8 Biggest Lies Your Favorite Westerns Tell You & Why They Are Wrong

8. Tumbleweeds Weren’t Roaming the West

One of the most popular shots in Western movies is that of a tumbleweed roaming across the barren landscape. That would often symbolize the waiting part of a movie or be a premise to a stand-off (more on them later)... But in reality, tumbleweeds weren’t even there for the most part! The era of Wild Wild West mostly took place before those plants’ seeds were imported into the modern US’ territory.

7. There Were No ‘Gunslingers’ in the West

When someone says “Western,” your mind immediately pictures cool and weirdly noble gunslingers, doesn’t it? Sorry to disappoint you, but those guys didn’t exist. The word itself was born in Hollywood, and the real-life “shootists,” as they were called in the West, weren’t like you imagine them. They didn’t wait for their opponents to draw, didn’t have an honor code, and totally weren’t clean-shaven.

6. Mexicans Weren’t Outlaws in the West

No matter which Western movie you pick, you’ll find the same old stereotype in it: if there are bandits and outlaws around, they are almost exclusively Mexican. An exception is only rarely made for the outlaw leader, who can also be white from time to time, but the rest are all from down south. The truth is, tens of thousands of Mexicans were farmers and gold diggers, just like their European counterparts.

5. Small Western Towns Weren’t Death Traps

Upon watching a Western movie, you’re unlikely to want to live in one of its typical towns. Those are so dangerous, after all: there’s at least one shootout every couple of hours, and people are dying from bullets and diseases left and right! Funnily enough, the situation was pretty much the other way around in real life. Western towns were surprisingly safe, averaging less than one violent death per year.

4. Native Americans Weren’t Brutal Savages

This trope especially feels at home in the earlier Westerns that exclusively portrayed colonists as heroes and Native Americans as mindless or, less often, helpful savages. While most movies pick a side in wars they showcase, this trope has long outlived itself: Native American tribes were plentiful and different, with their own cultures and customs, and they preferred trading with settlers to attacking them.

3. Western Towns Weren’t Gun-Free Zones

Everyone and their grandma has a gun on them at all times in the Wild West, right? Wrong. As we already know, Western towns were far from the death traps we know them for today; largely, because people were explicitly not allowed to carry guns in their borders. Everyone had quite a few barrels, but residents were required to leave them at home, and newcomers had to leave them at the Sheriff’s to avoid trouble.

2. Western Women Knew More Than One Trade

There are two types of women in your average Western: either a shy farmer’s daughter or a “saloon girl.” Indeed, saloons were popular in the Wild West, but they were far from the only places women worked. Thousands of women were doctors, storekeepers, farmers, and whatnot; historically speaking, in the West, women had far more rights than in other parts of the country, so they worked many professions.

1. Stand-Offs Almost Never Happened in the West

This one is a real heart-breaker, but bear with us for a second. People in the West did not indulge in stand-offs at dawn — at least, the vast majority of them. Only two (!) such duels were documented in American history, so they were virtually non-existent, and it’s easy to see why: with no open carry permissions and no classic movie gunslingers, most people were too busy to try and kill each other.