Myths №4

And you also noticed that absolutely everyone around now is playing “RED DEAD REDEMPTION II”. Wherever you stick your finger, everyone says how cool it is.

"There are horses, duels, beautiful. The real wild west."

Why are you jerks, you know about the real wild west? Yes, you do not know fuck. We build an image from series, films and computer games. Cowboys for us are American men in bandanas on horses, who rob a bank in broad daylight, then get drunk in the cabin, and then go out and shoot at each other because everyone had a gun in the wild west. Banks, by the way, are exceptional places that rob. “The Magnificent Seven,” “Back to the Future 3,” “Fast and Dead.” Why do we love them? Well, for what I listed before. But do they have at least some historical accuracy? I dedicate this to a special issue of myths in which we believe. If I can’t surprise you, I’ll definitely make you smile from some stories. There is nothing wrong with fiction on the big screen. You will not present a superhero because he flies without a lethal device. Another thing is to make films in such a way that a person really thinks that at that time everything was happening exactly like that. First you need to understand that the wild west is not just words, but a real time span. After the end of the civil war in 1865 and until the end of the century. That's about this time and called the wild west. Why wild? I will talk about this later. I’m just sure that you think so, because they always shot there. Cowboys shot at cowboys, sheriffs at cowboys, cowboys at bandits and fuck you can figure out which one is who, since all these guys look like cowboys. Zhiz. And this is a big mistake, everyone I listed gunfighters. These are people who somehow earned money by arms. A cowboy, too, could be of course, but he is just a shepherd. Just the dude who drove the cattle, that's why they call him cowboy. I worked as a shepherd in childhood, can I say that I am a cowboy? They often wore the wrong hats that we are used to in movies. Do not wear jeans. Many cowboys did not have their horses, but rented them. Many did not have a gun, since it cost as a salary, or even many times more. And the probability of falling from a horse and dying was almost higher than getting into a shootout and so on. And why he became an icon of the wild west, I will now tell. Films about cowboys, the so-called westerns, popularized the idea that in the wild west there were only white and strong men who waved their trunk in all directions. No, it’s only recently you can see films about the wild west, where not only white people. And you understand why. But in real life, American speech was not always able to be heard. At that time, almost everyone mixed up in the west. A quarter of the cowboys were black. No need to go far. One of the most famous cowboys was Bill Pickett, he came up with bull dogging. This is one of the chips used in the rodeo. He was a black cowboy. Of the known there was still No Love. The Wild West Quarter is straight. Also among the cowboys and in general those who were in the wild west and who could be mistaken for a cowboy were Mexicans and Indians. Chinese prospectors are also unlikely to expect anyone to see in the west. In general, the wild west was romanticized during its existence. A man named Buffalo Bill created a show that toured the country. The show was called the wild west. How unexpected. And surely the first stereotypes went from there, increasing every year. In the mid-20th century, there was a large advertising campaign for Marlboro cigarettes, which featured stereotypical cowboy, western, country music and considerable contribution was made by historians who wrote that today's America is as cruel as the wild west. Well, in general, you understood there were a lot of things, but this is nothing more than a false idea. It is unlikely that you have seen at least a word about camels in popular westerns. Yes, in the wild west camel rides. In the middle of the 19th century, the military in the United States bought them, as they well experienced the heat. It was even called the American camel corps, but when the American war broke out, this experiment stopped and the camel sold out, and some fled and lived in the wild west. This practice was not only in America, by the way.

"Come on, well, what are you pushing against? We are already behind everyone. Please go."

But we are just warming up. Everyone is more interested in the shootings. This is so wild-western. Not a single movie about cowboys is complete without a classic duel scene. Such a beautiful story. Two loose guys make an appointment at noon on the main street. A signal sounds and they grab a gun and shoot directly in the forehead in front of the onlookers. Epic. Wait, were there any such dueling?

"Gentlemen, the street is at your disposal."

