Old West Charms

The Old West frequently referred to as the Wild West, spans the post-Civil War era, what remained of the 19th century, and the early part of the twentieth century, up to 1912, when the final mainland states joined the Union. Thousands of pioneers pushed westward during this time in search of land, better lives, gold and silver, and occasionally evaded the law.

Geographically speaking, the “Old West” refers to the states located west of the Mississippi River. Any person who has ever watched a TV Western will understand how “wild” life was in those days.

Damsels in distress were chained to railroads, cowboys’ cattle were rustled, and the sheriff was frequently a lazy slob with very little interest in trying to enforce the scant law that existed. In short, every time you walked to the saloon, you risked a gunfight.

That is, at least, the filmmakers’ interpretation. However, what has historians to say?

The West was much gentler than popular culture frequently portrays it, but certain areas did have dangerous undertones of violence. The Wild West covered a vast area, extending from Rocky Mountain states such as Montana to Texas.

Notably, much of this vast expanse of terrain existed before statehood, which meant little federal oversight.

Anderson explained that this lack of centralized government contributes to our collective perception of the Wild West as a wild and ferocious place to live. It’s represented almost as a state of anarchy, with fighting between Indian tribes and then the arrival of Europeans. However, while battles worthy of John Wayne’s portrayals did occur (three people died in the O.K. Corral fight in Arizona), there were also intervals of peace long enough for frontier people to figure out society’s rules.

The Hollywood version depicts anyone and everyone fighting over water and land rights, but we discovered that people recognized the negative consequences of fighting and instead sought civil resolutions.

Cattle owners, for example, frequently divided large plots of land. They also learned to form associations to assign range rights. As a result, property rights were sufficiently secure, and a market existed for them. The system worked well unless you were a native Indian.

Throughout this period, the land under American Indian control shrank. Finally, in 1851, Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act, authorizing the establishment of the first reservations.

Portions of the Wild West were probably more aggressive than the Eastern states, particularly in areas where bullion and other mineral deposits were discovered. For instance, assassination and violent abuse were not uncommon.

In other words, when a resource was plentiful — such as cattle grazing land — people were more likely to reach a nonviolent agreement. However, when the resource was scarce and valuable, such as gold bullion, people were more willing to throw punches to obtain it.