90-453: The Cowboys is a 1972 American Western film starring John Wayne , Roscoe Lee Browne , and Bruce Dern , and featuring Colleen Dewhurst and Slim Pickens . It was the feature film debut of Robert Carradine . Based on the 1971 novel of the same name by William Dale Jennings , the screenplay was written by Irving Ravetch , Harriet Frank Jr. , and Jennings and was directed by Mark Rydell . In 1878, when his ranch hands abandon him to join
180-676: A genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States , particularly the Southwestern United States , as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada . The frontier
270-449: A gold rush , aging rancher Wil Andersen must find replacement drovers for his 400-mile (640 km) cattle drive . He rides into deserted Bozeman, Montana , where his friend Anse Peterson suggests hiring local schoolboys. Andersen visits the school, but departs, skeptical that such immature boys could handle the job. The next morning, the boys show up at Andersen's ranch to volunteer for the drive. Andersen tests their ability to stay on
360-561: A "mythic vision of the plains and deserts of the American West". Specific settings include ranches, small frontier towns, saloons, railways, wilderness, and isolated military forts of the Wild West. Many Westerns use a stock plot of depicting a crime, then showing the pursuit of the wrongdoer, ending in revenge and retribution, which is often dispensed through a shootout or quick draw duel. The Western genre sometimes portrays
450-415: A boy named Homer hang back to handle the repairs. Seeing this, Watts and his gang come out of hiding and openly parallel the herd. Andersen sends another boy named Weedy to tell Nightlinger to rejoin the herd as soon as possible and tells the remaining boys to act like boys rather than the men they are becoming when the rustlers approach that evening. Dan tells Andersen he knew Watts had been following them but
540-403: A bucking horse, and as they take turns, Cimarron, a boy slightly older than the others, rides up. He subdues the test horse but gets into a fight with Slim, the next-oldest boy. With no other options, Andersen hires all of the boys, though he sends Cimarron away after he pulls a knife on Slim during another fight. Andersen locks the boys' guns in a box that will be kept on the chuck wagon during
630-417: A competition with Minnesela over the railroad which now goes through Belle Fourche, Bullock's town went on to win the county seat in the election of 1894. Still, cowboys rode into Minnesela and stole the county books. Belle Fourche today serves a large trade area of ranches and farms. The wool, cattle, and bentonite industries have been important to the growth of Belle Fourche. The city serves as gateway to
720-417: A foot entangled in a rope. Dan cuts the reins so the horse can get up and Cimarron spooks it, sending Watts to be dragged to death. Once the boys complete the drive to Belle Fourche, South Dakota , and sell the cattle, they have a stonemason carve a gravestone with Andersen's name and the inscription "Beloved Husband and Father", a reference to the paternal role Andersen came to hold in their lives. They place
810-447: A horse and is armed with a revolver or rifle . The male characters typically wear broad-brimmed and high-crowned Stetson hats, neckerchief bandannas , vests , and cowboy boots with spurs . While many wear conventional shirts and trousers, alternatives include buckskins and dusters . Women are generally cast in secondary roles as love interests for the male lead; or in supporting roles as saloon girls, prostitutes or as
900-422: A leg before shooting him twice in the torso. The boys remain passive as instructed, and the rustlers steal the herd. In the morning, Nightlinger and Homer rejoin the group and find the boys tending to Andersen, who is near death. Andersen instructs Nightlinger to take the boys home and in his final moments tells the boys how proud he is of them. Following Andersen's burial, the boys overpower Nightlinger and seize
990-508: A male householder with no wife present, and 37.1% were non-families. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.96. The median age in the city was 36.1 years. 26.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.6% were from 25 to 44; 25.6% were from 45 to 64; and 15.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of
SECTION 10
#17328017158431080-413: A mean of 4.5 °F or −15.3 °C and the coldest temperature on record −44 °F (−42.2 °C) on December 22, 1989 – following which a chinook drove temperatures up to 49 °F or 9.4 °C the following afternoon, or an increase of 93 °F (51.7 °C) in less than 48 hours. Spring warms up in fits and starts, with the first maximum of 70 °F or 21.1 °C expected on March 24, and
1170-481: A number of occasions, famous examples being Support Your Local Sheriff! , Cat Ballou , Mel Brooks 's Blazing Saddles , and Rustler's Rhapsody . George Lucas 's Star Wars films use many elements of a Western, and Lucas has said he intended for Star Wars to revitalize cinematic mythology, a part the Western once held. The Jedi , who take their name from Jidaigeki , are modeled after samurai, showing