There were. Sooner rejoice. Not like you see in Westerns. People chose weapons, shot in turn, and so on. In general, such duels, which are quite boring. And it’s unlikely that they are generally considered to be cowboy’s, as they happened both in Europe and Russia. For example, a duel in the 59th year was generally outside the city, because when they came to the square, the sheriff came and said:

"Why the hell are you? Come on, get out of here. Not on my shift."

Well, they left and went to shoot in another place. Such classic duels were enough. Here is another point that is often recorded as a duel of the wild west. Cowboy Hugh Anderson quarreled in the cabin, kicked out his opponent, took out a gun and started firing until he died. And then he immediately ran away, because he was afraid that he would be imprisoned. This is his first duel. The second happened because they wanted to take revenge on him and there was already a direct duel. Nearly. They stood with their backs to each other, they quickly turned and began to shoot until the rounds were over. And then when they realized that no one was mortally wounded, they began to fight on knives. Some kind of nonsense. It doesn’t seem at all. But actually, yes. Of the dozens of duels, most were just like that, and not like they showed us. Someone shot as soon as they saw the enemy. Someone even shot from a gun. And someone ran at point blank range and shot in the head. And someone after the appointed fight came home to the opponent and they quietly killed him so as not to shoot. But the only thing that interests us is your mother, but were there such skirmishes? I played games for their sake. It was. One. Once, even then, the unknown Wild Bill Hawk quarreled with his old acquaintance Davis Tut. They agreed to go out and find out, saw each other at a distance of seventy meters and were ready to shoot. Nobody expected this on the street, and all the people jumped into the buildings so that the bullet would not fly into them. One took out a gun, aimed and fired. The second also reacted. As a result, they shot almost simultaneously, but only Davis died. And what do you think happened next? Wild Bill was arrested and he made a bail. Actually that's the whole story. Do you think this story deserves a separate song. Shit. This story was written in the newspapers and legends began to be made that he killed hundreds. No, of course he participated in several more shootings. He has a maximum of eight kills. And it seems to me only in the wild west could you kill your friends and then become a sheriff.

"Yeah, a great option for our defense. At least he has not died yet."

The fact that it was written in the newspaper and was essentially the starting point for Western directors. Seriously, one case just blew up the whole world. People were afraid to go to prison, so the one who shot the first is to blame. Maybe that's why there were no duels. Wild Bill is generally a trendsetter. He was shot in the back of the head while playing poker. This moment is well shown in the series “Deadwood”. At the time of death, such a combination of cards was in his hand, and the fifth is not exactly known. So now, this combination after that incident is called the dead man’s hand. He left beautifully. You will not say anything. If the bank had robbed and would have been a legend in general. Wild West Banks is a separate song. It feels like they were out of cardboard. Films really show us their insecurity and that robbing them does not cost anything, you just need to have a gun with you, but the historian Larry Schweikart of Dayton University, like other historians who were interested in real life in the wild west, casts doubt on this. Well, as they say, they say that this is all bullshit. Having studied all available sources, they were able to conclude that this is simply all exaggerated. In fact, from 1859 to 1900, there were about eight bank robberies in all states over 40 years. Because banks were built so that there were some shops on the right and left. It remained to go in front, and when you leave, the sheriff is waiting for you. Stand, said. And what would these criminals do with a large iron safe? Would stones be thrown at him from the mountain so that it would fall apart? But dynamite is possible in principle. Dynamite was used by many bandits to rob trains, for example. By the way, train robbery. This is a classic story of the wild west, as the first film about the wild west was about a train robbery. They really were. A lot of. Across America, 241 cases occurred and according to a study, dynamite was used in 28% of cases. Butch Cassidy - one of the most famous robbers, somehow went too far with explosives and blew up the whole car. Believe me, even though this actually happened, the mythical part is also here. Of course, no one jumped with horses and a camel. They just climbed on him, hid, got off at the right time, stopped the train, threatening that they would hit on the head, but I just can not help telling you about a couple of the most epic. In 1900, five criminals wanted to rob a train when it stopped, even shot a man who accompanied the money. He began to bleed, hid, with all his strength threw the keys to the safe into the far corner and lost consciousness. Before that, by the way, he managed to shoot two. Those who remained went mean for the loot, and the safe is then closed. They searched a man who had keys and could not find. They scratched their turnips, were upset, and simply left. It really sounds like a comedy. Only these sounds are missing. But seriously, the bandits had nothing to do with safes. Unless to blow dynamite, but do I need to say that the probability of failure is great.

