2. Thesis
After finally gaining the westward territories completing our
Manifest Destiny many U.S. citizens believed the newly acquired
lands were wild and untamed as were the people who lived out
west. So wild that the only people who could live out there were
criminals and the cowboys who hunted them.
3. Does it Still Impact Our Lives Today?
• It is safe to say that without a doubt the era of cowboys is still to
this day engraved in our society. The entertainment industry still
creates movies, videos, series that the public still continue to watch
and enjoy. Many people made their fame from this being popular
western movie stars spurring the growth of the cowboy. Even
today as technology has swept from coast to coast and we
“civilized” the west cowboys and ranchers are still used in the
cattle industry. (though more for smaller/private businesses )
4. What is a cowboy?
• Originally known as Vaqueros these
men were cattle drivers moving cattle
from one plot of land, normally their
ranch, to some county to sell their
stock to a business who would
slaughter the cows and create beef
products for the public. This was
where many budding cowboys (and
criminals) honed their skills from riding
horses to maintain the herd from
spreading out or avoid danger, to
shooting if said danger was
unavoidable on the cattle trails.
5. Cattle Trails
• Cattle trails were used by ranchers and cowboys to move their cows
from where they were raised to a train station to be shipped and
slaughtered for their beef, but since train routes were so few and
far between many ranchers would have to travel hundreds of miles
to get to their destination. Many used the same trails for it was the
safest from attacks as well as an easy path to traverse.
• Chisholm Trail- was one of the most important routes northward to
the train station in Abilene stretching over 520 miles.
• At the time cattle trails were an important vein in getting beef out
everywhere but with the increase of technology and more and
more people moving out and settling down impeding the trails
made cattle drives much harder and soon the business started to
die out
6. Daniel Boone
• Born in 1734
• Woodsman, explorer, pioneer
who's exploration of what is
now called Kentucky helped
make him into the United
State’s first famous folk hero.
• Founded the first settlement
west of the Appalachian
Mountains called
Boonesborough.
• Helped create routes westward
such as the Cumberland Gap as
well as the Wilderness road.
7. Cumberland Gap
• Passageway through the Cumberland Mountains between the
states of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, was one of the first
Gateways to the west.
• One of the most important passages through the lower portion of
the Appalachian Mountains that then Connects to the Wilderness
road.
8. Wilderness Road
• One of the only routes for five years that would take settlers into
the western Kentucky territory.
• discovered not by Daniel Boone but by a man named Dr. Thomas
Walker who first explored this passage.
• It was Daniel Boone who, along with 35 other axmen cut down a
proper pathway making access for wagons and horses to use the
trail.
9. Buffalo Bill
• William Frederick Cody (Buffalo Bill) was born in 1846 in Le Claire
which at the time in the Iowa territory.
• Bill started working at the young age of 14 for the pony express,
later on he served in both the Civil war as well as the Indian wars.
10. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West
• Receiving the Medal of Honor in 1883 William went out to create
“Buffalo Bill’s Wild West,” a traveling act that displayed the west
and all of its glory.
• Buffalo bill’s wild west was one of the first Western theme Circus-
like attraction that started in 1872 in Chicago.
• With his partner, Ned Buntline, who helped produce the plays or
acts that were seen on the show; the first one of those being “The
Scouts of the prairie.”
11. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Cont.
• This attraction was so sought
after that the troupe traveled all
around the United States even to
Europe to reenact certain battles
or events that happened out
west, such as reenactments of the
Pony Express, stagecoach
robberies, and Indian attacks and
raids on wagon trains.
• The show sparked the fascination
and love for all things west, and
helped push more and more
citizens westward to experience
these things first hand.
13. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Cont.
• The show’s main purpose was to entertain while trying to be
informative, bringing people from all parts of the world to show off
their skills and equipment
• Mongols, Turks, Arabs, gauchos, and Indians such as the famous
Sitting Bull would help out in the performance (Seen in photo Below.)
14. Annie Oakley
• One of the main attractions in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows Annie
Oakley was a sharpshooter along with her husband Frank Butler.