1260-617: A paternal figure, [Wayne] said the movie was based on a formula that worked in Goodbye Mr. Chips and Sands of Iwo Jima . In all three films, an adult takes a group of youngsters and initiates them into manhood by instructing them the "right" skills and values. Wayne did not hesitate to appear in The Cowboys , despite the fact that "no actor in his right mind, would try to match the antics of eleven kids on screen," but for him it became "the greatest experience of my life." The film won
1350-452: A popular art form. Western films commonly feature protagonists such as cowboys, gunslingers, and bounty hunters, who are often depicted as seminomadic wanderers who wear Stetson hats, bandannas , spurs, and buckskins , use revolvers or rifles as everyday tools of survival and as a means to settle disputes using frontier justice. Protagonists ride between dusty towns and cattle ranches on their trusty steeds. The first films that belong to
1440-451: A river and Cimarron saves him, Andersen lets Cimarron join the drive. Slowly, the boys become good cowhands, impressing Andersen and Nightlinger. One day Dan, a boy who wears glasses, is chasing a stray horse when he stumbles upon Watts and his gang of cattle rustlers. Watts, who reveals he has been trailing the herd, releases Dan but threatens to slit the boy's throat if he says anything to Andersen. Because of Watts' threats, Dan returns to
1530-591: A score of 52/100 based on reviews from seven critics. The film received praise for its musical score, the original plot, and John Wayne's performance, but several critics debated the film's implication that boys become men or confirm their manhood through acts of violence and vengeance; Jay Cocks of TIME and Pauline Kael of The New Yorker were especially critical of this aspect of the film. Writing about The Cowboys , film historian Emanuel Levy noted that Wayne frequently appeared in father-like roles throughout his career: Aware of his repetitive screen roles as
1620-570: A setting, where it tasked players to lead a party of settlers moving westward in a covered wagon from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon. The game only grew popular in the 1980s and 1990s as an educational game. The first video game Westerns to engage the mass public arrived in arcade games focused on the gunfighter in Westerns based on depictions in television shows, films and Electro-mechanical games such as Dale Six Shooter (1950), and Sega 's Gun Fight (1970). The first of these games
1710-688: A sheriff in fictional Absaroka County, Wyoming . Originally aired on the A&;E network from 2012 to 2014, it was picked up by Netflix in 2015 until the show's conclusion in 2017. AMC and Vince Gilligan's critically acclaimed Breaking Bad is a much more modern take on the Western genre. Set in New Mexico from 2008 through 2013, it follows Walter White ( Bryan Cranston ), a chemistry teacher diagnosed with Stage III Lung Cancer who cooks and sells crystal meth to provide money for his family after he dies, while slowly growing further and further into
1800-591: A stage barn and a saloon. Knowing the cattle barons and the railroad would need a place to load cattle onto freight cars for shipment to packing plants in the Midwest, Seth Bullock effectively founded the city of Belle Fourche. After serving in the Montana legislature in 1871–1873 (and being instrumental in the establishment of a National Park at Yellowstone ), he had come to the Black Hills to sell supplies to
1890-548: Is a city in and the county seat of Butte County , South Dakota , United States. Its population was 5,617 at the 2020 census . It is near the geographic center of the United States , which moved some 550 miles (885 km) northwest from the geographic center of the contiguous United States in Lebanon, Kansas with the admission of Alaska and Hawaii in the mid-20th century. Belle Fourche, French for "beautiful fork",
SECTION 20
#17328017158431980-589: Is a genre of literature set in the American Old West, most commonly between 1860 and 1900. The first critically recognized Western was The Virginian (1902) by Owen Wister . Other well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey , from the early 1900s, Ernest Haycox , Luke Short , and Louis L'Amour , from the mid 20th century. Many writers better known in other genres, such as Leigh Brackett , Elmore Leonard , and Larry McMurtry , have also written Western novels. The genre's popularity peaked in
2070-512: Is a series of seven books that meshes themes of Westerns, high fantasy , science fiction, and horror. The protagonist Roland Deschain is a gunslinger whose image and personality are largely inspired by the Man with No Name from Sergio Leone's films. In addition, the superhero fantasy genre has been described as having been derived from the cowboy hero, only powered up to omnipotence in a primarily urban setting. The Western genre has been parodied on
2160-443: Is a war film, but its action and characters are Western-like. The character played by Humphrey Bogart in noir films such as Casablanca and To Have and Have Not —an individual bound only by his own private code of honor—has a lot in common with the classic Western hero. In turn, the Western has also explored noir elements, as with films such as Colorado Territory and Pursued . In many of Robert A. Heinlein 's books,
