Reality Eclipsing Romance

The American Cowboy, by reason of his picturesqueness, was a prime subject for entertainments like the Wild West show. However, the limitations of popular entertainment caused William Cody to stress the cowboy’s attractive charm to the exclusion of other qualities. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, formed in 1883 and lasting until 1913, romanticized versions of a time and place, and shaped the myth of the Wild West, including the glamorized image of the cowboy. When the world spun into the twentieth century, millions of people believed they recalled the American Wild West because “they had seen it, full of life and color, smoking guns and galloping horses, presided over by the most recognizable celebrity of his day: William F. Cody, or Buffalo Bill.” Spectators accepted the vivid personal memories that the Wild West show generated as historical truth. Although William F. Cody claimed that the motive behind Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show was to preserve “The Great West that Was,” his dramatized and inaccurate portrayals belied the true portrait of the American Cowboy to the public.
At one time or another, William Cody performed the duties of a U.S. Army Scout, Indian Fighter, rancher, businessman, and world-renowned entertainer, but still, Cody never actually worked as a cowboy. Cody claimed that he staged his memories, “in the hope of giving permanent form to the history of the Plains” However, he contradicts this claim with his account of the obsession over his dramatized version of the cowboy, which permeated the world’s perception. “Everything American became the fad during our stay. Fashionable young men bought American and Mexican saddles… Cowboy hats appeared everywhere on the street… Relics from the Plains and mountains… sold like hot cakes in the souvenir stores.” Additionally, Cody was primarily a businessman, raising the issue of “money” fifteen times in his autobiography. Once he stated, “... now that I had a wife to support, money had become a very important consideration.”
For thirty years, Cody and his leaders aggrandized their original conception. Early programs swore on their historical precision of the cowboy, with 1883 promotions pledging that viewers would enjoy, “Veritable Cowboys… Representatives of THE RUGGED LIFE OF PRIMITIVE MAN! Lassoists, Horsemen, Marksmen, Heroes of the Dug-Out, the Cabin, the Ranch, and the Trail, whose lives have been passed in REALITY ECLIPSING ROMANCE”. The true American cowboy possessed immense regard for his dignity, and would brook neither belittling of his career or himself. Although the cowboy did not view himself as a genius, the degrading titles thrust upon him by the Wild West show advertisements likely instigated some form of offense.
Audiences blindly, and passionately, trusted Cody’s claims of honesty. “A 1910 poem acclaimed Buffalo Bill as the perpetrator of memory, while simultaneously rendering him as a figure from the past:
Graving time’s footprints on history’s page;
…
Re-living the scenes of a fast-fading age.”
The Montreal Gazette also praised his historical validity, again demonstrating the audiences’ ignorance to the reality of life on the trail:
“The whole thing is real. There is not a big of clap-trap about it. It is the picture of the frontier life painted in intense realism, each scene standing forth in bold relief—painted, did I say? No , not painted, but acted at it is being acted along the entire frontier line…. Therefore not for mere amusement’s sake, but for the sake of studying in a school where all lessons are objective and in which have been gathered materials for observation and instruction which, in the nature of things, are perishable and soon destined to vanish.”
In the weeks prior to a show, eight-foot “Cowboy Fun” posters hung from barns, depicting animated attire and cheerful facial expressions plastered onto the riders of bucking horses. In large pictures posted in window shops, cowboys could be seen shooting their “six-shooter” pistols into the air.
One account describes the happenings when the show arrived in their town. “A cowboy rides a horse that arches its back, head down and mane streaming… A band plays and the cowboys and Indians, vaqueros, cossacks, and Arabs, lead a free parade down the main street of town, followed by boys on bicycles, men in suits and working clothing, women, children, and grandparents.” When the show finally begins, cowboys race around the arena, performing rehearsed skits and tricks. “When the dust has cleared and the sounds of gunfire die away, the entire company unties again… while the cowboy band continues to play and the audience returns to farms, small towns, or city neighborhoods with souvenirs and memories.” One spectator highlighted how the show ironicly influence children, stating that shepherd’s wages “are almost double the latter’s [cowboy’s]… But in spite of this, every kid in the range country looks forward to the day when he can… cultivate a bow-legged walk and hire out to a cattleman.”
