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> per my recollection, cowboys played both sides of the law Cowboys were animal herders, not police officers. You're probably thinking of the romanticized "Lo
by duskwuff 3y ago
> per my recollection, cowboys played both sides of the law
Cowboys were animal herders, not police officers.
You're probably thinking of the romanticized "Lone Ranger" image of the cowboy as seen in Western movies. This is almost entirely fictitious.
- nradov 3y agoNot entirely fictitious. Cowboys and ranch hands at times also worked as mercenaries or deputized law enforcers in 19th-century organized conflicts not unlike the urban gang wars we occasionally see today. The best known example is probably the Lincoln County War, which involved 15 murders and probably a few hundred participants at various levels.
- retrocryptid 3y agoSan Francisco, that we'll known expanse of American western wilderness is completely without infrastructure, which is why we routinely have battles between native americans and settlers on the Haight. And why there are routine gunfights between ranchers and farmers in North Beach.
- retrocryptid 3y agoReality is less popular than romanticized ideals, and always has been. Sir Humphrey Appleby famously quipped "All government funding is symbolic." And to paraphrase: "Funds aren't distributed to government programs based on need, utility or expected benefits, but on what politicians think will convince the electorate they're spending government funds appropriately."