Yesterday evening, my parents were watching a film about the Wild West. As you can probably guess, they tried to rope me into some ‘family time’, so, naturally, I decided to play on my phone in the corner of the room instead. However, the film was actually quite interesting (much to my surprise) so I ended up watching it anyway. It was so good, that it inspired me to write a history blog about it. So, here I am, ‘Google-ing’ the ‘Wild West’ after running around like a headless chicken all day at school.
After researching the Wild West, I found that there are many myths surrounding that period of history. But first, let’s start with the fact that cowboys and red indians are fighting at least five times in every single film. A lot of blood shed, right? WRONG. Thankfully, there were few clashes between settlers and red indians. I mean obviously, a few hundred people were killed from both sides, but from the way that they go around shooting everyone in those films, I thought it would be nearing the hundred thousand mark!
Another thing that I found shocking is that cowboys don’t actually wear cowboy hats. You have no idea how disappointed I was when I found that one out! Apparently, everyone wore hats and the last thing that they would wear were our typical idea of cowboy hats. Generally, the fashionable hat among cowboys were bowler hats. I know, I know, I can’t believe it either.
Finally, you know how practically everyone who lived back then had a six-shooter (for people like me, who have no idea about weapons, this is a gun) strapped to their hip? That too is false. Gun laws were stricter then than they are now (in America) and normally, your average cowboy opted for a classic rifle or shotgun.
But anyway, despite the inaccuracies, I doubt that these facts will take away from my newfound love for films about the Wild West (it’s better than watching Twilight any day).
JG
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