Posted on 06/26/2013 7:25:55 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
The Old West: When men were men and women knew their place
How many times have we heard men declare of the days of the old West, ‘men were men and women stayed at home and knew their place’? This is a common refrain after folks watch a movie based on the period.
A peek behind the myths reveals difficult and trying lifestyle most modern men would never concede to and when a seeming minor health issue that would be easily cured today would take lives by the thousands.
The ‘cool’ concept of a man that stands tall for all that is good and right drawing a gun at sundown against a man of wrong and all things bad may appeal to modern guys who puff their chest full of air and momentarily feel courageous with the thought of yesteryear opportunity. The fact is, gun drawing is a myth and rarely happened. When it did, it was usually a couple of drunks full of liquid courage. The events at the O.K Corral were rare and more a slaughter than we would like to believe.
The term ‘cowboy’ does not apply to all men of the era. Cowboys were and are the guys who herded cows across the country under the worst of circumstances. The sign-on’s had to pay for their supplies and made little money. The whole ‘sleeping under the stars’ bit included torrential rains, snow, freezing temperatures, insects and vermin. The hours were incredibly long and the free chow was barely palatable. In other times of the year, the dust from the plains came in clouds and bathing was at best, sporadic.
(Excerpt) Read more at communities.washingtontimes.com ...
Hickok was in a gunfight with two men, each approaching him at two corners of an equilateral triangle with him at the third. He fired two revolvers simultaneously, and took them both down at once.
He must have killed more men than Cecil B. Demille.
Oh, I’d guess there was plenty of killin’ back in the day. A book I read long ago detailed much of the kind of killing that went on. Contrary to film westerns, much of the killing was with knives and clubs and such. Lead and powder were scarce and expensive. But, make no doubt, there was killing. Imagine a world that truly was free - no fences or land ownership to a large degree. On top of that, the frontier was a magnet to the bold, the hopeful and the outcasts - many of whom were on the run and only lived to ply their trade in a land of little consequence. Come to think of it, it sounds a little like modern America and foreign born criminals coming to do crime Americans are too lazy to do and for which they will not be penalized.
and nowadays, men are men and women are men too
eead further real deal
sd looks like three of them may be going crotchless
Yeah, I’m trying to figure just how good you’d have to be to do that. Damn.
His moniker was “Prince of Pistoleers” In another gunfight, he and his opponent started toward each other from opposite ends of town. The other man fired first. Hickok waited, and fired from 72 feet, and his .36 caliber ball pierced his opponent’s heart.
If you’re talking about the guy on the far left, I think that’s a long rifle and the muzzle is sticking out behind his elbow.
My recollection is a young Annie Oakley worked in the Wild West Show, as well as reputed (former) prostitutes like Calamity Jane.
Modern day variant: Eaten by Democrats..
O’Keefe claimed he buried all that was left of Erin (her skull) under a pile of rocks with a marker and this inscription, “Erin O’Keefe, daughter of John and Nora O’Keefe, who was eaten by mountain rats in the year 1876.” The grave became a popular tourist attraction, and O’Keefe charged 50 cents for tourists to have their picture taken at the site. O’Keefe was eventually revealed as a fraud. He didn’t have a wife or daughter, and probably buried his dead burro under the rocks.
http://www.newfalconherald.com/DisplayArticle.php?ArticleID=7248
.
In Europe, [Annie Oakley] performed for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, King Umberto I of Italy, Marie François Sadi Carnot (the President of France) and other crowned heads of state. Oakley had such good aim that, at his request, she knocked the ashes off a cigarette held by the newly crowned German Kaiser Wilhelm II.
The Annie Oakley Foundation suggests that she was not the source of a widely repeated quip related to the event: “Some uncharitable people later ventured that if Annie had shot Wilhelm and not his cigarette, she could have prevented World War I.” After the outbreak of World War I, however, Oakley did send a letter to the Kaiser, requesting a second shot. The Kaiser did not respond.
Can’t improve on that.
Bingo!
“I would like to see every woman know how to handle [firearms] as naturally as they know how to handle babies.” - Annie Oakley
Ha! Great story.
I once lived in Dodge City. There were plenty of old photos of cattle drives which ended in Dodge and of cowboys on the range and also in town.
Now I recently saw the beginning of a movie by some Black guy where it had writing on the screen at the beginning, saying that over one third of all cowboys were Black. Well I know there were some Black cowboys but in all those pictures I never saw the first one. Certainly not over a third of them.
That “over a third” figure is clearly a modern PC made up claim and most people will believe it.
Annie Oakley fan here. The real history is so much better than the silly stage play. She and Frank Butler, the guy she beat in that shoot-off at which they really did fall in love - she was 15 at the time - were married for 50 years. For their entire time together she accused him of deliberately missing his last shot, and for their entire time together he stoutly denied it. When at last she died, he just stopped eating and died himself 18 days later.
Many of the "desperadoes" and cowboys of the west were Civil War veterans with PTSD who couldn't get along in civilized society, so they headed for the wide open spaces. Johnny Yuma "The Rebel" was closer to the historical truth than Marshall Dillon, even though he probably never shot anybody.
As for women, they were scarce on the prairie frontier but where they were found they were treated respectfully.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.