Were there ever real Cowboys?
Hi there. Cowboys were real, young men who drove the cattle with next to no sleep through appalling conditions for a pittance. As the previous guy said, most cowboys were black, mexican or mixed race. The shoot-outs and saloon brawls are real too – when the cowboys hit town and received their pay after months on the trail, they would party in a major way and tempers would flare – remember they were all armed! There were plenty of prostitutes, gamblers, con-men and other shady types waiting for the cowboys to get in too, which added to the mix. Most of the characters in westerns are not cowboys, but just dwellers in the west – a different thing. Cheers, Steve.
