Response to Anna's message ( I hope you do respond)
September 4 2002, 8:31 AM
I wish I really understood what you meant by that, Anna. If you mean what I think you mean, sometimes I do feel like I was born at the wrong place at the wrong time, but you know what they say, "There no time like the one we live in."
When global warming is tearing our planet apart and genetically altered fish are being dumped into our streams.
It would be beautifull to be living on a the biggest ranch in Medicine Bow without any this things to worry about, one of my dreams. Well anyway it's been nice talking to you.
I meant that sometimes I wish that I lived in a place like Medicine Bow or Virginia City. And of course it would be in the 1870-90s or something. I love those dresses that women wore, and cowboy hats are also great. I even bought one.
Well I'm not much into dresses because I'm not a woman, but I think the clothing they wear is great, I love the hats, the boots, and the vests. Say where abouts do you live anyway? No wait, don't answer that.
Well anyway I read (www.medicinebow.com) that back west they have some day in the year when everybody dresses in clothing from that time period.
I love the western time perod 1870-1890, because of the peace ( no global warming and so on, your're probably gettig tired of my nature activist speeches ), the exploration of the west and because of the sence that no matter which direction you went in there was peace of land for you an opportunity to start something.
I suppose you´re in the States so I guess I can tell you that I live in Finland. I don´t know if it´s only the environmental matters that make me want to live in the 19th century. I just think it´s so great that everybody rode a horse or travelled by wagon and wore those wonderful clothes. There were cattle ranches and cowboys (!) and all that stuff, you know. I don´t know, somehow it appeals to me. But surely the life wasn´t like they show it in The Virginian or in Bonanza. I believe it was much crueler and harder. Still I wish I had experienced it. Maybe some day I´ll travel to Nevada or Wyoming or Utah or some state in that area and have some kind of idea what the life was like in that period.
To tell you the truth I'm not in the States. I've never touched a horse but I've always wanted to ride one. I get the feeling that if I was sorrounded by horses I still wouldn't find the time to ride one.
But what interests me in that time period there was so much space to explore, something to discover, to claim ranches to build. There you got opportunity and had to fight to keep it and today you have to fight to get oppotunity and keep it.
If I had the choice I'd most likely choose to live in that time period.
If I did live in that time period I'd be a cowboy or a ranch owner.
I wouldn't exactly call this the "wrong time" but I do understand the feeling of being drawn to and familiar with another time and place and culture for no apparent reason. I don't know why I always wanted to play the Indian when everyone else at school recess wanted to play the cowboy. Even though it was explained to me many times that the Indians lost, I was far more "comfortable" with that role. And I have no idea why I could build a really good "lean-to" shelter on the beach at the age of 7 with no help, no pictures, no past experience or concept of what was needed. I just did it like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like exploring the woods, hunting, and making things from raw materials. It all made sense at an age when it should have been new and difficult. I can't explain it as being the early influence of TV - there wasn't any available, just radio. And we lived far enough away from town that I had to play alone mostly so I couldn't have learned from imitating others. All I can say is that I dearly miss those days of pure freedom and that it never bothered me to be all alone.
I think that the Western movies seem to portray a time when "men were really men, and women were really women'! I also love seeing the clothing etc and the great location shots of open country, cattle, horses and other animals. Was the American West at that time really so violent? Did everyone really wear a gun belt?
Were there so many gunfights? (These make the most exciting parts in a Western movie, of course!)
Regards Angela
Your questions about the "real west" are thoughts that I think a lot of people wonder about. There are a lot of good books written about what it was really like - diaries written from wagon trains where daily progress was sometimes measured, not in miles, but by the number of graves they passed each day. I think the violence was real enough (gunfights and range wars) but there were also long spells of miserable loneliness,isolation, and boredom. When something exciting happened it probably seemed doubly exciting. It must have been terrible for women who faced childbirth alone or with very little help. And even a small injury could mean death from infection. When I think about what the pioneers went through I feel like a real wimp living in the modern age. Two interesting books I have read about the real west are: 'Pioneer Women' by Joanna L. Stratton and 'Captured by the Indians' edited by Frederick Drimmer. For all of their hopes and dreams and faith in "Providence" I really admire those people who settled the west.
Hi there Sue and Dale,
Sue, Thanks for your informative reply, I will try and look up those books sometime as I love reading, and especially about the past and history. Thank you.
Dale, I think that life was proberly much harder during those times than is portrayed in T.V. movies. In 'Bonanza' Hoss and Little Joe always seemed to have so much spare time on their hands! In an episode of 'the Virginian' a few weeks back, the episode was entitled 'The Drifter' A ranch owner's daughter was sitting reading a book during the middle of the day. I wonder if there would have been much time for women to read in those days. Incidently I enjoyed that episode, did you see it?
Nice to hear from you. Regards, Angela.