2250-606: Is depicted in Western media as a sparsely populated hostile region patrolled by cowboys , outlaws , sheriffs , and numerous other stock gunslinger characters. Western narratives often concern the gradual attempts to tame the crime-ridden American West using wider themes of justice , freedom, rugged individualism, manifest destiny , and the national history and identity of the United States . Native American populations were often portrayed as averse foes or savages . Originating in vaquero heritage and Western fiction ,
2340-629: Is generally more settled than the spring, although heavy rains can occur in this period, as when 7.62 inches (193.5 mm) fell in August 1923. Extremely hot and dry spells sometimes occur in the summer: the hottest month of July 2012 averaged 81.3 °F (27.4 °C) and July 1936 had a mean maximum of 98.7 °F (37.1 °C); in contrast, the summer of 1993 got no hotter than 92 °F or 33.3 °C. The wettest calendar year in Belle Fourche has been 1946 with 25.41 inches (645.4 mm) and
2430-413: Is maintained predominantly through relatively impersonal institutions such as courtrooms . The popular perception of the Western is a story that centers on the life of a seminomadic wanderer, usually a cowboy or a gunfighter. A showdown or duel at high noon featuring two or more gunfighters is a stereotypical scene in the popular conception of Westerns. In some ways, such protagonists may be considered
2520-603: Is the center of the nation because the admission of Alaska and Hawaii to the United States moved the location of the official center of the nation. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous U.S. states is Lebanon, Kansas . Belle Fourche has a climate lying on the boundary between humid continental (Köppen Dfb / Dfa ) and cool semi-arid ( BSk ). It is characterized, like most of South Dakota, by summers with mild mornings giving way to very warm to hot and occasionally sweltering afternoons, and chilly, though extremely variable, winters. When cold arctic air masses move south from
2610-757: Is the place to go for music (raucous piano playing), women (often prostitutes ), gambling (draw poker or five-card stud), drinking ( beer , whiskey , or tequila if set in Mexico), brawling, and shooting. In some Westerns, where civilization has arrived, the town has a church, a general store, a bank, and a school; in others, where frontier rules still hold sway, it is, as Sergio Leone said, "where life has no value". Author and screenwriter Frank Gruber identified seven basic plots for Westerns: Gruber said that good writers used dialogue and plot development to develop these basic plots into believable stories. The American Film Institute defines Western films as those "set in
2700-412: Is usually punctuated with a Western music score , including American folk music and Spanish / Mexican folk music such as country , Native American music , New Mexico music , and rancheras . Westerns often stress the harshness of the wilderness and frequently set the action in an arid , desolate landscape of deserts and mountains . Often, the vast landscape plays an important role, presenting
2790-1342: The Atari 2600 and Gun Fight (1978) for the Bally Astrocade were derivative of Midway's Gun Fight . These early video games featured limited graphical capabilities , which had developers create Westerns to the most easily recognizable and popular tropes of the gunfighter shootouts. Western radio dramas were very popular from the 1930s to the 1960s. There were five types of Western radio dramas during this period: anthology programs, such as Empire Builders and Frontier Fighters ; juvenile adventure programs such as Red Ryder and Hopalong Cassidy ; legend and lore like Red Goose Indian Tales and Cowboy Tom's Round-Up ; adult Westerns like Fort Laramie and Frontier Gentleman ; and soap operas such as Cactus Kate . Some popular shows include The Lone Ranger (first broadcast in 1933), The Cisco Kid (first broadcast in 1942), Dr. Sixgun (first broadcast in 1954), Have Gun–Will Travel (first broadcast in 1958), and Gunsmoke (first broadcast in 1952). Many shows were done live, while others were transcribed. Westerns have been showcased in short-episodic web series. Examples include League of STEAM , Red Bird , and Arkansas Traveler . Within
The Cowboys - Misplaced Pages Continue
2880-579: The Bronze Wrangler Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture at the Western Heritage Awards . In 1974, Warner Bros. developed The Cowboys as a television series for ABC starring Jim Davis , Diana Douglas , and Moses Gunn . David Dortort , best known for Bonanza , The High Chaparral , and The Restless Gun , produced the series. A Martinez , Robert Carradine , Sean Kelly, and Clay O'Brien were all in both
2970-537: The Grand Canyon , Yosemite , and the giant redwoods , due in part to exhibitors' inability to switch over to widescreen during the Great Depression . After renewed commercial successes in the late 1930s, the popularity of Westerns continued to rise until its peak in the 1950s, when the number of Western films produced outnumbered all other genres combined. The period from 1940 to 1960 has been called
