NO202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Will Kane, Cary Grant, Richard Slotkin
Document Summary
Large herds required a lot of land for food. Development of horseback-riding cowboy- needed to cover a great distance than they could do on foot. Railroad covered most of the nation by 1890s- made cattle drives from texas to kansas unnecessary. Age of the open range/cattle drives was over. Cowboy life romanticized as the frontier came to an end. Buffalo bill cody"s wild west show- this and other events popularized the cowboy as a representation of chivalry. Conflict between two competing things, civilization and the forces of savagery. Moment of confrontation in american history when lawlessness declines and social order increases. Forts, ranches, homesteads, native villages, frontier towns (saloon, general store, stable, jailhouse) Saloon emphasizes the wild west - music, women (prostitutes), gambling, drinking, fighting, shooting. In civilized towns, there is a church and a school. In less civilized towns, it is where life has no value - sergio leone.