Angela. I saw The Drifter also. What a great episode. Mariette Hartley and James Drury were good together and so sad when she was shot. I liked seeing how The Virginian came to Medicine Bow and how he became foreman and the interaction between Lee J. Cobb and
The Virginian was great. Kate
I was looking at the old city cemetary today in our downtown area at the site of an old Fort. There was one family headstone from the 1860's that I think had five children listed and none made it past the age of ten. I think that would be the most heartbreaking thing for a parent to go through. Its nice to have fantasies about what it would have been like to live in the old west but we shouldn't forget that life was much harder then TV westerns portray as they are supposed to be entertaining and not a constant downer. Kate
Kate,
That cemetery you visited sounds like it has some sad stories to tell. I remember visiting “Boot Hill” in Virginia City, Nevada. It was interesting to read the headstones because there were so many, many buried there that began their lives in other countries - mostly Europe. They must have been immigrants that worked in the silver mines and had held their own dreams of sudden wealth. It all ended on boot hill; most of them died at a fairly young age. I’ll bet there isn’t a fictional story in the world that can compare with their real stories!
I share your thoughts about Westerns, Angela. I also love the stunning outdoor scenery, the horses, the romantic clothes and the lifestyle. Maybe life was harder then than it is portrayed though. Dale.
I agree that life in the West was probably much harder than it is portrayed in the Tv shows, Angela. Yes, I remember seeing The Drifter and I agree that ranchers' daughters (and sons) probably didn't have a lot of tome to read! I guess we have to remember that the West of the Tv shows was glamourised and "Hollywoodised"! Best wishes, Dale.
Life is not always portrayed to be easy in westerns,
in the episode One Springlike Long Ago there was a woman who lost her family, she buried them on the hillside next to her house, in the episode Fox, Hound and the Widow McCloud the widow McCloud lost her family.
Morgan Starr lost his family, Jennifer's lost her parents, Trampas lost most of his family to scarlet fever.
The girl in the episode Ryker lost her father when he was shot from a hill the same happend to the girl in the episode The Drifter. Clay and Holly lost their twins in Texas. Elizabeth and Stacey Grainger lost there parents in an indian attack. Charles Grainger ( Clay's relative ) died in a mining accident. Men were hung and almost hung for no reason, The Virginian in The Gaunlet, Trampas in The Substitute, Stacey in a Requiem For A Country Doctor, Randy was also almost hung, I can't remember which episode and Garrison was almost hung in The Stranger.And those were only a few examples. Life wasn't easy. Life isn't easy. Are men any different now than they were then?
Thank you for all your thoughts on the hardships of Western life as seen in Tv shows, Jim. There are certainly many examples of this, as you mention. Life was obviously difficult then, although there would have been some benefits of living in those times. Lack of pollution and lack of noise, to name two! Dale.
Well Dale I agree with you no pollution would be great, everytime I turn the TV I always have to hear about global warming. Less noise would also be great.
Oh yeah, those aren't all my thoughts on the hardships of western life as seen on TV. Jim.
Yes it would be great to live in a world with no intrusive media or egotistic celebrities spouting
vacuous words and celebrating immoral values. No high paid sports people or supermodels.
Our world has gone off track and has become dominated by self serving people who manipulate the media to fit their own agendas.
Thank you for pointing out that the TV westerns DO show a lot of the difficulties that were faced in the old west. I enjoy watching the old western TV shows mostly because that time and place brought out the worst and the best in people at a time of great adventure and possibilities. The chance for poor people to own land, or see a brand new, unspoiled country, or to discover gold - it must have been so exciting. (One of the reasons I liked living in Alaska was the possibility of seeing places no human had ever seen before) I also like the characters, such as the Virginian, for the integrity and quiet courage that they portrayed - something that seems so sadly lacking in today’s TV stories. What isn’t shown is things like the boredom - stuff that doesn’t make good entertainment.
I guess life is always a trade-off whether you live in the old wild west or in the here and now. Mankind has traded some old forms of disease and death for new ones, and we don’t hear enough about simple human virtues until some disaster makes them news-worthy. I would rather watch the old TV westerns than 99% of the newer, shallow TV offerings.
I agree that personal integrity means little in today's society where the desire for wealth and sex are the dominant desires. These are reflected in the TV shows that seem to be obsessed with sex and money.
The TV Western may have offered a sugar coated view of life in the West (Bonanza for example) but the morality was on a different level to today's fare where frequent casual sex is seen as desirable and a selfish approach to life is seen as a must. Not forgetting gratuitous violence (often on a comic strip level) that just numbs the senses as it doesn't further the plot but is just inserted to boost ratings.
I always wanted to live in Alaska. I hear it's a real nice place, especially in the spring. You have most likely seen a lot of westerns, which series are worth watching in your opinion. I have seen a few but none that intrested me besides The Virginian. Jim.
Oh yeah, one more thing, Sue if your intrested in more than just TV-westerns, the time and culture for instance, there is a site you might have visited but if you haven't found it yet it is www.lonehand.com. It has songs, recipes, history and so on. It belongs to a guy with a degree in this stuff ( old west ). Jim
I looked at the "lonehand" website. It's got some interesting stuff, especially the old newspaper articles. In the music part I found one of my dad's favorite record albums, 'Cool Water' by the Sons of the Pioneers. Wow, that brings back memories of my dad sitting and singing about a dying thirst for "cool water" while outside the rain was beating down on our soggy Alaskan town. Very confusing for me! But I've learned to love the same music.