Few periods in American history have been more romanticized than the era of the Wild West. A whole frontier mythology has been created that still resonates through American culture to this day, populated with cowboys and Indians, gunslingers, and prospectors.

But what is myth and what is reality? Scroll on through this gallery to sort the frontier facts from Hollywood fiction…

It’s the classic Western movie trope. An outsider walks through the swinging saloon doors, the piano stops playing and after a few seconds of silence, all hell breaks loose. Meanwhile outlaws are galloping through town firing their guns into the air and there’s a gun duel to dodge out on Main Street.

If Hollywood was to be believed, townsfolk in the American West took their lives into their own hands every time they went down to the general store.

The truth is that most towns in the Wild West had much lower murder rates than big cities like New York and Boston. Settlers came to the West to carve out a better life for themselves and structures were quickly put in place to make life as safe and prosperous as possible.

That’s not to say there weren’t places that lived up to the stereotype – we’re looking at you Dodge City, Kansas. But for the most part you could enjoy your bottle of whiskey without fear of it getting smashed.

The Wild West as portrayed by Hollywood was not very diverse. Both cowboys and settlers were predominantly white. So were the lawmen who tried to impose some kind of order. The only people of color were the ‘troublemakers’ – the native Americans fighting for their land or Mexicans causing mischief from over the border.

A truer representation would have seen at least a scattering of Black cowboys. They made up to 25% of those working the cattle.

Starting as enslaved people, the African American cowboys developed cattle tending skills on ranches. After the Emancipation Proclamation they became paid cowhands. Indeed, one of the most famous cowboys was Nat Love, a former slave from Tennessee who became famed across the land for his extraordinary rodeo skills.

It was not uncommon to see Mexican or Native American cowboys (pictured) either. The Mexican vaqueros were the original cowboys, bringing their centuries-old skills across the border. Native Americans found a use for their unmatched horsemanship after being dispossessed from their lands.

In American popular culture, the expansion west is portrayed as an existential battle between Cowboys and Indians, each fighting for dominance over the rich new lands. Brave settlers inevitably got caught in the middle, their ranches besieged and burned, a rain of deadly arrows falling upon them.

The truth, however, is somewhere in between. Many settlers relied on the largesse and local knowledge of Native Americans to survive, going back to the time of the Pilgrims.

Indeed, there were entire regions of the West where Native American tribes lived side by side in relative harmony. Most settlers weren’t looking for a fight. And the Native Americans were happy to trade fur and other items for the imported goods they brought with them (pictured).

The bloodiest conflicts were usually between the Native American tribes and government forces. And mainly because the white man (the government) talked with a forked tongue, making blatant land grabs and reneging on treaties.

Hollywood would have you believe that every cowboy in the Wild West wore a Stetson, just like Gregory Peck here in the 1969 movie, Mackenna’s Gold. With a brim perfect for tipping at a passing lady or a fellow gunslinger, this iconic hat has become an instantly recognizable icon of America’s mythical West.

Buying a genuine Stetson and having it steamed and shaped for the perfect fit sits high on many people’s bucket list. But the truth of the matter is that very few cowboys in the 1800s wore one.

For one thing, the Stetson brand wasn’t founded until 1865. And even after that, many ranchers and cowboys preferred cheap military surplus hats or even Mexican sombreros, which provided excellent protection from the sun.

Bowler hats were also surprisingly popular. Their snug fit and low center of gravity meant they stayed on when galloping at speed, while still looking stylish and acceptable when you visited a town or settlement. See Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch, looking very debonair here in 1901.

Love this? Be sure to follow our Facebook page for more tales from history and travel inspiration

Hollywood Westerns would have you believe that cowboys were always out on the range, driving cattle through rivers or gazing across epic landscapes, contemplating life on the plains, or perhaps thinking of their sweetheart back in town.

While that may have been true when they were on an annual cattle drive, herding cattle towards one of the main railheads where the cattle would be shipped off to market, such runs only took between three to five months at a time.

The rest of the year, cowboys found themselves back on the ranch, feeding the livestock, repairing buildings and fences, and occasionally moving cattle from one pasture to another.

