12 crazy things people believe about the Old West
- Tumbleweed Taming: Pioneers used to have tumbleweed taming competitions, where they’d “break” wild tumbleweeds and train them to follow commands like dogs. The most famous tumbleweed whisperer, Dusty Windrider, once made a tumbleweed sit and roll over!
- The Spaghetti Shootout: Ever wondered where spaghetti westerns got their name? Legend has it there was a big food fight in Tombstone over a pasta recipe, leading to the infamous “Spaghetti Shootout.”
- Horseless Cowboys: There were cowboys so poor they couldn’t afford horses. They would just walk around with a saddle on their back, waiting for a kind-hearted horse to pick them up.
- The Great Hat Shortage: For one strange year in the 1870s, there was an unexpected cowboy hat shortage. Cowboys had to improvise with colanders, pots, and even live raccoons.
- Goldfish Rush: Before the gold rush, there was the little-known goldfish rush. Miners flooded California looking to strike it rich in exotic fish trade. It didn’t last long, mainly because goldfish just aren’t that rare.
- The Rattlesnake Disco: Every full moon, rattlesnakes would come together for a moonlit dance. Cowboys would often try to join in, but they were never quite as graceful.
- High Noon Dueling App: Cowboys used to schedule their duels via a proto-app on wooden tablets. You’d slide a cactus needle to set the time and slap it on the other cowboy’s back.
- Ghost Lassos: Special lassos that only ghosts could see. Used by ghost cowboys to wrangle ghost cattle on the spectral plains.
- The Legend of Cactus Jack: A cowboy who was so tough, he drank cactus juice for breakfast, used thorns as toothpicks, and once arm-wrestled a bison.
- Saloon Slides: Instead of swinging doors, some saloons had slides like at a playground. Made dramatic entries a bit more… entertaining.
- Wanted Posters with Doodles: If the sheriff was feeling cheeky, they’d add funny doodles or captions to wanted posters. “Wanted: Dead or Alive… or Maybe Just for a Pie Eating Contest.”
- The Great Boot Mystery: There was a time when left boots kept disappearing all over the West. It remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries to this day.