• Given the nickname “Little Sure Shot” she would preform such acts
as shooting dimes that were tossed into the air, splitting a card
from thirty paces and even shooting the cigarette out from the lips
of her own husband.
15. More pictures of the show!
Annie Oakley
&
Frank Butler
Cast of Buffalo Bill’s Wild Wild West
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=UJ7DZD-zATw
16. Billy the Kid
• Real name- Henry McCarty born in 1859 most recognizable through
the participation in the New Mexico’s Lincoln County War killing 8
people in the dispute.
• Earned his reputation by how he had escaped from imprisonment a
total of three times before being gunned down in Fort Sumner.
• After his death rumor spread around the country saying how Billy
did not die rather the shooting was staged and he escaped,
imposters have come and gone because of this and most were
disproven, most but not all.
17. Jessie James & the James younger gang
• Born in 1847 in Kearney Missouri, Jessie
(Left) served in the civil war on the
confederate side before turning
towards criminal acts out in the west
along side his brother Frank (Right) .
• Most known for being the leader of the
James- Younger gang.
• Public saw them as the Robin Hood
type though none of this was proven by
any evidence
• From 186o-1882 the gang was the most
feared outlaws in United states history
responsible for over 20 bank and train
robberies stealing and estimated
$200,000 at the time.
18. John Wesley Hardin
• Born in 1853 in Bonham Texas.
• Hardin Killed his first victim at the age of 15, his own uncle. After
rumors about the local law that was attempting to arrest him were
going to give biased judgment Harden fled, but not before killing 3
officers.
• Hardin fled from Law enforcement most of his life until his capture
in 1877 accused of 27 murders with Hardin claiming to have killed a
total of 42 men.
19. Belle Starr
• Born in 1848 Belle Starr (Myra
Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr)
• Known as the Bandit Queen
• Notorious outlaw known for
being a horse thief and her
Association with the James-
younger gang.
• Made famous by writer Richard
K. Fox she became popularized
and later her character was put
into movies and shows on
television.
20. Bonnie and Clyde
• Bonnie (born in 1910) and Clyde (born in 1909) were famous for
their criminal acts throughout the Great Depression
• Involved in a Gang named the Barrow Gang, Clyde being the Leader
of said gang
• Robbed over a dozen banks though their main targets were rural
gas stations and stores the two were involved in the murders of
sixteen people nine of them being police officers.
• One of their getaway cars
21. Butch Cassidy
• Born in 1866
• Leader of the Wild Bunch Gang,
A notorious gang involved in
many train and bank robberies
• Became famous for robbing the
Union Pacific Overland Flyer, a
passenger train which sparked
the massive ma hunt for their
gang.
• The gang split up, moving to
different countries. Not much is
known about their deaths.
22. Other Famous people in the West
• Apache Kid
• Dalton Gang
• Wyat Earp
• Doc Holliday
23. What I learned
• I learned a lot about this topic when doing this project, many of the
famous cowboy’s, cowgirl’s, and criminals all seem to have the
same/similar trend of working on a ranch out west when growing
up. Most of these people were at least one war or major battle in
their lives and few ever did see the later years in their life. Every
slide that I created had some new information on it that I did not
know prior to this project. It made me have a lot greater respect for
those who tried to make it out west know knowing that there were
dangers literally every where around you.
24. Conclusion
• It is apparent in the United States culture that The Wild West
was and to some degree still is Wild. Not only did the U.S. have
to “civilize” the west from its native residents it also had to do
the same for the people who went out to cultivate live off the
land. It forced people to adapt to such a hostile environment and
led a lifestyle that people today still follow.
25. Works Cited
• Wikipedia for small facts/ information.
• Google Images for the Pictures.
• http://www.biography.com/people/jesse-james-9352646 - Jessie
James information.
• http://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/places/cumberland_gap -
Cumberland gap Information.
• http://www.biography.com/people/butch-cassidy-9240908 -Butch
Cassidy Information.
• http://www.historynet.com/wild-west-outlaws-and-lawmen- Ideas
on who to write about.
