Comments on: 'To an Eastern man this city is full of surprises. '

'To an Eastern man this city is full of surprises. '

anastasiav — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 12:17:36 -0800

Ghost Cowboy :: True Tales of Adventure in the American West

By: caddis

caddis — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 13:04:01 -0800

This is fascinating, thank you.

By: caddis

caddis — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 14:11:04 -0800

from 1886:

It may be the atmosphere and it may be the beer or whisky, but even a short residence here has a wonderful moderating effect on the wildest and most exuberant spirits. A man from the plains drops into the city to-day attired in the most approved cowboy fashion, with the butts of two silver mounted revolvers appearing above the band of his trousers. Here it might be proper to state that few gentlemen west of the Mississippi carry a revolver in the hip pocket. The fashion is obsolete. Necessity renders it so. It is considered unwise to carry anything in the hip pocket in this section, for a motion in that direction is apt to be considered poor taste, and to result in the insertion in the person who makes it of a piece of lead. The lead will range in calibre from No. 32 to No. 45, generally No. 45, because people who carry "guns" have an apparent weakness for large bores. After a week's residence the cowboy will cut several inches off the rim of his slouch hat and in various other ways will demonstrate that he feels the influence of civilization. In a month's time he will pass in a crowd for a native, though if he be a celebrated character in his own country his reputation may stick to him and the stranger may be regaled with the choicest incidents in his earlier career. Men who have killed their man are not scarce here, but they cannot be distinguished at a glance. They are generally mild-mannered, when not in liquor, and their language, if tinged with a wild Western flavor, is free from profanity except on rare occasions; on these they dissipate any doubt that might be entertained of their ability in this direction to discount any man who has been reared in the effete East.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 14:16:58 -0800

Very interesting, great post!

By: sparkletone

sparkletone — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 14:31:42 -0800

Reading the title, and then the post content, my first thought was of Mr. Wu. Cocksucker! Swe'gen!

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 14:33:21 -0800

Very - VERY - cool. Thanks.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 15:44:04 -0800

This is the best I've seen on the subject of the "Wild West". Great find and definately BOTW! Thanks.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 17:04:04 -0800

Me too, sparkletone. San Fancisco cock sucker!

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 18:23:38 -0800

anastasiav, excellent post. Cool mining page. Some poignant photographs. I wish the photogrphs were easier to change from one to another and I would like to see scans or images of some of the old newspapers, if that is possible. And maybe a cowboy art and music section too? All in all Ghost Cowboy is an awesome site.

By: alicesshoe

alicesshoe — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 21:52:05 -0800

Love that Ghost Cowboy site. Calamity Jane can outswear them all, cocksuckers./

By: carmina

carmina — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 22:34:29 -0800

Amazing post, anastasiav. Thank you. I find it hard to believe that it was *only* about 100 years ago that all this was taking place where now there are huge cities and malls and highways. Amazing! Also, I wonder, was the language in the newspapers so similar to ours today? Or have the accounts been edited?