The highlight of the year was when it was time to rope cattle to be branded and earmarked, as seen in this photo taken on a ranch in South Dakota in the late 19th century. Otherwise, they were simply counting down the days until they could go into town for a little rabble rousing.

Hollywood movies, TV series, and dime store novels would have you believe that most people living in the Wild West died terrible violent deaths. If an outlaw didn’t get you, then a rampaging Indigenous tribe would. And God forbid if you offended someone and had to take part in a deadly duel.

The truth of the matter, however, is that disease was the biggest killer in the Wild West. And by some distance. In the West, on the silver screen at least, dying by the gun was inevitable. Some time, somewhere, there was a bullet with your name on it.

Both on the trail and in settlements, poor sanitary conditions saw diseases like dysentery, smallpox, consumption (tuberculosis), and influenza spread like wildfire.

The most deadly was cholera. Epidemics were common and could wipe out 50 to 60% of the population of a wagon train or small settlement. Patients were given camphor and laudanum, but they were little more than pain killers.

The expansion westward grew rapidly with the discovery of gold in California in 1848. Telegraph wires hummed with tales of great fortunes to be made, and when President James Polk confirmed the 'accounts of abundance of gold' in December that same year, the trickle of people heading west turned into a stampede.

Contrary to the bucolic scene portrayed here, finding gold wasn’t as easy – or as lucrative – as the newspapers of the day led prospectors to believe.

Although an estimated $2 billion in gold was extracted, very few miners ever held a chunky gold nugget aloft and cried ‘Eureka!' As this photo taken of prospectors on the American River near Sacramento in 1852 shows, conditions were crowded and chaotic, and the chances of finding gold slim.

Very few miners ended up with anything to show for their labors. With a bag of flour fetching $13 (nearly $365 in today’s money), it was only the shopkeepers who were striking it rich.

Explore more vintage images from gold rushes around the world

In most Westerns, you’ll never see a cowboy without his trusty firearm. Either a rifle to pick off rampaging Indians or a pistol, in its hip holster, waiting to be drawn very quickly when the inevitable duel on Main Street takes place (pictured).

In truth, carrying a firearm in the Wild West, particularly within city limits, was strictly against the law. The few cowboys that did carry guns were expected to check them into the local sheriff's office as soon as they arrived.

There wasn’t much need for a firearm for most cowboys anyway. Their primary job was to herd cattle, either between pastures on a ranch or across the plains to a railway head where the cattle would be shipped to the east.

For most cowboys, it was their lariat, rather than a six-shooter, that was their best friend. This length of long light rope hung on a saddle horn, ready to be used to lasso or tether cattle. It was the most useful and often only tool in their arsenal.

Conventional Hollywood wisdom holds that everyone in the West rode a horse. Whether you were rounding up cattle, chasing a fleeing outlaw or simply loping along a ridge at sunset, horsepower was the best and only option.

But with a decent steed costing between $150 and $200 – and a saddle at least another $60 – owning a horse was beyond most people’s reach.

Those who lived in settlements and towns simply walked. Settlers who lived out of town relied on wagons and carts, usually pulled by mules or donkeys which were cheaper and hardier.

Stagecoaches were used for longer distances. Then trains when the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 (pictured). Cowboys may have still needed to ride horses to round up cattle, but everyone else was riding off into the sunset on the new-fangled ‘iron horse.’

The noble cowboy, rugged and beholden to no one, has been a cornerstone of America’s foundation myth ever since the first Western flickered on the silver screen in 1903. Indeed, world-renowned economist, Eric Hobsbawm, has argued that this image of the lone wolf frontiersman has been instrumental in creating America’s individualism that plays out across the country’s politics and the economy.

The reality, however, is that they weren’t nearly as lonesome or honorable or John Wayne-like as we have been led to believe.

The fact of the matter is that being a cowboy was a difficult and dangerous job that many took on because they didn’t have any option. The money wasn’t great either, and what little was earned was spent down at the saloon on the few occasions a cowboy got to town.

Nor did they get much alone time. Cowboys operated in groups (pictured), all as unwashed and unkempt as each other. The truth is, real life cowboys quite literally stank.

Now explore more evocative vintage images of America's cowboys