How many of you remember the couple in this picture? Some of you may not know them but growing up they were televised as Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Sadly, a museum dedicated to Roy in Branson, Missouri, was closed years ago because of lack of interest and the fact that not too many people remembered him. They were popular at a time when black and white was the only color on TV.

Roy and Dale depicted the West in elaborate outfits and beautifully maintained horses named Trigger and Buttermilk. Occasionally, their dog, Bullet, would accompany them rounding up the bad guys. There was a lot of fist fighting and gun shooting, but no blood and gore like today’s westerns and definitely no offensive language. They were married in real life and adopted quite a few children. They were also a God-fearing couple.

Perhaps their show was a little too idealistic but was wholesome enough for the whole family to watch. If TV shows were classified back then, it would have received a G or PG.

There are some good depictions of western life like Lonesome Dove, Dances with Wolves, and a few John Wayne movies. However, it seems we have tried to depict the West in modern movies and shows as quite harsh. Shouldn’t there be a middle ground?

I do agree that those who headed West and carved out a new life for themselves, especially those who lost so much after the Civil War had it tough. Women might have owned two dresses and one set of undergarments. Men more than likely had two shirts. Not the glamour we would have seen in the old TV shows. The cook had to use a sifter for flour carried on the wagon trains to separate bugs from the wheat. That would make my kitchen seem wild.

Gun toting? Public opinion is full of controversy about guns today. In the old West, a firearm was a necessity—a shotgun or rifle for hunting, or protection against someone nefarious threatening your family or home. Since the “wide open spaces” were far from civilization and any type of law, pioneers set themselves up as their own defenders. Did the guns generate wildness or did the wildness generate a weapon?

Because there was no law established to protect the individual out West, a person felt it necessary to carry a firearm. However, not everyone had common sense or the right morals to substantiate how it was used. Many gunslingers or sharpshooters were hired as town sheriffs when the law finally reached the West. Example: the Earp brothers.

According to Merriam-Webster, wild is defined as (noun) a sparsely inhabited or uncultivated region or tract: wilderness; a wild free, or natural state of existence. (adverb) in a wild manner: such as (a) without regulation or control//plants that grow wild, (b) off an intended or expected course.

We need to be careful how we interpret what we see on TV and in the movies. Grab a good historical book and read letters from those corresponding with family back East during the building of the frontier before 1890. Perhaps some of the pioneers clung to this scripture: “They found rich, good pasture, and the land was spacious, peaceful, and quiet…” 1 Chr 4 (NIV)

Not all the West was wild because otherwise you wouldn’t see license plates (in Colorado) where it designates “Pioneer.” Those families made it through wild times to build generations to today.

Give yourself a historical tour this summer. Vacation where history dwells. Ghost towns, museums, river steamboats, mining towns, and many other places to fill your understanding of history.  Maybe you’ll find a little “wild” out there.