By: Peggy Henderson
Camels!
In 1855 congress paid $30,000 to buy and ship camels from Egypt.
Someone came up with the idea was that these critters would be better suited
for the dry and hot southwest than horses, and could e used for survey and
exploration. By the time of the civil war, the army had seventy camels. While
some were used in the war camping, other camels escaped into the wild, where
they reproduced. For the next hundred or so years, up until 1941, wild camels
were part of the wildlife in Texas
A land of many cultures
Classic Hollywood movies depict the American cowboy as a white
tough guy who fought against other white tough guys, with the occasional black
and Mexican, or maybe even an Irishman, tossed in.
The truth is that the “wild west” was a place for people of all
nationalities. Germans, Swedes, Slovakians, Chinese, and others made the south
and Midwest their home. This only increased with the 1849 Gold Rush in
California.
Gun Control
If Hollywood movies were fact, everyone in the Old West carried
a gun, and you’d better be ready for a shootout in town at any time.
Carrying a firearm in most cities, however, would probably land
you in jail. One of the first laws passed in Dodge was the prohibition of
carrying firearms. Other famous towns had similar laws. Probably the second
most common cause of arrest in the Old West was illegally carrying a gun.
Violence
Every good western has the classic shootouts, bar brawls, and bank robberies, making the Old West a place of violence.
Every good western has the classic shootouts, bar brawls, and bank robberies, making the Old West a place of violence.
In truth, it was better to get along with your neighbor than
start shooting at him. Ban robberies, too, were almost unheard of. Homicide
rates were low. The highest body count in Tombstone in one year was five. From
1870 to 1885, Dodge and Wichita had a murder rate of 0.6 per year.
The Gunfight at the OK Corral
….didn’t take place at the OK Corral. It happened in a back
alley. Three men died during this epic shootout, which lasted about thirty
seconds.
Prostitutes
Prostitution in the Old West wasn’t glamorous, just as it’s not
today. Back then local newspapers would name, shame and hound prostitutes to
the point of driving many to suicide.
Brothels
were nothing more than poverty traps, forcing girls into never ending competition
with one another for enough scraps to eat, with no hope of escape. Put simply,
it was a profession for people with no other options
Cowboys
The cowboy – big Stetson hat, rough and tough, unwavering moral
code, big spurs and chaps, right?
First of all, they weren’t called cowboys, but cowpunchers. It
was a dirty job, and none of them dressed like John Wayne or Clint Eastwood.
Most likely, they looked more like homeless people, wearing practical clothes
that got worn and dirty.
Most
of them probably were illiterate, and not very moral. Many had terminal cases
of STD’s.
Peggy L
Henderson
Western
Historical and Time Travel Romance
“Where Adventure Awaits and Love is Timeless”
Author of
Yellowstone Romance
Series
Teton Romance Trilogy
Second Chances Time
Travel Romance Series
Gee, thanks for bursting that bubble, Peggy. ;) Yes, the wild west wasn't as glamorous as Hollywood made or makes it out to be. But it is a fun time period to write about. Fun post!
ReplyDeleteWhich is why we write fiction, right? I love writing about the wild west even if we gloss it over a bit.
ReplyDelete