3060-457: The space opera series Firefly used an explicitly Western theme for its portrayal of frontier worlds. Anime shows such as Cowboy Bebop , Trigun and Outlaw Star have been similar mixes of science-fiction and Western elements. The science fiction Western can be seen as a subgenre of either Westerns or science fiction. Elements of Western films can be found also in some films belonging essentially to other genres. For example, Kelly's Heroes
3150-419: The "Golden Age of the Western". It is epitomized by the work of several prominent directors including Robert Aldrich , Budd Boetticher , Delmer Daves , John Ford , and others. Some of the popular films during this era include Apache (1954), Broken Arrow (1950), and My Darling Clementine (1946). The changing popularity of the Western genre has influenced worldwide pop culture over time. During
3240-432: The 1960s and 1970s, Spaghetti Westerns from Italy became popular worldwide; this was due to the success of Sergio Leone 's storytelling method. After having been previously pronounced dead, a resurgence of Westerns occurred during the 1990s with films such as Dances with Wolves (1990), Unforgiven (1992), and Geronimo (1993), as Westerns once again increased in popularity. When television became popular in
3330-416: The 1960s, due in part to the shuttering of many pulp magazines, the popularity of televised Westerns , and the rise of the spy novel. Readership began to drop off in the mid- to late 1970s and reached a new low in the 2000s. Most bookstores, outside of a few Western states, now only carry a small number of Western novels and short-story collections. Literary forms that share similar themes include stories of
3420-458: The 1970s. These games and drew on the imagery of a mythic West portrayed in stories, films, television shows, and other assorted Western-themed toys. When game developers went to the imaginary West to create new experiences, they often drew consciously or unconsciously from Western stories and films. The 1971 text-based, Mainframe computer game The Oregon Trail was first game to use the West as
3510-582: The American West that [embody] the spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier ". Originally, these films were called "Wild West dramas", a reference to Wild West shows like Buffalo Bill Cody's . The term "Western", used to describe a narrative film genre, appears to have originated with a July 1912 article in Motion Picture World magazine. Most of the characteristics of Western films were part of 19th-century popular Western fiction , and were firmly in place before film became
3600-570: The American frontier, the gaucho literature of Argentina , and tales of the settlement of the Australian Outback. A number of visual artists focused their work on representations of the American Old West. American West-oriented art is sometimes referred to as "Western Art" by Americans. This relatively new category of art includes paintings, sculptures, and sometimes Native American crafts. Initially, subjects included exploration of
3690-586: The Deadwood miners. He arrived there August 2, 1876, the day Wild Bill Hickok was murdered. During the next 14 years, Bullock acquired land as homesteaders along the Belle Fourche River "proved up" and sold out. When the railroad came to the Hills and refused to pay the prices demanded by the nearby township of Minnesela , he was ready. He offered the railroad free right-of-way and offered to build
The Cowboys - Misplaced Pages Continue
3780-672: The Eastern Bloc, or action films involving the Russian Revolution , the Russian Civil War , and the Basmachi rebellion. Many elements of space-travel series and films borrow extensively from the conventions of the Western genre. This is particularly the case in the space Western subgenre of science fiction. Peter Hyams 's Outland transferred the plot of High Noon to Io, moon of Jupiter. More recently,
3870-524: The Prairie , McCloud , The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams , and the short-lived but highly acclaimed How the West Was Won that originated from a miniseries with the same name. In the 1990s and 2000s, hour-long Westerns and slickly packaged made-for-TV movie Westerns were introduced, such as Lonesome Dove (1989) and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman . Also, new elements were once again added to
3960-419: The Western formula, such as the space Western , Firefly , created by Joss Whedon in 2002. Deadwood was a critically acclaimed Western series that aired on HBO from 2004 through 2006. Hell on Wheels , a fictionalized story of the construction of the first transcontinental railroad , aired on AMC for five seasons between 2011 and 2016. Longmire is a Western series that centered on Walt Longmire ,
4050-881: The Western genre are a series of short single reel silents made in 1894 by Edison Studios at their Black Maria studio in West Orange, New Jersey . These featured veterans of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show exhibiting skills acquired by living in the Old West – they included Annie Oakley (shooting) and members of the Sioux (dancing). The earliest known Western narrative film is the British short Kidnapping by Indians , made by Mitchell and Kenyon in Blackburn , England, in 1899. The Great Train Robbery (1903, based on
