A teenage farm boy is about to get a killer education
Posted on 09/03/2024 8:29:08 AM PDT by COBOL2Java
A teenage farm boy is about to get a killer education
What is shockingly clear is that the boys who were exposed to the horrors of war in the four years of unbridled bloodshed were hardened and trained to be raiders, which, when you think about it, are the prerequisites for a supreme education in outlawry after the war. And that is why the fighting, especially in Missouri and Kansas, paved the way for the Western gunfighter that followed, as a sort of master’s degree from a four-year college of war. This is that story.
(Excerpt) Read more at truewestmagazine.com ...
“...that is why the fighting, especially in Missouri and Kansas, paved the way for the Western gunfighter that followed”
I enjoy Western history and have often wondered about the origins ow Western lawlessness on the frontier. Lots of movies and tv shows showed the connection of individuals and gangs to the Civil War, but I had never thought about as the primary cause. It makes sense.
As the years passed, the west matured, the young gunslingers aged out or were killed, and serious lawmen moved in to create order.
13 year old boy s fought at the Battle of Saratoga source: “Northern Traveler”, p.41
The flip side of this coin is, war veterans tended to keep most towns peaceful and quiet. Both the Dalton Gang (the first one, which was the famous one) and the Younger Gang tried simultaneously robbing two banks in respective towns, and since it was the savings of the local people, and a good many of them were Civil War survivors and sufficiently well-armed, neither of these capers worked out.
The posed death images of the Dalton Gang were purchased by their earlier victims as well as newspapers all over the country, and *may* have been the most widely sold photos of the 19th century, at least in the US.
By the way, let’s fire up the ‘nature vs nurture’ argument with this tidbit — the mother of the Dalton gang was the AUNT of the Younger Gang.
Up until recent more times a 16 year old male was considered a man, often started a family and was expected to make his way in the world. I’d be surprised if there weren’t 16 year old soldiers in the CW. There were such in WW1 and WW2 as well.
Most of the lawlessness was straight out competition over powerful economic contests. Nearly all of Wyoming s based in land use between large interests and small operations. Tombstone was another one. Lincoln County War was over competition for the lucrative contracts for supplying Fort Stanton. The Royal Gorge War was better two railroads wanting the same narrow route.
The list is endless.
And the young soldiers from the civil war found employ there. But they were not really the cause of much.
And the high noon fast draw concept was almost unknown. There were one or two such duals in the entire west. The hundreds of these in movies and TV are a modern invention.
Ping.
5.56mm
I have seen many reports that the “lawless West” was really just a fiction, where a slight few egregious examples were amplified far out of proportion, particularly by Hollywood later on.
At least in towns, people understood very well they needed protection from both bandits and Indians, and had police forces or deputies in their communities who were ready with arms to protect the peace. Often too, the people in these new towns had some other strong social connection - a common religion or church, for example.
Western states once had the strongest protections of property. For example - it was very common to have laws protecting people against “inverse condemnation” - government was held responsible, and had to compensate, if private property was “taken” by negligence of government - for example, not controlling riots or mobs. It was a great financial incentive for governments to keep the peace.
We need to bring such laws back.
Just look at Minneapolis, Oakland and DC in 2020 - marxist Governments actually encouraged mob destruction of private property.
The remake of the Magnificent Seven takes place in the US. Half the town would probably have been Civil War veterans, but we’re supposed to suspend disbelief and pretend they needed help to figure out how guns work.
btt
2nd that! When I was in school during the 1960s we had “assemblies” in the gym. Entertainers came and performed in shows that included some type of educational value. One time a team of fast draw people came and that was the exact message that they taught us.
There was a very high crime rate in parts of the country who did not have adequate law enforcement in the years following the civil war. But people facing off in the streets in some sort of fast draw contest was an invention of the entertainment industry.
It’s not as fun, but the American west was a lot more “Little House on the Prairie” than “The Rifleman”.
I think I went one of those same assemblies.
Our 28 yo men don’t have the maturity of an 1860 15 yo
Some of those assemblies were the most memorable events that took place at school.
President Eisenhower’s brother was a long-time and prominent member of the community that I grew up in. The President had ties to the military base here from way back. My wife’s former father-in-law was once doing sheetrock work in the home owned by the President’s brother while the former President sat out back painting.
Members of the Eisenhower family used to do assemblies about American history at our schools. My wife and I were students in different school districts but both of us remember attending more than one presentation.
I agree. My grandfather was born in 1875.it was better with the exception tapeworms and tuberculosis.
A great movie about this subject: “Field of lost shoes”
Not many 16 year old males (or even females) married, some, but the kid marriage image is largely a myth.
A lot of us dug pretty deep into average marrying age back during the Mitt Romney period and a lot of Mormons were selling the 15 year olds marrying as the normal thing in the past.
My own grandmother was 15 when she married my grandfather who rode a horse into her church to impress her, he later became a Deacon after settling down, but 15 was way younger than the average.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
