Did Cowboys Carry Pistols?

The question bothers me. It reminds me of a "study" done several years ago that showed that guns were not very common in colonial and frontier America. The media loved it and reported the findings with glee. I still run across people from time to time who cite that study when advocating for gun control.
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If it you makes you feel any better this is not a study showing that gun ownership was rare or anything like that.

I'd say even if the movies got it completely wrong gun ownership was much more common and widespread during the frontier era on the frontier than it is today throughout the US. I do think that long gun ownership was more the norm with nearly everyone who could afford one owning at least one. I imagine pistol ownership and carry rates being many times higher than it is today but nowhere near universal.

The perception problem I have is that I don't think that "everyone" was armed at all times as is often portrayed in the movies.
 
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Like others, I have been reading and largely amused by a number of the responses.
* From written histories of the frontier, we know that guns were common and usually kept not too far from what you were doing. You didn't often need one, but when you did you needed it right away.

* On cattle drives, guns were often kept in the chuck wagon, since it would be moving with the cowboys and was never too far away to ride to in case of need. The primary reason the guns were stored in the chuck wagon was to keep them from getting lost by the riders. Yes, people lost stuff back then.

* Gun control has been around a long time. Wild Bill Hickock banned carrying guns in his towns, and enforced the rule. From the fact that there was a rule, we can assume it was not uncommon to carry guns into town.

* Everyday carrying of guns was common until WW2. It was just something gentlemen did. Lots of pocket revolvers and pocket pistols around from that period. I remember my uncles carrying pocket pistols, not because they were bad men, but because they might run into bad men in their lines of work. Every night, they would empty out their pockets and put the change in a tray and the pistol on the dresser.

* Working as a gunsmith in Reno, NV in the 1980s, we often had real cowboys or sheepherders bring in their guns. The guns were always kinda rough, but the buckaroos/sheepherders had them and needed them on the range. And yes, they usually stored them in the chuck wagon (which by then was often a Chevy Suburban).

* Hollywood has never been in the reality business. They sell perceptions and excitement. Currently, they sell the perception that gun owners are either a bunch of irresponsible yahoos, or that they are a bunch of criminals. Quit supporting that.
 
My wife's grandpa was builder in Taylor, Texas from about 1905 until the Korean War era. He traveled all around Williamson, Milam, & Travis Counties putting up homes in towns, barns, churches, farm houses, ranch houses, whatever. He carried this Remington Model 51 .380 from the early 1920s until he retired, and prior to that he carried a .45 Colt. I got the Remington and one of his grandsons got the Colt.

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Here's the problem. The study used a seriously flawed premise and has been completely discredited. The authors of the study looked at probate inventories and saw very few guns listed. From that, they concluded that there simply weren't many guns in civilian hands. It only took a few minutes for a competent researcher to show that other items known to have been in common use, like horses, also didn't show up.
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It was actually worse than just a poorly formed study. Some of the probates the author of that study claimed to have use could not be verified to even exist. He lost both the prestigious Bancroft prize for history and his teaching position at Emory when the extent of the "problems" became apparent.

http://www.guncite.com/gun-control-more-bellesiles.html
 
Gotta' think guns, especially hand guns, were probably used more for putting down damaged and suffering animals than 'most anything else.
 
A few years ago, I visited my brother in law who is a working cowboy in Idaho. He carries a TT33 and one of his friends had a CZ 52. Not very traditional choices, but the tradition of carrying continues in some places.
 
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I seem to have upset some folks by comparing a "cowboy" to a "burger flipper". The jobs required different skill sets, but were about on the same skill and social level, though we tend to romanticize the one and somewhat down rate the other. Did some "cowboys" become doctors, veterinarians, or attain other prestigious jobs? Of course, but they were the exception, not the rule.

The western stories have given us a picture of a "cowboy" as an open, honest person, walking tall and shooting straight, a handsome, noble, son of the prairie, defending honest folks and women against "injuns" and "outlaws." And they always wore clean clothes, took a shower every day and used deodorant. Sure.

Jim
 
I read that a fellow named Nelson Story was the first person to drive a herd of cattle from Texas to Montana in 1866. It was customary to pay the Indians in Oklahoma 10 cents a head to cross their territory. But when they got a lot further North, they had to fight Indians. Having lost only one man in these troubles, they must have been well armed. There weren't a lot of repeating rifles to be had at that time, but it's possible they could have had a Henry or Spencer rifle or so in their group. Also, it was the first year of production for the 1866 Winchester, so it's possible, though unlikely they could have had some of those. But the most likely repeaters that would have been far more readily available at that time, would have been cap-and-ball revolvers.
 
I need to amend my previous post. Tonight, I consulted the archives and clarified the details of my ancestral history in Utah, and found that I was mistaken.

I was combining the history of a father (great^3 grandfather) and son (great^2 grandfather), as well as being completely wrong about the revolvers.

The 'final' model of revolver carried by the son was a Colt Walker. ...But, remember (as quoted below), he carried two of them.

He carried the revolvers everywhere until at least 1910, and everywhere he could manage until his death in 1929 (at age 72).