"Not too short a wick?"

"OK, I already did that."

Yes, it is based on real events. Elmer Mackerdy ​​did not calculate the dosage and blew up the safe and the robbers left with nothing. No, I can’t just not tell about him. This is a man of legend. When you think you're a loser, just remember Elmer Mackery. He also tried to rob a bank, but again he didn’t calculate and the explosion didn’t even damage the safe, then this idiot and his gang confused the train, which must be robbed and robbed an ordinary one, taking $ 40. After 3 days, the cops shot him. This all happened in 1911, but this loser was buried only in 1977.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

It was simply that he was embalmed and put up by the undertaker for all to see. It was an attraction. A little later, it really became an attraction at the carnival, then it was exhibited in the cinema before the film was shown and over time everyone forgot that it used to be a living person, so he was sold to the Hollywood Wax Museum. In 1976, he was used for filming in a television show, where he was damaged and such. Wow. Was that a mannequin? Damn I love the wild west. Bill Carlisle robbed a train in 1916, and of the money that was given to him, he took a trifle and handed it to a guard and a woman for their chores. I forgot to say. He had had a toy gun all this time. And indeed, very few were killed during the robberies. Almost never touched the unarmed and women, and of course it happened that they left with nothing. And in 90% of cases, they were either killed or in prison. Of course, there were also successful operations. They stole a lot and this is probably one of the things that is crookedly, but actually correctly ported to the screens of our TVs. Although I would rather watch a movie where there was a long preparation, and then an enchanting failure, as it often happened. Let's talk about the shootings. In the wild west there were a lot of legendary people: Buffalo Bill, Billy Keith, Wild Bill Hawk. All of them were magnificent shooters, they killed hundreds. Only no. They invented all these stories themselves or the press helped them. They don’t say much about it, so we always thought that shootings of the wild west were murders to a jolly accompaniment. Well, this has its own truth. It is foolish to deny that many had a revolver. Such photographs popularize that they were worn like this. People do not think that these are staged photographs and people just wanted to show their trunk, so to speak. The reality is a little different. A lot different. In general, everything was not so. In non-cities, when traveling, people probably took a barrel with them, so that if anything it was possible to get it and use it. From bandits, for example, they even took rifles. But in cities, it was the norm to see the “Leave your gun at the police station” sign. Very wild very west. I seriously had to hand over the weapon, otherwise you would be punished.

"Stand, stand."

"Sheriff leave."

"This is a fine. Hey, who let the camel go?"

