How wild was the Wild West, and what does Texas have to do with it?

Courtesy of Bryan Burrough

One of the enduring images of the Old West era is that of the gun-slinging cowboy, which was popularized by western films, TV shows, and novels in the early twentieth century.

In the years since, some historians have claimed that the perception of widespread gunfights and a “Wild West” is an overblown myth that was only a product of these fictional stories. Author Bryan Burrough argues in a new book that there may be a little more truth to those larger-than-life narratives than previously thought—and Texas plays a major role in that story.

The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild explores the violent history of the American frontier in the late nineteenth century and how Texans had a profound influence on some of the most famous stories of the era.

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