Cowboys In The Wild West Essay

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One of the most common pastimes in childhood is playing pretend-- pretending to be cops and robbers in a big city, dragon riders in a fantasy world, merpeople in the vast ocean, poor commoners in a medieval world, or cowboys in the Wild West. One can picture the scene: little boys scrambling to hide behind rocks and bushes or taking the courageous route and riding on their make-believe horses, shooting at each other with imaginary pistols. While casualties may occur, fun is guaranteed. In adult society, the idea of the Wild West is no longer prevalent. However beginning in the late 19th and continuing through the 20th century, cowboys were a fascination to all, not just little boys playing pretend. Westward expansion created an era of American …show more content…
But cowboys of myth were such an American image that they were immediately gravitated towards by the common. Cowboys protected the American frontier from “Indians of the most ferocious and warlike nature” with their “courage and recklessness of danger,” their “skill in the use of firearms” and not to be forgotten, their “virtue” (Nimmo Jr. 1025). They voyaged westward, continuing the Manifest Destiny that has been a part of America since its founding. They worked with cattle, honest work out in the fields. And above all, they were free. Freedom has always created the allure of America. America was first filled with immigrants coming to this nation to escape from poorer circumstances back home, to build a better life here, to reinvent themselves in a country where they were free to do whatever they want. Cowboys were the the equivalent of the immigrant in their own time. Cowboys could do whatever they wanted-- swearing, fighting, and copulating. But they were also free in a larger sense. Cowboys had no permanent home and were independent. They could leave town if they wanted and start anew somewhere else-- there would be little incident concerning their absence. They were not held down by connections to anyone at home. Cowboys personified true
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