Buffalo Bill employed real cowboys recruited from ranches in the West, and transformed the rugged individuals into world-renowned entertainers. While the show hired a handful of ethnic minorities, the vast majority of show cowboys were White, consequentially portraying cowboys as a symbol of political power, and cutting black cowboys out of the picture. Notwithstanding, a census estimate suggests that in the late nineteenth century, one out of every three cowboys was a Mexican vaquero, and 20% may have been African-American. In a letter to “My Dear Hammitt,” Cody probes about the horses being trained for one of his Wild West shows, and concludes with, “Now let me know how many cowboys you have Of who wants to go with us.”
Reality drove cowboys’ to work in the Wild West show. The metaphorical and physical tent protected them from inclement weather, wild animals, long hours, and low wages. As show cowboy Harry Webb put it, “Frost-bitten noses and feet and fighting cattle in blizzards and belly deep snow talked loudly on the side of Buffalo Bill.” With earnings reaching one hundred and twenty dollars per month, the pay greatly contrasted those cowboys averaging thirty or forty dollars a month, or partaking in a strike in an attempt to attain fifty. Furthermore, the show proposed a chance at travel, and the possibility of romance and friendship.
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West presented each performer with a letter of recommendation at the conclusion of a season. Using the performing arts skills they acquired in the show, cowboys often went on to star in western films, other Wild West shows, and rodeos. Unfortunately, “those who wanted to remain cowboys found that the best living was to be had in performing the identity for somebody else, rather than living it on the range.”
Cowboys existed as far more than the theatric characters the Wild West show performance portrayed them to be. A wise aged Westerner outlined a cowboy as “a man with guts and a horse.” Universality of courage and unwavering bravery were essential to entering and practicing the physically and mentally demanding cowboy career. The typical cowboy was physically able to work for only seven years due to large amounts of physical injury, most commonly in the form of hernias developed from extreme bucking.
William Cody was not the only one looking to preserve the true image of the Cowboy. In January 1908, The World Works published the article, “Photographing the Cowboy as He Disappears,” that described how Mr. Erwin E. Smith, a cowboy and art student, “brought together with the camera the most complete account of the passing West that has ever been made.” The article featured a series of pictures chosen from the over two thousand photos Smith took during eight years of work and patience. While praising Smith’s factual account, the author jabs at the inaccuracy of the Wild West show, “There is no mistaking his hills for the hills of Vermont; nor are the men in his photographs even remote kin of those who rush in idle recklessness over prairies of sawdust under the tent of the Wild West show.”
Smith’s photos provide insight to the truth hiding behind Buffalo Bill’s portrayal.
A series of four photos show cowboys “Roping, Cutting Out, and Holding the Herd.” Aside from displaying the sheer skill needed to perform these activities, the photos contain clouds of dust circling the herd, which loom of suffocation. As a cowboy rode around moving livestock, he would pull up the handkerchief that encircled the neck of all cowboys, forming a mask. Along with their bandanas, the cowboys featured in the article model their typical, commonplace outfits. Any plain, checked, or striped design of shirt sufficed, but red rarely appeared because its tone upset cattle. If at all, novices wore red, and predictably appeared often in the outfits on Wild West show advertisements.
Terrain varied, and nature rumbled. The photos display contrasting landscapes and the scowl of Western lands, which every cowboy regarded with respectful admiration. Courage allowed cowboys to succeed on the bucker’s back or amid the cattle, and also persevere through merciless Northern blizzards, equally merciless Southern deserts, bandit fights, and rides on mountain cliffs or through river whirlpools. Cowboys also faced death repeatedly, predominantly when alone. Cyclones occasionally whirled across the lands, abandoning dead animals in their trails, and triggering stampedes that too often led to the passing of a cowboy.
