Why Do We Glorify the Wild West Era?

Why Do We Glorify the Wild West Era?

The Wild West was a brutal and violent time in our country. It was a time when some men just didn’t care for what others had to say about them or the way others looked at them. Those people who felt wronged them paid for it dearly by getting killed by way of the gun. In many ways, it was a despicable time to be alive as men were greedy, loose-cannoned, angry, rude, and just downright vile. Sure, that doesn't sum up the entirety of the Wild West and there was a lot of good that came from it such as territories becoming states, towns and cities forming and many people establishing formidable careers for themselves, but if you had to sum up the Wild West in a nutshell, it was arguably one of the most deadly and dangerous times to be alive. If this is true, then just why exactly why do we glorify the wild west?

By glorifying it, I mean, why do we still talk about it like it were a great time to be alive? Why do so many men wish they could go back in time and be cowboys or outlaws? Why do we have so many movies and television shows in an era that could be a gritty blemish on our resume as a country? Well, that's simple, because it was so dangerous yet so unique a time to be alive that even today we relish in the thought that we could have been a part of it. As a society, look back at the Wild West, from either the standpoint of a man or woman, some of us can't help but be enamored and in awe at what a time it was. To walk around without a care in the world, to stand up to what you believed in, and to carry a gun and in the off chance someone upsets you or you upset them? Well, you're not only using that gun but most likely shooting your way into history. If the Wild West has taught us anything, it's that killing people puts you on the map, whether you were good or bad, and it marks you as wanted, dead or alive. For some people today, me being one of them; that's a rather cool thought to have.

Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Calamity Jane, and Annie Oakley are just some of the most well-known names of the Wild West. What do they all have in common? They all carried guns, they all fought for a cause(though not for the same cause), and they all live on today in historical infamy because of what they did during their time, the time of the Wild West. So why do we glorify it? Because we need gritty people to look up to, an era in our country where all bets were off, and as crazy as it may seem, your words carried a lot more weight when you had a gun by your side. Don't get it twisted, though, the Wild West wasn't just about guns; it was also about opportunities, the reconstruction of a nation divided, and most importantly of all, shaping and constructing what would become our nation today. Without the Wild West, who knows just how boring, how less unique, and how unbalanced our country and our mindsets would be if we didn't have a Wild West to look back on.

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