4140-705: The Western states and cowboy themes. Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell are two artists who captured the "Wild West" in paintings and sculpture. After the death of Remington Richard Lorenz became the preeminent artist painting in the Western genre. Some art museums, such as the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Wyoming and the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, feature American Western Art. With anime and manga ,
4230-478: The Wild West and modern technology like cars and cellphones, while also focusing primarily on being a Crime drama makes the show a unique spin on both genres. Walter's reliance on the desert environment makes the Western-feel a pivotal role in the show, and would continue to be used in the spinoff series Better Call Saul . The neo-Western drama Yellowstone was streamed from 2018-2024. Western fiction
4320-630: The Yukon unhindered by geographic obstacles, winter temperatures can fall below 0 °F or −17.8 °C for prolonged periods: in the extremely cold month of January 1950 all but six mornings fell below 0 °F (−17.8 °C). Contrariwise, when warm chinook winds descend from the Rocky Mountains and the Black Hills , winter temperatures can become extremely warm given the latitude and far inland location. On average, twenty afternoons in
4410-405: The average family size was 3.04. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.2% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.5 males. As of 2000 the median income for a household in
4500-418: The biggest hits of the year. Released through United Artists, Stagecoach made John Wayne a mainstream screen star in the wake of a decade of headlining B Westerns. Wayne had been introduced to the screen 10 years earlier as the leading man in director Raoul Walsh 's spectacular widescreen The Big Trail , which failed at the box office in spite of being shot on location across the American West, including
4590-545: The city was 48.9% male and 51.1% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 4,565 people, 1,854 households, and 1,186 families living in the city. The population density was 1,446.9 inhabitants per square mile (558.7/km ). There were 2,122 housing units at an average density of 672.6 per square mile (259.7/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 95.03% White , 0.15% African American , 1.91% Native American , 0.33% Asian , 1.27% from other races , and 1.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.70% of
SECTION 50
#17328017158434680-443: The city was 93.6% White , 0.2% African American , 2.1% Native American , 0.3% Asian , 0.1% Pacific Islander , 1.3% from other races , and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.1% of the population. There were 2,322 households, of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.0% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.0% had
4770-618: The classic comics of the late 1940s and early 1950s (namely Kid Colt, Outlaw , Rawhide Kid , and Red Ryder ) or more modern ones as Blueberry ), cartoons, and parodies (such as Cocco Bill and Lucky Luke ). In the 1990s and 2000s, Western comics leaned towards the fantasy , horror and science fiction genres, usually involving supernatural monsters, or Christian iconography as in Preacher . More traditional Western comics are found throughout this period, though (e.g., Jonah Hex and Loveless ). Video game Westerns emerged in
4860-752: The conquest of the wilderness and the subordination of nature in the name of civilization or the confiscation of the territorial rights of the original, Native American, inhabitants of the frontier. The Western depicts a society organized around codes of honor and personal, direct or private justice–"frontier justice"–dispensed by gunfights. These honor codes are often played out through depictions of feuds or individuals seeking personal revenge or retribution against someone who has wronged them (e.g., True Grit has revenge and retribution as its main themes). This Western depiction of personal justice contrasts sharply with justice systems organized around rationalistic, abstract law that exist in cities, in which social order
4950-428: The culture, such as spaghetti Westerns (Italy), meat pie Westerns (Australia), ramen Westerns (Asia), and masala Westerns (India). Being period drama pieces, both the Western and samurai genre influenced each other in style and themes throughout the years. The Magnificent Seven was a remake of Akira Kurosawa 's film Seven Samurai , and A Fistful of Dollars was a remake of Kurosawa's Yojimbo , which itself
5040-489: The driest 1931 with 7.77 inches (197.4 mm), and 1931 also saw Belle Fourche reach its record high of 112 °F (44.4 °C) on July 27. Fall cooling is rapid: the first freeze can be expected on September 22, the first measurable snowfall on October 25 and the first zero temperature on November 28. Snowfall is moderate throughout the winter and spring: the annual mean is 53.9 inches or 1.37 meters. The snowiest month has been October 2013 with 34.2 inches (0.87 m) and
