City Trail and others. From the late 1870s and into the early 1880s on, another great source of cattle drives was the Far West--cattle drives from Oregon, through Wyoming and Montana and Northern Colorado, to either the railheads in Kansas or eventually to the meat packing plants and railheads in the growing and bustling city of Chicago.
Was the cowboy who participated in these cattle drives the rugged, self reliant individual that our lore and legend tells us? Obviously even raising the question implies the answer. The answer is "no.
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. ...
