How 'Wild' was the Wild West (Short Animated Documentary)

We've all heard the stories of the Wild West. Saloon Brawls, duels at high noon, ladies being tied to Train Tracks by moustachioed gentlemen, Cowboys fighting Indians. But how true is any of this? To put it bluntly. Just how 'Wild' was the Wild West. Find out in this short animated simple history documentary.

Special Thanks to the following Patrons for their support on Patreon:

Chris Fatta
Kevin Sanders
Stefan Møller
Gregory - The Bittersteel
Richard Wolfe
D. Mahlik
Qi Xiao
Anon
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sharpie660
Wolf
SirAlpaka
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Jason Martins
Paul McGee
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Andrew Niedbala
John Garcia
Bernardo Santos
Nathan Perlman
Danny Anstess
Christopher Godfrey
Warren Rudkin
James Bisonette Fan#1
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Magdalena Reinberg-Leibel
Shaun Pullin
Perry Gagne
Chris Hall
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hamid kadiwala
Joooooshhhhh
Adam Barrett
Blake Dryad
Lachlan
Alen
Troy Schmidt
I’m Not In The Description
FuzzytheFair
Liam Gilleece
Cap
Byzans_Scotorius
Kinfe85
Mark Ploegstra
Jeffrey Schneider
Luke Robinson
HelloAgainThere
Haydn Noble
MrPalomino
Josh Cornelius
Donald Weaver
Richard Manklow
Steve Bonds
Big Nick
Julian Baumann
Gabriel Lunde
Konstantin Bredyuk
Nick Finan
Pierre Le Mouel
Richard Hartzell
Seth Reeves
PARSHU19
Joao Santos

Sources:

"Them's Fighting Words": Violence, Masculinity, and the Texas Cowboy in the Late Nineteenth Century by Jacqueline M. Moore

COMPARATIVE FRONTIER SOCIAL LIFE: WESTERN SALOONS AND ARGENTINE PULPERIAS by RICHARD W. SLATTA

Quantifying the Wild West: The Problematic Statistics of Frontier Violence by Robert R. Dykstra

[joshuaramirez]

"This town ain't big enough for the both of us"

*makes another town*

[brettknoss]

One thing about cowboys, they did engage in rowdy behaviour in cities, but this was because of the lack of drinking and socializing during the months spent on ranches or drives. In this way they were like sailors in ports.

[davidyamada]

My teacher once told me that the "wild west" wasn't very wild, but that whaling and pirates were where you could really find adventure and crazy stories. But when movies/television became a thing, it was WAY cheaper to make a movie on land than one on sea, so they made a lot more movies about the wild west.

[arkad]

Also fun fact, Cowboys weren’t “cool” until after the “end” of the Wild West time. They were viewed as rough, dirty low end blue collar workers. Very akin to the stigma an oilfield worker, construction hand, or plumber has today. (Which is funny because those professions make good money)

[kallaji]

0:37 "Most Saloons had regular doors.."
WHAT? There goes my wild west image of the cowboy saloon cherished since childhood. I'm sad 😭

[uncleflagzz]

"I have a plan, Arthur, there's this train-"
"There's always a goddamn train!'

[samgill]

I'm really sad there was no *thud* in this episode

[biblehistoryscience]

Fun Fact: Mark Twain moved out West right when the Civil War broke out instead of fighting and dying for the Confederacy, and his flare for embellishing the truth landed him newspaper jobs which eventually led to his amazing story-telling career. So some of the tall tales about the Old West can certainly be laid at his feet.

[rebel_]

Arthur: *finds a chest full of gold bars and 10 thousands dollars*
Dutch: WE NEED MORE MONEY

[Mrtanius]

One other thing that often gets misrepresented in Wild West is that its always portrayed as a hot desert, while in reality it had cold, snowy winters where the temperature could drop up to -20C

[duncanmatthews]

"The wild West wasn't even the wild West" - Stallone

[mateuscaldeirabrantaraujo]

The West: Be Wild.
History Matters: How much tho?

[dmeads]

“Alright pinhead, yer time is uuuup”

“Who ya callin pinhead?!?”

[brennensmith]

I’m pretty sure the “Wild West” wasn’t just NM, AZ, and CA. It should be everything west of the Mississippi. Most of the open range was before the Rockies.

[grantbmilburn]

I've always thought of the Wild West as meaning everything between the Mississippi and the Pacific Ocean from the Civil War to World War I, thus giving the last days of the Wild West a short but hugely significant overlap with the beginnings of the Hollywood film industry.

[ah-ltlj]

"Stars go here."

You guys nailed it.

[nickbell]

History Matters: Tying people to railroad tracks were very rare

Me in RDR2 every time I see an NPC: Your going to the railroad Jimbo

[gamebawesome]

When the Wild West wasn’t as wild as people thought


“Reality is often disappointing”

[bry]

I live in Colorado and a history of a lot of our "wild mining towns" tells a history of dieing more often in work accidents and disease than anything else. In most places the professions most needed were not lawmen, but doctors.

[buttafoco]

Thank you for showing that man is not inherently evil. We always find a way.