5130-421: The drive, and they practice roping , branding , and herding cattle and horses. While they prepare, a group of mysterious men led by Asa Watts shows up asking for work, but Andersen catches Watts in a lie and refuses to hire them. The arrival of Jebediah Nightlinger, a black cook, completes Andersen's crew. On the trail, Andersen notices Cimarron following the herd. When Slim slips off his horse while crossing
5220-407: The earlier British film A Daring Daylight Burglary ), Edwin S. Porter 's film starring Broncho Billy Anderson , is often erroneously cited as the first Western, though George N. Fenin and William K. Everson point out (as mentioned above) that the "Edison company had played with Western material for several years prior to The Great Train Robbery ". Nonetheless, they concur that Porter's film "set
5310-463: The early 1960s, and their replacement by hour-long television shows, increasingly in color. Traditional Westerns died out in the late 1960s as a result of network changes in demographic targeting along with pressure from parental television groups. Future entries in the genre would incorporate elements from other genera, such as crime drama and mystery whodunit elements. Western shows from the 1970s included Hec Ramsey , Kung Fu , Little House on
5400-400: The film and the television series, though only Martinez and Carradine played the same character in each project. At the last moment, ABC decided to reduce the show's runtime from one hour to thirty minutes, which, given the show's large cast, made it difficult to tell stories effectively. Only 13 episodes were filmed before the series was cancelled. Western (genre) The Western is
5490-412: The firearms stored in the chuck wagon, planning to avenge Andersen's death. When they catch up to the rustlers, Nightlinger offers to help them make a plan. The boys silently kill three of the outlaws and then use Nightlinger to draw Watts and the rest of his gang into an ambush. Riding in among a stampede of horses, the boys kill all of the rustlers except Watts, whom they find pinned beneath his horse with
SECTION 60
#17328017158435580-446: The first of 80 °F or 26.7 °C expected on April 17; however, the last frost is not expected to have passed until May 10. Owing to frequent thunderstorms, the spring season is the wettest part of the year, and the wettest months since records began in 1908 has been May 1982 with 10.70 inches or 271.8 millimeters of precipitation, and the highest daily precipitation has been 4.25 inches or 108.0 millimeters on May 20, 1982. The summer
5670-475: The genre popularized the Western lifestyle , country - Western music , and Western wear globally. Throughout the history of the genre, it has seen popular revivals and been incorporated into various subgenres. The classic Western is a morality drama , presenting the conflict between wilderness and civilization . Stories commonly center on the life of a male drifter , cowboy , or gunslinger who rides
5760-426: The genre tends towards the science-fiction Western – e.g., Cowboy Bebop (1998 anime), Trigun (1995–2007 manga), and Outlaw Star (1996–1999 manga). Although contemporary Westerns also appear, such as Koya no Shonen Isamu , a 1971 shonen manga about a boy with a Japanese father and a Native American mother, or El Cazador de la Bruja , a 2007 anime television series set in modern-day Mexico. Part 7 of
5850-411: The group terrified and refuses to keep watch by himself. Another boy, Charlie Schwartz, agrees to accompany him. When Dan drops his glasses into the ravine where the cattle are resting, Charlie succeeds in retrieving them but is trampled by the herd. The boys hold a funeral for him before continuing on their journey. Soon after, the chuck wagon throws a wheel. While the others continue on, Nightlinger and
5940-464: The harshness and isolation of the wilderness, and frequently set the action in an arid, desolate landscape. Western films generally have specific settings, such as isolated ranches, Native American villages, or small frontier towns with a saloon. Oftentimes, these settings appear deserted and without much structure. Apart from the wilderness, the saloon usually emphasizes that this is the Wild West ; it
6030-466: The heroes of Westerns frequently rescue damsels in distress . Similarly, the wandering protagonists of Westerns share many characteristics with the ronin in modern Japanese culture. The Western typically takes these elements and uses them to tell simple morality tales, although some notable examples (e.g. the later Westerns of John Ford or Clint Eastwood 's Unforgiven , about an old contract killer ) are more morally ambiguous. Westerns often stress
6120-401: The illicit drug market, eventually turning into a ruthless drug dealer and killer. While the show has scenes in a populated suburban neighborhood and nearby Albuquerque , much of the show takes place in the desert, where Walter often takes his RV car out into the open desert to cook his meth, and most action sequences occur in the desert, similar to old-fashioned Western movies. The clash between
