The Wild West you picture (red buttes, a lone hero, a squinting gunslinger in a poncho) was mostly made up for the cameras.
Connor Tomlinson, a lifelong Western fan, finds out how much of what he loves was staged. Carter Roy walks us through three fakes that built the Wild West:
The landscape. In 1938, a broke trading-post owner drove to Hollywood with $60 and a folder of photos. Because of that trip, one valley on the Navajo Nation stood in for Texas, Kansas, Tombstone and the whole frontier for decades.
The legend. High Noon is the most celebrated Western ever made, and it was secretly about the Hollywood blacklist. Its writer was blacklisted while he wrote it. John Wayne called it “un-American,” and it went on to become a favorite of presidents.
The cowboy himself. The movie that invented the modern cowboy had an Italian director, a Spanish desert, German money, a Japanese story, and a TV actor nobody else wanted, all sold under fake American names.
Which fake did the most to build the West in your head?
New episodes every Wednesday. Head over to our What the Fact YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@WhatTheFactPod
If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow What the Fact to never miss an episode! What the Fact is a Rewind Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios.
Follow us on Social
What the Fact is hosted by Connor Tomlinson & Carter Roy