Cowboy Historian Rates 13 Wild West Scenes In Movies And TV | How Real Is It? | Insider

Cowboy and Old West historian Michael Grauer rates 13 Wild West scenes in movies and television for realism.

Michael Grauer debunks common tropes in Western films, such as the realism of quick-draw duels, gunslingers, and the effects of the Gold Rush era in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," starring Clint Eastwood; the commonality of saloon fights and bank robberies in "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," with Tim Blake Nelson, James Franco, and Liam Neeson; and the frontier town shootout in "The Magnificent Seven" (2016), with Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, and Chris Pratt. He discusses the common misconception of the American Frontier as lawless, such as the role of bounty hunters and sheriffs in "Django Unchained," with Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Christoph Waltz; federal lawmen stopping an outlaw gang in "True Grit" (2010), with Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Hailee Steinfeld; and the connection between outlaws and former Confederate soldiers after the Civil War in "Westworld" S1E5 (2016). Grauer also comments on the portrayal of Native Americans and cowboys in film, such as the depiction of the Comanche people in "The Searchers," starring John Wayne; the bison-hunting scene with the Lakota people in "Dances with Wolves," starring Kevin Costner; and the cattle-grazing scene in "Open Range." He also breaks down scenes based on real-life events and people during the Wild West period, such as infamous outlaws like Cherokee Bill and Rufus Buck in "The Harder They Fall," with LaKeith Stanfield, Regina King, and Idris Elba; Charles Goodnight in "1883," starring Tim McGraw; and the depiction of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral — a shootout involving the "Cowboys" gang and the federal posse including Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday — in "Tombstone," with Val Kilmer and Sam Elliott.

Grauer is a public historian focusing on cowboy history and Western American culture. He is the McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture and Curator of Cowboy Collections and Western Art for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. With 40 years of experience as a museum curator, he has curated over 150 exhibitions on Western art, culture, and history and authored around 65 publications. He also does a living history cowboy presentation called "Cowboy Mike."

You can learn more about the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum here:

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Cowboy Historian Rates 13 Wild West Scenes In Movies And TV | How Real Is It? | Insider

[carolineyuen]

"They notice when you steal the whole herd" 😂 I laughed out LOUD

[toniviskari]

You can just sense how many times this expert has had to give an exasperated explanation to someone who cowboys weren't ubercool badasses living in constant danger and near a gun fight at all time.

[davidstumpfl]

I really appreciate how he's willing to kill certain myths about the West. Gives me the impression of someone who loves what he does and hates the fetishizing of the period

[Aspen]

The thing that bothers me about the earlier 1950s and 60s westerns is that the actors are clean cut with short mid 20th century haircuts, rarely have beards, wore clean clothes with no tears, stains, patches. They all have the standard issue Stetson and neckerchief. Nothing at all like what you would expect for folks working hard, dirty, work with few luxuries and only occasionally getting the opportunity to clean up.

[emho]

I think that with the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, they were mimicking the samurai movie convention of drawing and killing with a single stroke of the katana.

[Bill_Oddie_Face_Mask]

Would love to see this man's take on Unforgiven, a movie specifically designed to subvert all of the typical Western tropes and present a more grounded take on what that time in American history was like.

[kylew]

Nice to see Open Range getting some appreciation

[charleslennonbaker]

What a refreshing review. I'm of African and Indigenous ancestry, and I, too, found the inclusion, although fiction, of "Cherokee Bill" as an anti-hero horrendous. But to be precise, his family were not enslaved Cherokee Freedmen. His father was a much respected (even in post-US Civil War Texas) US Cavalry Buffalo Soldier who married a multi-ethnic Afro-Indian of African and Cherokee ancestry. He grew up with the best his family could afford, was educated more than most of his peers, and surpassed those of most minorities. He was raised spoiled and grew into a bully, then developed into a serial rapist. He befriended others of the same ilk, and they formed a loose gang that terrorized the Indian Territories. It mattered not if you were Indigenous, African American, White, Latin, or between. He and his gang were murderous rapists and thieves, and (he, from all accounts) felt no remorse and reveled in the pain and suffering they were responsible for.
I hope "Insider" brings Mr. Graurer back. I'd love to hear his critique on these movies: Sgt. Rutledge, Buck and the Preacher, Buffalo Soldiers, Ft. Apache, Silverado, and the Bass Reeves series.

[air]

The photo at 14:56 is of the 9th Mississippi Infantry, encamped near Pensacola, Florida in 1861. This was my great-great-grandfather P.G. Palmer's unit. (Though grievously wounded with a minie ball through the mouth and jaw, P.G. survived the war and moved from Mississippi to Goldthwaite, Texas.) The soldiers, left to right are: Jason Peques, Kinloch Falconer, John Fennel, Jason Cunningham, Thomas W. Falconer, Jason Sims, and John T. Smith. Don't have the name of the soldier standing in the background behind Thomas Falconer.

[wyrmseyeview]

Is it worth pointing out that The Good, the Bad and the Ugly takes place during the Civil War and that all the characters had plenty of opportunities to loot weapons and ammunitions during their various run-ins with both sides, even discounting that they spend some time as paramilitaries and in Angel Eyes' case, a uniformed officer? Being "armed to the teeth all the time" perhaps makes more sense in that context than it would otherwise.

Not that that movie is even really supposed to be an accurate representation of anything: I think Leone confirmed that characters in the movie have no peripheral vision beyond what the camera shows.

[glacousxx]

I really wanted him to react to that part in back to the future 😂.

[moffjerjerrod]

The Comanches went "full regalia". Nice throwback to Django Unchained, even if accidental. lol

[edg]

Revolvers of the time weren't inherently inaccurate as he claims. It was the use of black powder and little tiny sights you can barely use the that made them harder to use. Plenty of western figures had near legendary reputations for marksmanship.

[beaudickerson]

Says "you'd be arrested for shooting someone" followed by "there werent enough lawmen around" lol

[herzogsbuick]

no Blazing Saddles?? i wanna know if Count Basie really had a band stand in the desert!!!

[cqtaylor]

One of my favorite "Western Debates" is when did the Wild West actually end: Was it 1900? Was it 1910? 1920? Or did it all just fade away gradually?

[johnirby]

The Comanche in Texas were no joke. They were absolutely winning until the invention of the repeating rifle! Brutal fighting on both sides. Wearing each others skins!

[kevincornell]

One comment about swinging doors. The Bruin Inn, St Albert, Alberta is the oldest bar in western Canada and it had swinging doors. The bar was opened in the last 1800's. Oh, and on a Saturday night, prepare to enjoy the fights.

[hdjong]

In what universe is a cowboy sitting in a chair with a lasso sticking out of his pocket?

[samhornbeck]

This dude is trying so hard to crush and push his “knowledge” he is not even realizing the plots of the movies. “Only bad guys and law men carried a gun” as we watch movies about outlaws and lawmen cause that was the whole point of Clint Eastwood movies and most westerns 🤦🏻‍♂️