6210-748: The influence of Kurosawa. The character Han Solo dressed like an archetypal gunslinger, and the Mos Eisley cantina is much like an Old West saloon. Meanwhile, films such as The Big Lebowski , which plucked actor Sam Elliott out of the Old West and into a Los Angeles bowling alley, and Midnight Cowboy , about a Southern-boy-turned-gigolo in New York (who disappoints a client when he does not measure up to Gary Cooper), transplanted Western themes into modern settings for both purposes of parody and homage. Belle Fourche, South Dakota Belle Fourche ( / b ɛ l ˈ f uː ʃ / ; bel- FOOSH )
6300-406: The larger scope of the Western genre, there are several recognized subgenres. Some subgenres, such as spaghetti Westerns , maintain standard Western settings and plots, while others take the Western theme and archetypes into different supergenres, such as neo-Westerns or space Westerns . For a time, Westerns made in countries other than the United States were often labeled by foods associated with
6390-788: The late 1940s and 1950s, Television Westerns quickly became an audience favorite. Beginning with rebroadcasts of existing films, a number of movie cowboys had their own TV shows. As demand for the Western increased, new stories and stars were introduced. A number of long-running TV Westerns became classics in their own right, such as: The Lone Ranger (1949–1957), Death Valley Days (1952–1970), The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–1961), Cheyenne (1955–1962), Gunsmoke (1955–1975), Maverick (1957–1962), Have Gun – Will Travel (1957–1963), Wagon Train (1957–1965), The Rifleman (1958–1963), Rawhide (1959–1966), Bonanza (1959–1973), The Virginian (1962–1971), and The Big Valley (1965–1969). The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
6480-485: The literary descendants of the knights-errant , who stood at the center of earlier extensive genres such as the Arthurian romances . Like the cowboy or gunfighter of the Western, the knight-errant of the earlier European tales and poetry was wandering from place to place on his horse, fighting villains of various kinds, and bound to no fixed social structures, but only to his own innate code of honor. Like knights-errant,
6570-461: The major Hollywood studios rapidly abandoned Westerns, leaving the genre to smaller studios and producers. These smaller organizations churned out countless low-budget features and serials in the 1930s. An exception was The Big Trail, a 1930 American pre-Code Western early widescreen film shot on location across the American West starring 23-year-old John Wayne in his first leading role and directed by Raoul Walsh. The epic film noted for its authenticity
6660-683: The manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is based in the American Western setting. The story follows racers in a transcontinental horse race, the "Steel Ball Run". Golden Kamuy (2014–2022) shifts its setting to the fallout of the Russo-Japanese War , specifically focusing on Hokkaido and Sakhalin , and featuring the Ainu people and other local tribes instead of Native Americans, as well other recognizable Western tropes. Western comics have included serious entries, (such as
6750-672: The marker in the approximate location of his grave and head for home, accompanied by Nightlinger. Robert Carradine made his feature film debut in the film, as did fellow child actor Stephen Hudis . The production was filmed at various locations in New Mexico and Colorado, as well as at Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank, California . The Cowboys has earned somewhat mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes , it has an approval rating of 80% based on reviews from 15 critics, with an average score of 7.00/10, while, on Metacritic , it has
6840-521: The miners and their animals. At the time, the open plains for hundred of miles in all directions were also being filled with huge herds of Texas and Kansas cattle. Towns sprang up to serve the ever-changing needs of the farmers and ranchers. In 1884, the Marquis de Mores , a French nobleman and contemporary of Theodore Roosevelt , established a stagecoach line between Medora, North Dakota and Deadwood, South Dakota . The Belle Fourche way station included
6930-491: The most snowfall in one day 24.0 inches (0.61 m) during that month’s early cold snap on the 5th. The snowiest season has been from July 1970 to June 1971 with 84.5 inches (2.15 m). As of the census of 2010, there were 5,594 people, 2,322 households, and 1,461 families living in the city. The population density was 655.8 inhabitants per square mile (253.2/km ). There were 2,511 housing units at an average density of 294.4 per square mile (113.7/km ). The racial makeup of
7020-571: The northern Black Hills. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 8.60 square miles (22.27 km ), of which 8.53 square miles (22.09 km ) is land and 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ) is water. In 1959, the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey officially designated a point 20 miles (32 km) north of Belle Fourche as the geographic center of the United States . It