Preface: I have not read the previous four pages - only the OP and first few replies.

My great, great grandfather was instrumental in settling Central Utah (circa 1847+ -- native and non-Mormon 'Gold-Rusher' deaths as they be ).
He carried DUAL revolvers, eventually upgrading to nickel-plated SAAs ("Peacemakers"), to defend himself, his followers, and the food stores that they had on hand. (He was in a "position of power" in his religious organization of choice.)
His holster rig and revolvers, being seen as specific, influential instruments of settling Utah were actually on display in the rotunda of the state capital for many years. And the cabin that he built, to initially settle the area that was supposed to be the first state capital, is now a historic landmark.

Take a bath with them? Doubtful.
Take a bath with them nearby? Very likely.
Have them on his hip any time he was "out and about" or on his horse? You bet your butt on it!
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Unfortunate discovery?...
Those Walkers were probably involved in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. :rolleyes:
 
And then, there is that very ancient class distinction that has existed in virtually every society, civilized or barbarian, that comes so naturally that no one had to teach it to the late-neolithic Plains Indians at the very moment the opportunity arose: The Equestrian Class versus the Pedestrian Class. The remnants are still seen today in the bumper-sticker that reads, "If you ain't a cowboy, you ain't ****.". The very fact of owning and riding a horse makes one automatically superior to the mere pedestrian-to-be-regarded-as-a-lesser-being. Of course, this is a proud and haughty attitude in the mind of the equestrian and the collective mind of a horse-society; a cavalier-attitude. Even the Bible is full of the symbolism of the Horse; but that's another subject..... But becoming an accomplished rider carries with it a certain pride and satisfaction in that accomplishment that is very compelling. I don't think I've met any rider that is completely immune to it. So even the humblest of cowboys generally have a certain amount of self respect that affects their life and livelyhood. A good cowboy cares about his horse, whether he own it or not, it's his horse. He cares about his gear, that is, his saddle and other tack, his boots and spurs and lariat; his hat, bandanna, and all other clothing are more important than anybody else's closets full of garments because he lives and works outside. Nothing needs to be fancy, but it all must be serviceable, useful on a regular basis, and be good to go at all times. If he needs a gun, he doesn't tolerate a piece of junk. A 2nd-hand bargain at a pawnshop might fit his budget better than new, but it has to be reliable. Yes, cowboys are proud whether they recognize it or not, but they have also won the respect and admiration of a great many others who either cannot, or will not, be cowboys, for whatever reason. Also, the cowboy's job is a dangerous job, as well. For instance, I've heard that some fellows had lost a thumb that inadvertently found its way between lariat and saddle-horn when the steer hit the end of the lariat. Never heard of a burger-flipper losing a thumb to a flip gone bad.;)
 
The western stories have given us a picture of a "cowboy" as an open, honest person, walking tall and shooting straight, a handsome, noble, son of the prairie, defending honest folks and women against "injuns" and "outlaws." And they always wore clean clothes, took a shower every day and used deodorant. Sure.
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But that's how we learn about history - through movies ;)
 
"These aren't staged portrait studio photos, they are of cowboys in the field or on the ranch."

As I noted before, due to the limitations of the technology at the time, virtually all "working" shots of cowboys were posed prior to the development of higher speed roll films.

Cowboys "working" with horses or cattle on a range setting, such a breaking horses or branding cattle, would be foolish to wear a gun. Getting a rope caught behind or around the holster would be a good way to get jerked free from the saddle and dragged and badly hurt or killed.

Riding the range, different story.

But the myth of the "Knight of the American West" always being armed with a pair of highly engraved Colt single actions is exactly that, a myth.
 
I read that a fellow named Nelson Story was the first person to drive a herd of cattle from Texas to Montana in 1866.
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Mr. Story armed his hands with then-new Remington Rolling Blocks.
The Indians were reportedly disagreeably surprised by breechloaders when even the Army was not fully equipped with Trapdoors.
 
Thank you, Jim, for filling in that detail. Did your source make any mention of revolvers? I was reading some of Rooseveldt's writings of his ranching days in the 1880's, in which he gives a description of the cowboys he worked with. Apparently, they virtually all carried a large caliber revolver.
 
Grizz12 said:
Except for snakes, cougars, coyotes, wolves, black bears, grizzly bears, two legged predators and any food animal when they get hungry.



They're paid to move and protect the herd, not just watch them.
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Ranch vs cowboy

One is moving and one isn't really. I'm sure that a gun was around both. One just may not have had it right on him or his horse.


Sent from my grapefruit using smoke signals.
 
Ranch vs cowboy

One is moving and one isn't really.
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Ya think?

"Cowboys" worked cattle on fenced ranches and on the open range. The stock had to be rounded up and moved and treated on both.

Trail drives, in their day, added another dimension.
 
I know Elmer Keith made a strong distinction between cowboys who dealt with cattle from calving to market and "cowpunchers" which was then the term for the laborers who loaded cattle onto cattle cars and kept them on their feet for the trip to the slaughterhouse.
 
I can't verify it but I've heard Charlie Goodnight would fire you for drinking, swearing, playing cards, fighting or carrying a gun.
 
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