Cowboys.The Hollywood MYTH and reality

Tom Mix was the first to introduce the horse as a star in its own right. His first film horse was Old Blue. His second horse, Tony, became the most popular horse in the world. In 1932, while filming "Hidden Gold", Tony injured his hip and was replaced by Tony, Jr. who carried Tom through the remainder of his career. By 1921 Tom Mix had become known as "The King of the Cowboys" (The title was later also given to Roy Rogers).

Born in Ohio in 1895 and raised in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, William Boyd arrived in Hollywood around 1918. He became a full-fledged leading man during the silent era, and his best work from that period included many films for Cecil B. deMille

But roles had been tough to find during the early to mid 1930s. Stories and rumors generally mention: that Boyd looked too old due to his prematurely gray hair; and that Boyd was a womanizer and liked parties and alcohol.Then there was the confusion between this William Boyd, and another Tinseltown performer who had the same name. That 'other' William Boyd had been involved in a scandal in the early 1930s, and our William 'Hoppy' Boyd was incorrectly identified in the press and news as the guilty party.

 The accusations nearly wrecked our William Boyd's career. (The William Boyd that was the subject of the scandal wound up with the moniker of William 'Stage' Boyd. Remember him --- he was the evil 'Zolak' in the awful serial, THE LOST CITY (Krellberg, 1935), which featured Kane Richmond as the hero.)  In the mid 1930s, several forces came together. These were Paramount Pictures, a producer named Harry 'Pop' Sherman and Boyd. 'Pop' Sherman was an independent producer, but by the mid 1930s, the states rights distribution channels for low budget, independently produced sagebrush yarns were disappearing. Sherman got lucky and convinced Paramount to release a series of westerns based on the Hopalong Cassidy novels and short stories authored by Clarence E. Mulford. Hollywood history or myth is that character actor James Gleason was a serious contender for the role of Hopalong Cassidy. But when the dust cleared and filming began, forty year old William Boyd had the job. In the mid 1930s, several forces came together. These were Paramount Pictures, a producer named Harry 'Pop' Sherman and Boyd. 'Pop' Sherman was an independent producer, but by the mid 1930s, the states rights distribution channels for low budget, independently produced sagebrush yarns were disappearing. Sherman got lucky and convinced Paramount to release a series of westerns based on the Hopalong Cassidy novels and short stories authored by Clarence E. Mulford. Hollywood history or myth is that character actor James Gleason was a serious contender for the role of Hopalong Cassidy. But when the dust cleared and filming began, forty year old William Boyd had the job.

MIX

 




The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of special significance and legend. A subtype, called a wrangler, specifically tends the horses used to work cattle. In addition to ranch work, some cowboys work for or participate in rodeos. Cowgirls, first defined as such in the late 19th century, had a less-well documented historical role, but in the modern world have established the ability to work at virtually identical tasks and obtained considerable respect for their achievements.[2] There are also cattle handlers in many other parts of the world, particularly South America and Australia, who perform work similar to the cowboy in their respective nations.The cowboy has deep historic roots tracing back to Spain and the earliest settlers of the Americas. Over the centuries, differences in terrain, climate and the influence of cattle-handling traditions from multiple cultures created several distinct styles of equipment, clothing and animal handling. As the ever-practical cowboy adapted to the modern world, the cowboy's equipment and techniques also adapted to some degree, though many classic traditions are still preserved todayAmerican cowboys were drawn from multiple sources. By the late 1860s, following the American Civil War and the expansion of the cattle industry, former soldiers from both the Union and Confederacy came west, seeking work, as did large numbers of restless white men in general. A significant number of African-American freedmen also were drawn to cowboy life, in part because there was not quite as much discrimination in the west as in other areas of American society at the time. A significant number of Mexicans and American Indians already living in the region also worked as cowboys.Large numbers of cattle lived in a semi-feral, or semi-wild state on the open range and were left to graze, mostly untended, for much of the year. In many cases, different ranchers formed "associations" and grazed their cattle together on the same range. In order to determine the ownership of individual animals, they were marked with a distinctive brand, applied with a hot iron, usually while the cattle were still young calvesThe primary cattle breed seen on the open range was the Longhorn, descended from the original Spanish Longhorns imported in the 16th century, though by the late 19th century, other breeds of cattle were also brought west, including the meatier Hereford, and often were crossbred with Longhorns.Large numbers of cattle lived in a semi-feral, or semi-wild state on the open range and were left to graze, mostly untended, for much of the year. In many cases, different ranchers formed "associations" and grazed their cattle together on the same range. In order to determine the ownership of individual animals, they were marked with a distinctive brand, applied with a hot iron, usually while the cattle were still young calves. The primary cattle breed seen on the open range was the Longhorn, descended from the original Spanish Longhorns imported in the 16th century, though by the late 19th century, other breeds of cattle were also brought west, including the meatier Hereford, and often were crossbred with Longhorns.Large numbers of cattle lived in a semi-feral, or semi-wild state on the open range and were left to graze, mostly untended, for much of the year. In many cases, different ranchers formed "associations" and grazed their cattle together on the same range. In order to determine the ownership of individual animals, they were marked with a distinctive brand, applied with a hot iron, usually while the cattle were still young calves. The primary cattle breed seen on the open range was the Longhorn, descended from the original Spanish Longhorns imported in the 16th century, though by the late 19th century, other breeds of cattle were also brought west, including the meatier Hereford, and often were crossbred with Longhorns.

Barbed wire, an innovation of the 1880s, allowed cattle to be confined to designated areas to prevent overgrazing of the range. In Texas and surrounding areas, increased population required ranchers to fence off their individual lands.

 In the north, overgrazing stressed the open range, leading to insufficient winter forage for the cattle and starvation, particularly during the harsh winter of 1886–1887, when hundreds of thousands of cattle died across the Northwest, leading to collapse of the cattle industry.

 By the 1890s, barbed wire fencing was also standard in the northern plains, railroads had expanded to cover most of the nation, and meat packing plants were built closer to major ranching areas, making long cattle drives from Texas to the railheads in Kansas unnecessary.

Hence, the age of the open range was gone and large cattle drives were over.

Smaller cattle drives continued at least into the 1940s, as ranchers, prior to the development of the modern cattle truck, still needed to herd cattle to local railheads for transport to stockyards and packing plants. Meanwhile, ranches multiplied all over the developing West, keeping cowboy employment high, if still low-paid, but also somewhat more settled.

Some men were also drawn to the frontier because they were attracted to men. Other times, in a region where men significantly outnumbered women, even social events normally attended by both sexes were at times all male, and men could be found partnering up with one another for dances.

 Homosexual acts between young, unmarried men occurred, but cowboys culture itself was and remains deeply homophobic. Though anti-sodomy laws were common in the Old West, they often were only selectively enforced

Cowboys in movies were often shown fighting with American Indians. However, the reality was that, while cowboys were armed against both predators and human thieves, and often used their guns to run off people of any race who attempted to steal, or rustle cattle, nearly all actual armed conflicts occurred between Indian people and cavalry units of the U.S. Army.