7110-432: The pattern—of crime, pursuit, and retribution—for the Western film as a genre". The film's popularity opened the door for Anderson to become the screen's first Western star; he made several hundred Western film shorts. So popular was the genre that he soon faced competition from Tom Mix and William S. Hart . Western films were enormously popular in the silent film era (1894–1927). With the advent of sound in 1927–1928,
7200-407: The population. There were 1,854 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and
7290-637: The settlement of other planets is depicted in ways explicitly modeled on American settlement of the West. For example, in his Tunnel in the Sky , settlers set out to the planet New Canaan, via an interstellar teleporter portal across the galaxy, in Conestoga wagons , their captain sporting mustaches and a little goatee and riding a Palomino horse—with Heinlein explaining that the colonists would need to survive on their own for some years, so horses are more practical than machines. Stephen King 's The Dark Tower
7380-485: The terminal if the railroad placed it on his land, near the present Belle Fourche Livestock Exchange. In 1890, the first trainload of cattle headed east. By 1895, Belle Fourche was shipping 2,500 carloads of cattle per month in the peak season, making it the world's largest livestock-shipping point. This was the start of the agriculture center of the Tri-State area for which Belle Fourche would become known. After winning
7470-480: The three winter months top 50 °F or 10 °C but in the record warm February 1954 23 of 28 afternoons topped that maximum and 70 °F (21.1 °C) was reached on the 8th. The extreme warming effect of the chinook winds can be seen in 74 °F or 23.3 °C – the hottest winter temperature recorded in the city – being reached on December 18, 1979 only two days after the minimum had been −27 °F or −32.8 °C. The coldest month has been January 1937 with
7560-486: The wives of pioneers and settlers . The wife character often provides a measure of comic relief . Other recurring characters include Native Americans of various tribes described as Indians or Red Indians, African Americans , Chinese Americans , Spaniards , Mexicans , law enforcement officers , bounty hunters , outlaws , bartenders , merchants , gamblers , soldiers (especially mounted cavalry ), and settlers ( farmers , ranchers , and townsfolk). The ambience
7650-439: Was Midway 's Gun Fight , an adaptation of Taito 's Western Gun (1975) which featured two players against each other in a duel set on a sparse desert landscape with a few cacti and a moving covered wagon to hide behind. Atari 's Outlaw (1976) followed which explicitly framed the shootouts between "good guys" and "outlaws" also borrowing from gunfighter themes and imagery. Early console games such as Outlaw (1978) for
7740-635: Was a financial failure due to Depression era theatres not willing to invest in widescreen technology. By the late 1930s, the Western film was widely regarded as a pulp genre in Hollywood, but its popularity was dramatically revived in 1939 by major studio productions such as Dodge City starring Errol Flynn , Jesse James with Tyrone Power , Union Pacific with Joel McCrea , Destry Rides Again featuring James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich , and especially John Ford's landmark Western adventure Stagecoach starring John Wayne , which became one of
7830-470: Was inspired by Red Harvest , an American detective novel by Dashiell Hammett . Kurosawa was influenced by American Westerns and was a fan of the genre, most especially John Ford . Despite the Cold War , the Western was a strong influence on Eastern Bloc cinema, which had its own take on the genre, the so-called Red Western or Ostern. Generally, these took two forms: either straight Westerns shot in
7920-458: Was named by French explorers from New France , referring to the confluence of what is now known as the Belle Fourche and Redwater Rivers and the Hay Creek. Beaver trappers worked these rivers until the mid-19th century, and Belle Fourche became a well known fur-trading rendezvous point. During and after the gold rush of 1876 , farmers and ranchers settled in the fertile valleys, growing food for
8010-420: Was scared to tell, and Andersen comforts him. After dark, Watts and his gang surround Andersen and the boys in their camp. They deliver a battered Weedy, and Watts forces Andersen to surrender his gun and taunts Dan. Andersen intervenes when Watts crushes Dan's glasses, and a fistfight ensues between Andersen and Watts, with Andersen coming out on top. He starts to walk away, but Watts shoots him in both arms and
8100-515: Was the first Western television series written for adults, premiering four days before Gunsmoke on September 6, 1955. The peak year for television Westerns was 1959, with 26 such shows airing during primetime. At least six of them were connected in some extent to Wyatt Earp : The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp , Bat Masterson , Tombstone Territory , Broken Arrow , Johnny Ringo , and Gunsmoke . Increasing costs of American television production weeded out most action half-hour series in
#842157