The Wild West: Fact or Fiction?

Gunslingers bursting through wooden saloon doors. Stagecoach and bank robberies happening left and right. Sheriffs, deputies, and armed bands searching for outlaws and cattle raiders. Gunfights on wide, dusty streets. This is what people think of when they hear Wild West. They think of personalities like Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickock, and Billy the Kid. Movies and television shows about the Wild West portray these people and incidents in a way that paints the West as dangerous. Ungoverned. But was the West really so wild?

The Wild West, sometimes called the Old West, refers to the push west that followed the Civil War and lasted until about 1912, when the last of the states in the Continental U.S. were admitted to the Union. It was a time when thousands of pioneers left their homes back east in search of a new place to settle. Some were lured by the possibility of making fortunes off silver or gold. Others went west to outrun the law. But many were simply looking for a chance at a better life.

In some ways, the depiction of the West as dangerous is accurate. It was a period when, because these territories did not belong to the U.S. yet, they did not have a central federal government. The laws and justice systems that came along with statehood did not apply. Violence often broke out. People fought regularly over the ability to pan for gold or mine silver, or for the rights to the water in a certain area for crops and cattle, or how much cattle they kept and who owned them. Conflicts between pioneers and Indigenous Americans over land were an additional source of violence.

Some of the legends of the Wild West are also true. Billy the Kid did kill eight men in a feud and stole countless cattle. Jesse James and his gang committed at least 20 robberies on banks and trains. The infamous gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, a town in the Arizona Territory, did take place. The Earp brothers and Doc Holliday took on the Clanton and McLaury brothers; 30 seconds and 30 bullets later, three people lay dead. The Wild Bunch, a gang formed by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, was real. They successfully robbed train after train. Stagecoach robberies were just as common. Precious minerals like gold and silver were often carried by stagecoaches, as well as cash for paying workers, so these coaches were valuable targets for robbers. In California alone, there were 457 stagecoach robberies between 1856 and 1913.

In a place full of outlaws (literally those who lived “outside the law”) and no government law officers, local constables, sheriffs, and marshals were left to enforce order. Many of them were skilled at keeping the peace and ensuring places like saloons and gambling halls remained under control. But some law enforcement officials discovered they could make more money through illegal activities. In Arizona Territory, Burt Alvord was an admired constable and deputy sheriff for many years. Until he started robbing trains. In 1863, Henry Plummer was elected sheriff of Bannock, a town in a part of Montana Territory where gold had just been found. In a matter of weeks, the Plummer Gang committed dozens of robberies and murders. Plummer and two of his deputies were hanged in 1864.

In addition to law enforcement officials like sheriffs and constables, much of the lawlessness of the Wild West was addressed by local groups of people who formed associations and found ways to work through their conflicts. Cattle ranchers came together to divide up plots of land and document who had rights to graze their cattle in certain places. Land clubs were formed with their own constitutions and laws in order to protect property rights, monitor land claims, and solve disputes. These types of groups helped prevent much of the violence that often erupted due to disagreements over land. Even pioneer wagon trains had constitutions and laws. These agreements, which covered issues like defense, river crossings, hunting, breakdowns, and private property, were for the benefit and protection of all. Captains and officers were elected to settle disputes and keep the peace, and these contracts and rules were especially important in large wagon trains where not everyone knew each other. Everyone in the group had to follow them or risk banishment.

Though the incidents of violence and lawlessness in the Wild West cannot be denied, they were not as common as movies, television shows, and popular culture have led us to believe. So how did the idea of the West as a wild and dangerous place become so much a part of America’s story? Just like today’s social media and internet spread versions of events and accounts of people that aren’t necessarily true, the idea of the Wild West spread through dime novels. These small paper books, usually sold as part of a series, were very popular. During a time without radio or television, people sought entertainment from reading, and dime novels created a fictional version of the West that never truly existed. This fictionalized version of the West was repeated on the big screen once movies became popular. Many of the people and events we think of as the real history of the Wild West, including Jesse James, Calamity Jane, and Billy the Kid, were exaggerated, creating versions of their lives and adventures that fell far from reality.

Americans may love the stories and myths of the Wild West, but it is important to remember the truth. Shootouts and cattle raids and train robberies did happen, but not as often as we think. While outlaws and robbers did roam the land, they did not represent the majority. Hidden behind these tall tales are the stories of the everyday people who moved west to find new homes and opportunities, work hard, raise families, and establish new states to become part of the United States.