Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
I have a couple more myths about the Old West that I'd like to talk about. This one today isn't as obvious as some but it's a very common story line in Western movies, especially the older ones and is just plain interesting to know about anyway.
Banks got robbed all the time
The movies and TV shows would have you believe that the West was so dang lawless that banks were being robbed all the time, how many scenes of bank robberies have you seen in Westerns?
But the truth is, banks were almost never robbed, mostly because
they were in the very center of town right next to the Sheriff's office and surrounded by people.
OR, they were at the back of a hardware or general store until the town got big enough to support a separate building.
15 between 1859 and 1900
In fact, there were only a few robbed for the first 30 years or so until a couple of gangs like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid started robbing them in 1870's. But even then, Butch and Sundance's gang mostly robbed stage coaches and trains.
Why weren't banks robbed more often? Good question and I don't know the answer but because they weren't it was ridiculously easy for the gangs because there was no security.
Shoot, the vault door with all the cash was always open right behind the teller so all they had to do was hand the teller a bag and tell them to fill it and they were gone in 90 seconds! lol.
Here's an interesting photo of the real Butch and Sundance:
Look at these fine gentlemen. I wish I looked that good in a suit.
Heck I wished I looked that good period! Notice their non-cowboy hat hats. Sundance Kid is the front left end and Butch is on the right front end.
I mean these guys could just walk into a bank and get a loan and they could disappear, they didn't have to resort to violence, any banker would give a loan to these guys, look at 'em! The other men in that photo are the rest of their gang.
By the way, I'm thinking about doing a series on Butch and Sundance and their gang but I've hesitated because everyone already knows the ending of their story. It IS an interesting story though, they were very smart and considered to be a class act.
If anyone wants to hear their story, even if you already know the ending, drop me a comment. Of course, I WILL be pointing out some myths created by Hollywood in the famous 1969 movie starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman and most of the time the truth ain't very romantic!
The good news: your money was pretty safe in the Old West.
The bad news: if your bank was robbed you lost everything because there was no insurance like the FDIC back then.
Progress on that tree I'm cutting down just using a short hand saw and an axe because I wanted to do the job like the pioneers would. I had to take a day off because my wimpy steemit hands got blisters though.
Next I start on these big limbs which should be interesting because I've never used an axe on overhead wood before.
Oh, and look who Jack scared up from a bunch of tall grass at the edge of the pond, he flew over to the center of the water:
That guy's huge, he stands at least 4 feet tall.
Thanks for reading guys, God bless you all!
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck
PS- ya know...you might just be a redneck if:
Your ma has "ammo" on her Christmas list!
(sounds like a smart lady to me!)