Having watched countless Western movies over the years, I was wondering when the ‘Wild West’ officially ended ; especially when and where the last so-called ‘high noon’ style shoot-outs on the main street occurred.
Just how accurate were the Hollywood portrayls of the West?
I hadn’t thought about it in years, but I grew up in Laramie, Wyoming in the 1950’s. Some of the old timers told me there was a standard wild west shootout in the street around 1910 or so. Unless they were BS’ing a gullible kid, they said two old drunks stepped out into the street by the railroad tracks and emptied their guns at each other, but nobody even came close. The story was told a number of times, so it has (sub) urban legend status, at least.
One of the last old train robbers, Wild Bill something or other, had a souvenir stand there in the 50’s also. You got me interested, I’ll try to do some research.
My understanding is that the classic Hollywood, two guys facing off in the street, shootout, is, and always was, pure fiction.
I’m not sure about that. Wasn’t Alexander Hamilton murdered by a fellow politician in an old-fashioned shootout?
Yeah, Aaron Burr (who got a bum rap, btw), but that was more of a formal duel than a shootout.
The old west shootout wasn’t a total Hollywood myth. The gunfight at the OK Corral actually happened, and Bat Masterson got in more than one scrape in the street. Hard to say when the old west shootouts left off and the gangster shootouts started, I suppose…
Pravnik, how did Burr get a bum rap?
Perusing the LA Times; looks like it was on the 2nd (last fri that is). Between a bank guard and a robber in Studio city.
His bullet-resistant vest saved him, the robber got away.
I dunno, I’m not supposed to talk politics in GQ… 
Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton were at one time friendly, serving under Washington together. A long political career put them at odds, however, ending finally with a defeat for the race for Governor of New York. Eventually, something made Burr mad enough to challenge Hamilton to a duel. The incident that purportedly caused the duel came from some remaks made by Hamilton that eventually found their way into print, incuding one only hinted at; Hamilton had said to the group that he could intimate a “still more despicable opinion” about Colonel Burr. Nobody knows exactly what this was, but some speculate (then and now) that Hamilton accused Burr of an incestuous relationship with his own daughter, Theodosia. Another theory is that the duel was actually over a woman; both men had numerous extramarital affairs. Still others accuse Burr of staging the duel as a political move to revive his flagging career.
The true reason for the duel may never be known, but both men went there that day to kill each other (Hamilton’s later remarks to the contrary notwithstanding), and the winner was vilified and the loser lionized. Both men probably share some blame in what happened.
Yep-----the OK corral did take place
BUT------
The whole darn thing was over with in about one minute.
The laST big shootout was probably in Clay county Kentucky—but that was more like dry gulching than mano er mano.
Hollywood and history don’t even sleep in the same bed.
F’rinstance every picture of “billy the kid Bonney” shows him with a pistol stuck into his pants behind his belt.
Realism doesn’t make much boxoffice!
There were occasional “stand up” gun fights. In 1865, in Springfield, MO, Wild Bill Hickock faced off against Dave Tutt with a (stupid) crowd watching from the sidelines.
Bill O’Neal, in his Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters lists the last gunfights as
1911: Texas (2), Georgia (1)
1912: Wyoming (1)
1915: Oklahoma (1), Texas (1)
1917: Arizona (1)
1924: Missouri (1), Oklahoma (1)
On the other hand, the James-Younger raid on Northfield Minnesota in 1876 and the massacre of the Dalton gang (and an equal number of townsfolk) in Coffeyville, KS in 1893 have several later counterparts in other parts of the country. The tiny village of Hadley, MI had a fight as nearly bloody as the Great Northfield raid around 1930.
I’ve often heard that the “Wild West” was not as wild as people make it out to be. I’ve read that even Dodge City was less violent than many places in today’s society and that nearly all of the violence was between “criminal” elements anyway. Unfortunately, I don’t have any statistics. Does anyone have any cites to either support or refute this?