We’ve all seen the version of cowboys that Hollywood likes to show us, but the Western film genre has always been rife with myths. In reality, cowboys were rarely the dashing gunslingers of legend; instead, they were poorly paid laborers engaged in difficult and dirty work, whether it was helping out with the daily chores on someone else’s ranch or embarking upon grueling, monthslong cattle drives.  From the 1860s to the 1890s, these great cattle drives helped define the American West. And for the cowhands hired to drive tens of thousands of cattle across hundreds ...Read More