10 Surprising Things About the Old West
It wasn’t like the movie.
I like westerns. Things were simpler in that time. Also, it’s easier for me to understand what’s going on. I can usually follow what’s going on in the action scenes, unlike action movies with more modern themes. It does seem, however, like that period in American history is romanticized. To combat that trend, here are some things you probably didn’t know about the Old West.
1: Cowboys were really short.
On average, they were about five feet tall. So much for riding tall in the saddle. Actually, the only way most cowboys rode tall in the saddle was because their hemorrhoids were acting up. It seems a fitting song for a documentary about cowboys would be Randy Newman’s, “Short People.”
2: Cowboys seldom brushed their teeth.
Factor in the use of chewing tobacco and a cowboy’s smile was not generally a thing of beauty. Remember that classic western line, “Smile when you say that”? Never mind.
3: Elmer McCurdy was the most interesting corpse in the world.
McCurdy was a train robber who was killed by lawmen after pulling off a train job that netted him a cool $46. McCurdy’s unclaimed body was embalmed and sold by an…
