The Old West was far less dangerous than is usually potrayed in westerns and such, but the perception of the violent frontier existed even at the time. I’m sure many people who headed out west bought large caliber handguns because they thought they’d be fighting hostile Indians and gunning down desperados, even if they most likely never used them to shoot anything beyond varmints and bottles. Just like how most handgun owners today own them to shoot burglers and such, but are extremely unlikely to ever face such a situation, even in a relatively bad neighborhood.
And are we ever happy about it. 
Wolves are not known for attacking people in North America. Bears will, but only rarely and only where there are bears, which precludes most of the Western plains. Snakes are not a serious problem as one can generally just walk away from them–no Western Rattlesnake will chase a man.
More than any of those, cowboys had to deal with wild cattle that had cornered a dismounted man or horses that had broken legs in rough terrain. The typical cattle at the beginning of the Western Era was the longhorn, that was half wild to begin with. Herefords and other breeds only began to replace longhorns in the very late 1870s, and did not fully replace the longhorn until the 1890s, by which time the “Wild West” was already fairly tame.
Skunks with rabies were another consideration. They were probably pretty rare, but the fear of them, (skunk horrible; rabies terrifying), probably prompted a number of men to carry pistols.
I seriously doubt that. If you have seen actual guns used by cowboys on the range, you can see they are well worn from being holstered and unholstered repeatedly, wearing the finish on the metal where it rubs the holster.
Cattle rustling during the days of the open range were quite common. You’d think a 32-20 or a .38 would be a good enough anti-personnel cartridge. But cowboys also did a fair amount of hunting and varmint shooting so the heavier army round was more useful. Last, a cowboy must be prepared to shoot a wayward bull if he (the bull) is leading a confused herd towards a cliff or a dangerous part of the river. So a heavier-than .38 round was more desirable.
Also, the famous Old West gun, the Colt’s Peacemaker, was originally a military gun- the cavalry guys would carry one. It pretty much was an evolution of the large-caliber black powder cap-and-ball revolvers, that shot .44 caliber balls to knock the horse out from under an enemy rider so he could be dispatched with a sabre or trampling!
Oh yeah. A crippled horse needs a strong round for a humane kill.
Sure. Well worn from shooting lots of varmints and bottles. What exactly are you thinking we should infer from the guns being well worn? You do realize that the old Western draw n’ shoot duel wasn’t a real thing, right?
Maybe what you mean is cowboys were not likely to face danger on the range. But bars and gambling tables could be a lot more dangerous. I wouldn’t enter a bar without heat.
Which brings me to a dope question I’ve been wanting to ask: was weapons discharge inside a bar tolerated? I mean the common Hollywood scene of cowboys shooting at the ceiling.
That is not what I was disputing. Your claim that they bought guns they didn’t need is unsupported. There are plenty of legitimate uses for a six shooter by a cowboy on the range besides drawing at high noon or plinking at bottles.
Even if a cowboy’s life consisted almost entirely of hard work alternating with tedium, the fact is that they were often out in the middle of nowhere. The nearest lawman might be a day’s ride away- or two, or three. Especially in the earlier part of the post-Civil war era, a westerner might be a survivor of the guerrilla wars in Missouri and Kansas, and vow never to be caught unarmed ever again. If you saw an unknown party riding towards you, you hoped for the best but kept your gun handy.
Regarding shooting up saloons: while an outnumbered saloon keeper might not be able to do anything at the time about a group of buddies shooting up the place while drunk, “tolerated” no. He would doubtless be royally brassed off at replacing expensive fixtures and equipment, and sic the law on them at the earliest opportunity.
My impression was that guns were most often prohibited in WW saloons altogether, the proprietors understanding that guns + liquor don’t mix. No cite though, sorry, look forward to hearing from those with more knowledge.
I don’t know about saloons, specifically; but some towns had gun bans.
We saw how that worked in Unforgiven.
Such as? A rifle or carbine is better for virtually all the 'round the ranch jobs people have brought up. Pretty much the only thing a big pisol excels at is shooting people at close range and making sure they go down*. The popular impression, then and now, is that this was something one had to do a lot of in the Old West, but the general historical consensus these days is that violent crime was actually very rare. The big old shooting irons did perfectly well for the stuff people did actually use guns for on a day to day basis, but the decision to carry a big revolver instead of a cheaper and more effective long gun would have been entirely irrational for most folks.
(*I’ll concede a large pistol was pretty much the best thing at the time if you were surprised by a large predator, but for all but the early vanguard of settlers that would have also been an extremely rare occurance.)
Long guns were less expensive than pistols?
They still are now a lot of the time.
Already answered. During a drive, you might have to shoot a crazed bull that’s leading a confused herd toward a cliff or a deep part of the river. You also need a powerful handgun to put down a crippled horse. When you need to signal your companions in the open range miles away or at night, you can do it with your sidearm (handgun cartridges are cheaper than rifle rounds.)
And most rifles are inconvenient for carrying on horseback.
Despite Heinlein’s erroneous quip that an armed society is a polite society, it was actually towns in the West that first began banning the carrying of sidearms in public. Rowdy drunks carrying easily accessed weapons were a certain recipe for mayhem. The earliest efforts at “gun control” tended to occur at the rail head/terminus of cattle drives where recently paid cowboys tended to “shoot” off their excitement after several weeks swallowing cattle dust.
Yep. Revolvers were still relatively new and plus we’re talking large caliber pistols which have to be built pretty sturdily.
See, this begs the question to me of why modern cowboys working on horseback don’t outfit themselves with huge hand cannons. I know a few and, while many of them do have giant handguns at home, for actual work in the high country it’s usually just a hunting rifle holstered in the saddle or pack. You can dream up reasons why you would need to whip out a big pistol at an instant, but they’re all pretty far fetched and for 99.99% of what you actually use a gun for the rifle’s just as good or better. (Oh, and pistol cartridges aren’t necessarily cheaper than rifle ones, especially in bigger calibers)