I wonder if anybody at all had one of those tv western holsters where the belt hung at an angle such that the pistol was mid-thigh. And with a strap so it could be secured against the leg.
Generally when you see holstered guns in Western pics, they’re on the hip or thereabouts. You do occasionally see lower-slung pistols, like in this pic of Charley Nebo, but sans strap in the ones I’ve seen. And even in that pic, the other guy has his pistol higher, and cross-drawn. AFAICT, the “Buscadero”-style we associate with gunfighters is a 20th C. invention.
https://www.lofty.com/products/cabinet-card-of-charley-nebo-1-1jfm0i
The mythologization of the Old West really got set in stone by the 20th century, but it actually started in real time. Dime store Western novels beginning as early as the 1860s sensationalized events in the west, and were very popular out east.
Sure, yes, and there’s some indication that the Buscadero-style holster partly came out of the needs of the trick shooters in Wild West shows, as well as competition shooters.
But if you look at the artwork for eg Buffalo Bill’s show posters, they show hip-worn pistols, not low-slung ones
Sorry if I came off disputing or correcting you, which I did not mean to do, I was more using your ‘20th C. invention’ mention as a hook just to make a broader point that, a lot of posters in this thread have pointed out how the mythology of the Old West got going with silent Westerns in the 20s, which is also very true, but it started even earlier than that.
Nice Buffalo Bill poster link, BTW!
No need to apologize, you were making a valid point.
The first 15 minutes of Dances With Wolves is the most enthralling Civil War film I’ve seen.
In the 3d image, is the guy on the white horse missing his leg below the knee? If so, any context, or just artistic choice?
No stirrup on that side of the horse, so 1 leg missing. Must have been a fairly well-known incident and person to be included in the painting.
From here:
The master publicist John Burke had traveled to Cuba in 1897 and, despite the watchful eye of Spanish agents, had managed to recruit 14 Cuban rebels for Cody’s Wild West. The men had all been wounded in battle, one having lost a leg and another an arm. They were commanded by Lt. Col. Ernesto Delgado who had himself twice been wounded. “Colonel Cody has performed a distinct national service in bringing these Cuban heroes to the United States,” noted the World. “They give us an opportunity to see the kind of men who make up the insurgent army.” The people of New York were clearly impressed with what they saw.
So, he is probably in the poster because he is memorable but not particularly famous
I’m wondering about his mount-dismount technique.
More proof that water is dangerous!
The caption is 'A Squad of Genuine Cuban Insurgents - Battle Scarred Heroes from the Field of Action." At a guess, the people in that painting are depictions of the actual performers working the show, including one guy who lost his leg, presumably while fighting in Cuba.
Not sure of the overall accuracy but Open Range had what I thought to be the most accurate gunfire sounds in a movie.
Heartland is a highly accurate account of life of a pioneer in the West. Conchata Ferrell (Berta in Two and a Half Men) plays a woman who travels to the Wyoming to be a housekeeper for a farmer (Rip Torn). The movie is an unflinching look at life on the frontier. Ferrell amazingly good.
Bad Company (1972) with Jeff Bridges. A while since I saw it so don’t remember if the “little” details were right or not but the big picture seemed very accurate. Failure, lack of skills, sense of doom …
…and derby’s!
Heartland, Days of Heaven and I will add Four Faces West - Based on Eugene Manlove Rhodes Paso por Aqui.