Old West violence mostly myth

Cooperation valued more than conflict

Jul. 17, 2005

Once again as summer progresses, tourists are trying to recapture the romance of the West. Recalling the violent images fostered by Hollywood, they seek out ghost towns, ride horseback at dude ranches and take part in exciting re-enactments of conflicts among vigilantes, sheriffs, cowboys and Indians.

What they don't realize is that the violence of the West is largely a myth.

Yes, there were isolated examples of violence, but the true story of the American West is one of cooperation, not conflict.

Rest of article at:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...7hill0717.html

__________________
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

This is pretty well known around here...except for people who went to government schools.

Just one more reason that gun control laws are for subservient simpletons.

For crying out loud don't let this get out. You want Tombstone's tourist industry to go under?

Basically true but fortunately there was enough violence in places like Tombstone and Deadwood to keep the tourists coming.

__________________
Soldiers swear to protect and defend the Constitution with their lives.

Politicians swear to protect and defend the Constitution with someone else's life.

I must be a bit ghoulish, I went to both places on separate visits. But the point is taken, the emphasis on violence is a bit overblown. But please don't tell me the Cisco Kid and Pancho weren't real

Unless you were unfortunate enough to have been Native American, Chinese, Black or simply poor.

__________________
Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum
(To such heights of evil are men driven by religion)

To be fair I think the original post is looking at the issue in a reasonably specific time and place rather than across times and places. It's about the mythology of the "wild West" and not an examination of the European settlement of North America in a broader sense.

To be fair, the massacre & subjugation of Native American Indians, and the exploitation of Blacks and Chinese happened during that time frame.

__________________
Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum
(To such heights of evil are men driven by religion)

It did. I remember being quite surprised when discussing events related to that timeline with historian in Canada a few years ago.

He showed me where, in the aftermath of the Little Big Horn and Wounded Knee, the Sioux, being pursued by the US Army went to Canada and when the US Army attempted to cross the border were held back by the NWMP.

We discussed the differences in the two countries European settlement culture (even going back as far as Cartier and the French relations with First Nations people as opposed to the English attitude) and he explained how Canada was settled from east to west by the railways and the NWMP (I know British Columbia had already been settled at the time of these events and the Royal City, New Westminster, was estabished for some years.

He contrasted this with the way the US established European influence across the continent where the Army and certainly civilian authorities followed in the wake of settlers who weren't too fussed about how they got the land.

I thought it was very illuminating. I know in the NWT and the Yukon things were pretty crazy during those gold rush years but the NWMP managed to maintain order pretty well so much that I think someone referred to it as the "Mild West".

All that aside, as violent as Tombstone was Deadwood as well I think it's accepted that they were the exception rather than the rule in established European settlements as far as violence is concerned. The "wild" West outside of a few communities, is, as has been suggested, largely a myth.

Wasnt it even wild in a "broke back mountain" sort of way!

__________________
None. Mod edit to remove profanity. Fools to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am stuck up the middle of you!
"Some people have recurrent behavior issues" Catz, proof please?

Not all Religion is a load of bollocks,The United Church of the Latter Day Tangental Tarts is moist yet crisp

Im a Tart, What! you want some of this