Of course, it happened that this did not stop people and shootings did happen. We do not consider military showdowns. There was such a bloody Bill, a military leader who could come to the settlement with a detachment and kill a hundred people. I'm not kidding. And in general, some traveled scalps were removed to people and hung them on a horse. Crazy. But I'm not talking about that. In the films we are shown exactly the shooting in the cabin or on the street because of a loss in cards, because of a personal quarrel, and so on. Well, let's figure it out. Over 60 years, about 500 shootings have been documented in the old west. No one will tell the exact data. Yes, this is a lot and it turns out we were shown the truth? But more than half of them with minimal or no casualties. I can also show you a couple of the most famous / The most cited shootout occurred at the barnyard “O.K.” / A bunch of films, TV shows showed this confrontation. Servants of the law against criminals. Now there will be meat. You can see how she is portrayed in films. No matter how funny it was, in real life the shootout went on for 30 seconds. As a result, 3 people died. The most famous shootout in the wild west. Like expectation and reality. Nine people shot at each other almost point blank. Three people died. One of the survivors sued the servants of the law. What the fuck? It is in your head that the person came to the showdown, could not die and sued those who also came to the showdown. The second most epic situation is called the Frisco shootout. In short, a drunk cowboy walked through the city and shot into the air. It was impossible to do so, but a lawyer named Elfigo Baka punished him by law. His friends did not like it and they hunted down the lawyer and started shooting, but he hid in the house. Now just imagine the development of events. Cowboys were from forty to eighty people. Do you remember? There was one lawyer. The shootout went on for about 33 hours. More than 400 bullet holes were discovered in the house and they just left when they ran out of ammunition. They have never been a lawyer, but the lawyer killed four cowboys. What are you waiting for? What can I say that this story is fiction? I won’t say that. I myself was stunned that such a situation, in principle, in the world. He even put a monument. And here is what the situation called four killed in five seconds looked like. You can only guess how long this shootout was. In general, almost all skirmishes were of course with exceptions. Counting deaths in wild west cities is very difficult. Not one historian has exactly the understanding of how many died from the killings. Scientists often say that 45 people were killed in 15 years in five selected cities. Here you need to determine the concept of a lot. The indicator of the level of intentional killings is considered as the number of killings per year per hundred thousand people. The killing of one person with a population of thousands is already a lot according to this scheme. It’s like a lot of people are being killed now, and it was from this comparison that the myth appeared that, roughly speaking, corpses were piled up on the streets every day.

"Let them even shoot someone. I dumped work for this"

"And these dear citizens are our literature teacher."

But there really could have been a shootout where 20 people died and after that for two years no one farts on the street at all. For example, in a rather tough city between 1869 and 1870, there was not a single murder at all. In another small town, thirty-one people were shot dead in five years. For five years, and this caused an incredible resonance, and this city was considered a city of killers or something. Once at a time is not necessary. Officer John Fritz-Henry didn’t shoot anyone at all for fifty years of service, so for a start we need to understand whether it is possible to decide from such a small sample whether the time when there were several thousand people in the cities and people were dying from any injury our time with pumped medicine. A difficult question that historians cannot solve yet. But one thing is clear, everything that was shown to us in films about cowboys is exaggerated at times.

"What do we have here?"

"He died of boredom. He did not even have time to get drunk."

"Yes, it’s terribly boring here."

You still think that the west is wild, because, roughly speaking, there was a firefight once a year. The West is called cruel because the government was cruel. You are shown that then there was an eternal confrontation between the indigenous settlers and the cowboys, only things were different. In the mid-nineteenth century, they often traded with each other because it was profitable. Yes, there have been instances of an Indian attack on peaceful stagecoaches, but about twenty people have died in twenty years. Also, of course, there were crazy military men who attacked harmless Native American villages where white flags hung and who received a guarantee of security from the government. Crazy, but in general there are exceptions everywhere. But in 1871, US authorities decided that there would be no more negotiations, that the Indians should obey and live on reservations. Well, the war began and the real genocide of indigenous peoples. The US Army completely exterminated the bison, because it is the main bread of the Indians, so there wasn’t much choice. In short, complete nonsense and wildness. Now you understand that you did not know anything about cowboys. Moreover, cowboys are not something original, but just a carbon copy. Spain had its own cowboys. They were called vaqueros and they appeared long before the Americans appeared. Well, as they appeared. Spain began to colonize America and so they appeared. Their caps, saddles, hats, everything went from vaqueros. You look at this photo, think it is American cowboys, and this is actually the Argentine gaucho, who also appeared earlier. But why cowboys have become something legendary for cinema, I don’t understand. Although I understand that American pop culture has made a significant contribution. For example, in 1817, a story was published about a certain cowboy Pecos Bill. Did you notice that almost everyone in the wild west was called Bill? It was the personification of all the legends and all the achievements of cowboys. They started writing stories about him, showing animations on television, but of course it turned out to be just folklore. By the way, as I understand it, Uncle Pecos from “Tom and Jerry” was a kind of reincarnation of Pecos Bill. Well it is, observation. And what did we find out. From time to time, international shepherds somehow fired, blew up their money, and died absurdly. Sometimes it was even successful in robbing a train or a bank. I am everything.