“A man’s got to have a code, a creed to live by, no matter his job.” – John Wayne

I like and enjoy westerns. Filmmakers have printed the legend of the taming of the Wild West in great Western movies. The writing about the Old West is powerful and fluent, a journey through history. We enjoy the bold thinking, fresh ideas, well-told stories and details that we did not know.

The path of the old West is filled with energy, enthusiasm, hope, progress and wild with adventure. The stories are not dull, they tell the story more with actions than language. The impact of the homesteading across our country has been huge and long running.

As the American frontier passed into history, the myths of the West in fiction and film took hold in the imaginations of Americans. Also, there is always one moment in childhood when children like to play “cowboys and Indians.”

Western scenery can look breathtakingly beautiful! Spectacular vast plains, looming mountains and deep canyons give us the feeling of outdoor spectacle and recreating life in the pioneer west.

In the Western adventure we experience unspoiled beauty and heroic endurance on majestic mountain peaks, the wide open spaces and hot, dry deserts. It almost seems like the landscape becomes a character.

The bold horsemen, on their powerful and beloved horses, galloped far and free across the wide grasslands. Outlaws were depicted as a band of filthy, hopelessly corrupt doomed men. Battles between settlers, rangers and Indians have the directors pace and excitement. We have feared for the wagon trains snaking across uncharted territory. Scenes throb with dramatic intensity.

Today, television and films have all contributed to the romanticism of America’s Old West. TV Westerns, such as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, the Rifleman, The Big Valley, The Virginian and more have become classics. These Western tells a morality tale.

The great John Wayne movies and others tell a story conveying a meaning. Notorious outlaws, lawmen, to gunfighters, to the American cowboy, trailblazers, covered wagons, stagecoaches, salons, gambling, and women provides legends, tales and in-depth history into the life and times of the American West. It was a state of conquest, but also one of survival, persistence, and the nudging of people and culture that gave birth and continuing life to America. Western films entertain. The legends of the cowboys pride, suffering and his traditions are all etched on his face.

The Old West, although a life filled with backbreaking work, plenty of dirt, bigotry and greed captured the imagination of people everywhere. Can you imagine the harshness and isolation of the wilderness?

By the late 1880’s the open range was nearly gone. Railroads extended all the way to the West Coast, therefore the roundups and the long trail drives were no longer needed. Towns grew quieter as schools and churches began to outnumber saloons and gambling halls.

A cowboy poet once remarked, “We are a reminder of something in danger of being lost.”

The cowboy of the Old West is certainly a part of the world’s legends, but he is not in danger of being forgotten. Somewhere there is a cowboy ready to ride the trail again.