History of the American West: The Reality of Guns and the Wild West
The Old West conjures up all sorts of imagery, but most often the term involves imagery of prospectors, horses, pueblos, cattlemen, madams of brothels, and six-shooter-packing cowboys in small frontier towns — such as Tombstone, Deadwood, or Dodge City. And, while the term cowboy now enjoys almost universal admiration as one who lives by a code of conduct while preserving and protecting the heritage of the American West, the term cowboy had only begun to come into wider usage during the 1870s.
In that place and time, cowboy was synonymous with cattle-raiding rustlers. Cattle thieves frequently rode across the border into Mexico and stole cattle from Mexican ranchos, which they then drove back across the border and sold in the United States. Some modern writers consider them to be one of the first and earliest forms of organized crime syndicates in American history.
And, as we know, in the Old West as with modern times, with crime comes guns. Or as some believe, with guns comes crime. Whether you are a proud gun owner, are on an anti-gun crusade, or are somewhere in between, one thing is certain: guns have been a part of American culture since the early days of the Republic well before the writing of the Second Amendment to the Constitution.
