Geronimo is known to be one of the most famous and most dignified Native Americans of the American west. He struck fear into the heart of his enemies, while he boosted the morale of his Apache allies. There are countless stories that romanticize Geronimo giving him a supernatural appearance. But, the problem that lies amongst […]
Posts under ‘Mythbusters’
Mythbuster: Sacagawea
Sacagawea was the only Indian woman on the Lewis and Clark expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery. Sacagawea was mainly an interpreter and helped as a guide to find food. She also helped Lewis and Clark in the purchasing of horses from her home village. Sacagawea was kidnapped from her Shoshone tribe by […]
Mythbuster: The Donner Party
Just about everyone who has studied American History has heard of the Donner party, generally seen as a nightmarish footnote in pioneer history. The lurid and scandalous details publicized at the time and shortly after, however inaccurate they may have been, still echo in the popular imagination and are stated as facts today [1]. But […]
Mythbuster: John Dillinger
Many believe that John Dillinger was a type of “Robin Hood†thief, or a romantic outlaw. Many people devastated by the depression praised Dillinger as someone who “robbed those who became rich for robbing the poor” (FBI). He helped many poor people escape unrealistic payments by burning their mortgage papers and even became known as […]
Mythbuster: American West Duels; Movie Fiction or Historical Fact or Both?
A common theme in Western Movies is the duel. Usually, two men, a bad guy and a hero who is trying to exact revenge, stand in the middle of a dirt road running through the center of the town. The bad guy on one end, the hero on the other. At noon, once the clock […]
Mythbuster: Lewis and Clark
It is no myth that Lewis and Clark traveled from the eastern coast of North America to the west in order to fulfill Thomas Jefferson’s long awaited curiosity of the North American western land (2). It was already well known to the Euro-Americans that there were Natives in the west as well as an entire […]
Mythbuster: Buffalo Bill Cody: Hunter or Celebrity?
If you, like myself, thought that what made Buffalo Bill Cody famous was the buffalo, you may have been deceived. In researching this project I expected to find articles expressing how great a hunter Buffalo Bill was and how many buffalo he slaughtered, but instead I found an abundance of information on “Buffalo Bill’s Wild […]
Mythbuster: Does Pouring Alcohol on a Cut Really Help?
Alcohol will clean the wound. Both drinking alcohol (ethyl alcohol) and rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) are disinfectants, meaning they kill the bacteria that may be in the wound. “The disinfectant properties have to do with the alcohol’s pH. However this will not do anything to stop the bleeding, as the alcohol does nothing to initiate […]
Mythbuster: Cowboys v. Indians
When I think about the West the first thing that comes to mind are the Westerns. Movies made about cowboys and Indians. When you watch one of those movies you get the idea in your head that Indians and Cowboys spent their days battling throughout the Great Plains of the West. This was totally proven […]
Mythbuster: The Myth of the World’s Most Celebrated Dentist
John Henry “Doc†Holiday was an American dentist that has made his place in the history books. He did not do it through new dental techniques or outstanding service; he did it through gunfights, through blood, and through legend. As well as his life being well documented through history books, Doc has been the highlight […]
