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The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial settlements in the early 17th century and ended with the admission of the last few ...
- Swinging Saloon Doors Were Real — Not A Hollywood Invention.
- Speaking of Whiskey: It Was god-awful.
- Forget Dysentery — But Don’T Drink The Water.
- The Old West Had An Opioid problem.
- The West Was Ripe with price-gouging.
- Breakfast on The Trail Was Grueling work.
- Frontier Folks Embraced Poop-Powered Cooking.
- The Army Declared War on Buffalo.
- The West Had Strict Gun Control Laws.
- Requirements For Sheriffs Were Pretty loose.
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In every saloon scene in every Western movie ever made, you’ll see the iconic swinging saloon doors. That’s how bad guys get thrown into the street. It might be easy to think of this as a Hollywood invention, but these batwing-style doorswere actually in popular use during the Old West. Here’s why: saloons were much smaller than you would think, ab...
If you bellied up to the bar in the Old West and expected the bartender to pour you a glass of smooth Kentucky whiskey, you’d be sorely disappointed by the terrible swill you got instead. There were not a lot of laws regarding the content of alcoholic beverages back in those days and, let’s be honest, no one would have obeyed them if there were. Wh...
Fans of the 1980s computer game “Oregon Trail” will tell you that most pioneers in the Old West died of dysentery or rattlesnake bites. Not true. The leading cause of death for folks in the Old West was not dysentery, snake bites, shootouts with rival gunslingers, or attacks by Native Americans. Nope. It was cholera. Cholera is caused by waterborne...
Think opioid abuse is a modern issue? Think again. Chinese laborers who came to California during the Gold Rush and to seek jobs building the Transcontinental Railroadbrought their opium smoking with them. For the first time, opium— which had long been an ingredient in medicine — was used as a recreational drug. The Chinese immigrants passed the op...
When gold was discovered in California, it set off a massive migration of people who headed to the West hoping to get rich quick. They soon realized that the only ones who were really getting rich during the Gold Rushwere the price-gouging merchants who took advantage of the situation — and the lack of government oversight. The cost of items sold a...
Speaking of: breakfast on the road meant something entirely different for westward pioneers than for people today. It certainly wasn’t Starbucks and a bagel. Traveling in a wagon train required waking up at about 4 o’clock in the morning to prepare breakfast, break camp, saddle up the horses, and round up the cattle. Coffee and bacon were staples. ...
Know what the Great Plains didn’t have? Trees. Know what the Great Plains had a lot of? Buffalo poop. Since trees are a rarity in the prairies of the Great Plains, folks had to get creative with ways to fuel their camp fires, so they turned to dried buffalo dung. Seriously. As gross and unsanitary as that seems, it got the job done. When burned, th...
The United States Army declared war on buffalo in the 1830s. They commissioned people to go west and slaughter as many buffalo as they could and encouraged settlers in the West to do the same. What did the buffalo do to bring the wrath of Uncle Sam down on them? Nothing, except for being a delicious major food source for Native Americans. White Ame...
Hollywood movies would have us think that folks in the Old West ran around with their guns half-cocked, ready to bite the bullet and jump in lock, stock, and barrel with guns a-blazing whenever they dodged a bullet (okay, that’s enough of the gun phrases). The reality is that most Old West towns had super strict gun laws, even notorious boom towns ...
In the Old West, as it is today, sheriff was an elected position — and not a particularly appealing one. The pay was paltry, if there was one at all. Sometimes a sheriff only received a percentage of the fines he imposed on people, or taxes collected from locals. Does anyone else think a system like this is just inviting corruption? Each state or t...
Learn about the realities of life in the Old West, from saloon doors and whiskey to cholera and opium. Discover how the West was shaped by history, culture, and commerce in this article from OldWest.org.
Learn about the colorful era of American history when settlers, outlaws, and lawmen shaped the western frontier. Explore the gold rush, the cowboy frontier, and the conflicts with Native Americans and Mexico.
May 9, 2018 · A comprehensive overview of the Wild West period in U.S. history, covering the people, events, and culture of the frontier era. Find definitions, examples, and references for terms such as Apache, Billy the Kid, Custer's Last Stand, and more.
Learn about the Wild West, the name for the western regions of the United States in the 19th century. Discover how Americans settled, mined, farmed and fought in this land, and how they interacted with the Native Americans.
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May 20, 2024 · Learn about the history, culture, and challenges of the Wild West, a period of rapid expansion and transformation in the 19th-century United States. Discover how the Civil War, Manifest Destiny, and Native Americans shaped the frontier and its people.
Apr 30, 2020 · Learn about the legends of the Old West who shaped the American frontier, such as Billy the Kid, Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane and more. Discover their stories of adventure, violence, fame and death in this era of cowboys, Indians, outlaws and gunslingers.