The workday of a cowboy, in both time and quality, was unpredictable and often interminable. As indicated in the photo “Getting Breakfast,” work usually began before dawn, and living conditions were drab. “Packing ‘Tarp’” depicts two cowboys attempting to shove their beds (many blankets between tarpaulin covers) into saddlebags. Although to an extent, riders developed relationships with their horses, no one has ever succeeded in fully taming the spirit of an animal, and seemingly simple, every-day activities of the cowboy, such as “Saddling,” “Tightening the Cinch,” and “Shoeing” proved challenging. In “’The Remuda,’” a cowboy struggles to rope other horses to saddle, which caused the herd a delay in getting on the trail. Working with the unruly horses and cattle greatly differed from the ease of working alongside trained horses encircled by a crowd of adoring fans. By peering through the corrective lenses Smith’s work provided, readers became capable of viewing a lucid reality of Cowboy life. Only one of the photos revealed a pistol, one of the most common stereotypes pictured by the Wild West show. Cowboys chose to go unarmed unless conditions demanded otherwise, and certainly did not wish to carry more than one heavy gun around. The pistols they did carry were also of a lesser caliber than the ones used in show performances. Also not pictured was a clash with Indians. As opposed to the many cowboy and Indian fighting scenes performed by Buffalo Bill and his team, interactions with Indians were neither common nor violent. The shy, laconic manner of many cowboys ensued from miniscule amounts of human interactions, vast amounts of solitude, and the regular occurrence of crooks. The sententiousness of cowboys evolved from deriving wholly from loneliness to mere convention. The adversity of Cattle Country men towards unnecessary words is displayed by their reoccurring advice to rambling conversationalists, “Save part of your breath for breathing.” The Wild West show’s cheerful, friendly representation belied more than just the true character of the cowboy, it concealed the serious issue of the exploitation of cowboys as manual laborers.
In the 1800s, the new owners of the ranching industry focused blindly on escalating profits, and in doing so revoked the few liberties cowboys possessed. These unfair advances caused cowboys’ built up resentment towards the harmful nature of the work to explode. Hoping to secure fifty dollars per month, cowboys in West Texas went on strike against the five ranches they viewed as only in it for quick revenue. While most press supported the owners, “The Texas Livestock Journal argued that some cowboys were worth ‘almost any money as faithful servants’ and that these cowboys were entitled to all that ranchmen could ‘afford to pay.’” Unfortunately, the strike significantly weakened, and after two and a half months the May roundup, which they had hoped to disrupt, proceeded without confrontation. When asked for his opinion about his employer, one cowboy answered, “Cant put it in words. Give me an emetic!”
Although “some of the audience understood that the shows were fictional, they approved its claims to authentic history, realizing it represented an exaggerated and idealized view of frontier life,” but subconsciously (or consciously) believed that what they were watching was indeed factual. Americans could experience the thrill of danger with no consequence, believe that struggle and conflict inflicted no lasting wounds, and could see for themselves that the enemy would rise from the dust, wave to the crowd, and sell souvenir photographs at the end of the day. If the ones who viewed the shows understood its blurred boundaries of fact and fiction and were still influenced, the generations that followed were even more susceptible to fall for the false image. Cowboys undoubtedly earned far more kindly treatment by ultimate history then a smiling, animated portrait slapped onto a poster. “In Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, historical events seemed to become personal memories, and personal memory was reinterpreted as national memory.” Even the “Star Spangled Banner” played by the cowboy band went on to become America’s national anthem. The preservation of accurate history and public knowledge should exist as primary concerns in the minds of entertainers, for the lives and culture of our ancestors should not be distorted by exaggerations for amusement purposes. Without truth, what do lies become?
WORKS CITED

