Ever since the United States started trying to get eastern settlers to move out west, there have been myths. One of the most romanticized myths was about the Cowboy. There we beliefs which were used to fuel perple's intrest, and what came out to be obsession, with the west. Cowboys were portrayed as usually white men who rode around on horeses all day, shooting up Indians, carrying lots of guns, being extremly tough, always saving the day, getting the girls, and live out under the stars everyday. While some may be true, mostof it is not. Cowboys in fact were multi-cultural. There were
Black as well as Mexican Cowboys and they never went around shooting up Indians. They were just hired hands, used to take care of cattle. Most of the time they spent their days out working herding cattle or rangling them in for the night. They werent the big heroes that we would see saving the day. They might of gotten women because of the name people gave them but for the most part they were only people doing their jobs.
I had the experience of watching the movie Wild Wild West. Even though it had a black cowboy, it still portrayed them as always saving the day and being big heroes. 
At the end of the movie they saved the day and all order was restored. They didntget the girl but they both rode off into the sun set to fight another day.
At the end of the movie they saved the day and all order was restored. They didntget the girl but they both rode off into the sun set to fight another day. 
3 comments:
I feel the same way about how the cowboy myth turned into an obsession with the West. You're also right about the real lives of cattle herders.
I agree, the way you described the romanticized version of the cowboys is off. I also think that the reason they were portrayed in that light was because of the old, southern view that followed the people into the West.
Your view was correct. Alot of cowboys were black, not just white. In the wild west movie there is a ton of action, but cowboy's lives in the past were never that interesting and exciting.
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