The Old West was a crazy mishmash of
cultures and personalities. Fortunes could be made in a riverbed and lost just
as quickly in a gambling hell. Cattle were cash. Keeping them took a certain
type of man.
Some
people headed west looking for gold. Others for land, adventure, or a fresh
start. A few were running from the law. More than a few planned on breaking it.
The
West attracted dreamers, drifters, soldiers, outlaws, gamblers, ranchers, and
hustlers. They didn’t always get along. Sometimes they settled their
differences with lawyers and judges. Other times with fists, knives, or
six-shooters.
Everything
kicked into high gear in 1848 when gold was discovered in California. News
traveled slowly by today’s standards, but fast enough to start a stampede. Men
abandoned farms, businesses, and families to chase rumors of easy money in the
mountains. Most never struck it rich, but they helped open the door to a new
era.
Over
the next forty-five years, the frontier became one of the most colorful places
on earth. Cowboys pushed cattle across hundreds of miles of open prairie.
Railroad crews connected the continent. Boomtowns appeared almost overnight.
Some became thriving cities. Others barely outlived the mines that created
them.