Blackstone, Sarah J. The Business of Being Buffalo Bill. New York, NY: Praeger, 2004.

Cody, William F. Buffalo Bill's Life Story: An Autobiography. Courier Dover Publications, 1920. Digital file.

Kasson, Joy S. Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Union Square West, NY: Hill and Wang, 2000.

Lamar, Howard R. "The Cowboys." In Buffalo Bill and the Wild West, compiled by George Weissman, 57-67. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum, 1981.

McDowell, Bart. The American Cowboy in Life and in Legend. Washington, D.C: National Geographic Society, 1972.

Rollins, Philip Ashton. The Cowboy. Rev. Enlarged ed. N.p.: Charles Scribner's Son, 1936.

Sagala, Sandra K. Buffalo Bill on Stage. UNM, 2008. Digital file.

Steger, Harry Peyton. "Photographing the Cowboy as He Disappears." The World’s Work, January 1908. 11111-24.

Walsh, Richard J. The Making of Buffalo Bill. Illustrated by Milton S. Salsbury. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1928.

Warren, Louis S. Buffalo Bill's America. N.p.: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.

Zeilgler, Robert. "Cowboy Strike of 1833." Exploring the West. Accessed May 7, 2013. http://www.stanford.edu/group/west/cgi-bin/pager.php?id=20.

WORKS CONSULTED
Blackstone, Sarah J. The Business of Being Buffalo Bill. New York, NY: Praeger, 2004.

Brady, Mathew. Buffalo Bill in Scout Dress. 1870. National Portrait Galleries, New York.

Cody, William F. Buffalo Bill’s Life Story: An Autobiography. Courier Dover Publications, 1920. Digital file.

Cowboy. Directed by Delmer Daves. Performed by Glenn Ford and Jack Lemmon. Produced by Julian Blaustein. N.p.: Columbian Pictures, 2002. DVD. Originally released 1958.

Davis, David Brion. Myth America: A Historical Anthology. Edited by Patrick Gerster and Nicholas Cords. Vol. II of Ten-Gallon Hero: The Myth of Cowboy. St.James, NY: Brandywine, 1997. Digital file.

Hale, Will. Twenty-Four Years a Cowboy and Ranchman in Southern Texas and Old Mexico. Santa Barbara, CA: Narrative Press, 2001. Digital file.

Harris, Frank. My Reminiscences as a Cowboy. Illustrated by William Gopper. New York: C. Boni, 1930.

Hellman, Jerome, prod. Midnight Cowboy. Performed by Waldo Salt. Directed by John Schlesinger. Santa Monica, CA: United Artists, 1997. DVD. Originally released 1969.

Hunter, J. Marvin, ed. The Trail Drivers of Texas. Garden City: n.p., 1930.

Kasson, Joy S. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West. Union Square West, NY: Hill and Wang, 2000.

Lamar, Howard R. “The Cowboys.” In Buffalo Bill and the Wild West, compiled by George Weissman, 57-67. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum, 1981.

McDowell, Bart. The American Cowboy in Life and in Legend. Washington, D.C: National Geographic Society, 1972.

Potter, Jack M. “Guide Map to Best.” In Cattle Trails of the Old West. Clayton, NM: n.p., 1935.

Rollins, Philip Ashton. The Cowboy. Rev. Enlarged ed. N.p.: Charles Scribner’s Son, 1936.

Saffell, Cameron L. “Cowboys and Cowgirls.” In United States in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Paul Finelman, 346-48. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2001.

Sagala, Sandra K. Buffalo Bill on Stage. UNM, 2008. Digital file.

Steger, Harry Peyton. “Photographing the Cowboy as He Disappears.” The World’s Work, January 1908, 11111-24.

Walsh, Richard J. The Making of Buffalo Bill. Illustrated by Milton S. Salsbury. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1928.

Warren, Louis S. Buffalo Bill’s America. N.p.: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.

What Is It? 1861. The Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton.

Zeilgler, Robert. “Cowboy Strike of 1833.” Exploring the West. Accessed May 7, 2013. http://www.stanford.edu/group/west/cgi-bin/pager.php?id=20.