Bands of working cowboys and good citizens did not go about town in their leisure time challenging, outdrawing, and shooting each other in a systematized orgy of violence and gunfights as portrayed in the movies. [More]
Miguel A. Faria, MD, gives us the ammunition to fire back at the new crop of sidewinders dusting off the old "Dodge City over fender benders" lie.
6 comments:
The lawmen of the Old West were often people of adaptable morality, playing both sides of the fence. Town shoot outs were usually populated by said lawman, gamblers, whorehouse operators, thugs, etc. You know, the same kind of people get in such shoot outs today. Though I don't think they had any aspiring rappers in those days
'Gunfighters, Highwaymen and Vigilantes' was recommended to me by my friend Ken, the Wirecutter. He pointed out that Professor McGrath researches his subjects like few others do, and if I remember right there are citations to all of the claims made in the book.
If you're at all interested in Old West history the book is a fantastic read.
I can tell you that I've never looked at Western reruns and movies the same since. Once you realize the Gunfight at the OK Corral was pretty much the most violent confrontation in Western history you can't help but see most of what Hollywood has done since as the complete and utter fabrications that they are.
Hell, I actually live in a town populated with bands of working cowboys, with constitutional concealed and open carry, and can tell you from personal experience that they still don't.
About 10 years ago, the local immigrant Californicators instigated to get firearms banned in Town Hall. The idea was publicly repudiated by town officials and employees alike. One clerk from the payment window testified that many people came in with firearms, and none of them had ever hassled the town workers in the slightest. The only threatening incident that stood out in her mind was when one fellow came in all irate and threw a live rattlesnake over the counter at the staff.
Along those "complete and utter fabrication"
lines, this is the funniest damn thing I've seen.
Trifecta
DC-
120 in 168 episodes is actually fewer than I would have expected. My guess at the start of the video was a kill rate of at least one per episode average. Not to mention, it's not fair that Lucas was credited with kills such as when Jack Elam impaled himself on a pitchfork while Lucas was defending himself.
That's kind of neat that somebody put that video together.
One thing I liked about the show was there were a couple of times in episodes where Lucas' face is shown after he has to shoot somebody and his expression reflects his displeasure with having to do it. Season 2, Episode 10, 'The Letter of the Law', is a great example. Vic Morrow comes back to Micah's office to retrieve his nickel plated double action two gun rig and Lucas has to kill he and Ken Brady, and he doesn't like having to do it. It's good that they show that side of it.
"No, son! I believe in killin' people!"
And the Mad parody foresaw Alec Baldwin :-)
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