When we think of the Wild West, the first things that usually come to mind are cowboys, gunfights, revenge, duels and Indians. The typical cowboy we think of is a rugged, tough looking man, dressed in a “cowboy” hat, a vest, leather chaps and boots with two revolvers holstered around his waist, always at the tips of his fingers. While these images, in part, reflect reality -- there were cowboys and bandits and Indian raids -- they are primarily based on popular culture, the movies, TV shows, books, and other forms of popular media that captured the imaginations of those interested in the settling of the American West. According to British historian David H. Murdoch:
“Our images derive from the screen and Hollywood proves the point: ten films all told have Daniel Boone as the central character, Crockett appears in eleven, Buffalo Bill Cody features in 47, Billy the Kid in 44, Wild Bill Hickok and Jesse James in 35 each, General Custer in 34 and Wyatt …show more content…
In the 1890’s, her writings were similar to other Western-based pieces of the time. However, in the early 1900’s, she looked to write more realistic books, and display the West for what it actually was. In 1902, Austin’s The Land of Little Rain was published. The book, to no surprise, failed. The year following its publication, the book sold around 5,500 copies. Austin herself made a very important distinction between her books, and what was selling. Her books, she said, “were always of the West...but they were certainly not Westerns.” Many guidebooks were made about the West, both by people who had actually been to the West, and those who had not. The guidebooks by people who had not been to the West were often incredibly inaccurate, yet just as widely read as the former. The east was lapping up Western fiction, and would have nothing other than just
“Our images derive from the screen and Hollywood proves the point: ten films all told have Daniel Boone as the central character, Crockett appears in eleven, Buffalo Bill Cody features in 47, Billy the Kid in 44, Wild Bill Hickok and Jesse James in 35 each, General Custer in 34 and Wyatt …show more content…
In the 1890’s, her writings were similar to other Western-based pieces of the time. However, in the early 1900’s, she looked to write more realistic books, and display the West for what it actually was. In 1902, Austin’s The Land of Little Rain was published. The book, to no surprise, failed. The year following its publication, the book sold around 5,500 copies. Austin herself made a very important distinction between her books, and what was selling. Her books, she said, “were always of the West...but they were certainly not Westerns.” Many guidebooks were made about the West, both by people who had actually been to the West, and those who had not. The guidebooks by people who had not been to the West were often incredibly inaccurate, yet just as widely read as the former. The east was lapping up Western fiction, and would have nothing other than just