Unique to each and every culture, folk tales originate in and are passed on by word of mouth. Each culture has its own stories that are timeless and passed down to every generation. American folklore is filled with super-human beings with amazing strength and abilities. Pecos Bill is a prime example of one of these. His ranching abilities go far beyond any human ability. Lost by his parents at a young age, Pecos Bill was raised by a pack of coyotes who treated him like one of their own. When Bill reached adulthood, he left his coyote family and took up ranching and cattle herding as a profession. Most of Bill’s adventures him protecting his herd of prized cows out in the sandy desert. He rode a snarling mountain lion and a swirling cyclone to make sure they did not take his cows. Bill even used a lasso of rattle snakes to rope his whole herd at …show more content…
once when they began to stampede. Bill’s wife, Slue-Foot Sue, is draped in just as much folklore as Bill himself. Known for riding catfish and Bill’s wild horse, Widow Maker, she was an accomplished cowgirl herself. “Married life didn’t do much too tame Pecos Bill, though.” He continued to protect his herd like only he could. Bill and his wife grew old together and continued to live in the desert. It seems that even folktales have fairy tale endings. The exact origin of the Pecos Bill stories is unknown. Cowboys, like Bill, told stories around the campfire at night to pass time. Their tall tales might have evolved into the Pecos Bill stories that are popular today. The more likely origin probably came from a news room. Journalist may have had a hand in the spread of this folk tale. The stories of Bill were made popular by Edward O’Reilly’s article in The Century Magazine published in 1923, along with a few other authors. Little stock is put into the historical significance of these folk tale.
Pecos Bill was simply just a fiction character brought into existence by creative authors. Written long after the migration to the west, these stories could not have been “glamorizing” the west to make it seem like a desirable settling place. It would have been irrelevant at that time. Bill was brought into existence purely for the pleasure of reading stories of super strength and ability. O’Reilly even later admitted to inventing the character of Pecos Bill. These stories were put into circulation by a magazine, not passed on through history. Even though this story may not have originated in the Wild West centuries ago, that does not make them any less fun to read. Bill acts of strength and amazing cowboy abilities are purely unique to American folktales. Pecos Bill is one of many different super-human characters in American folklore. Paul Bunyan and John Henry, along with many others, all exhibit the same fantastic abilities in their stories. Whether from history or not, their stories are just as entertaining and fun to read as Pecos
Bill.
As they continue toward Mexico, Josey and the gang ride through a small town in Texas. They encounter Union soilders and bounty hunters as they pass through. Since Josey is a wanted man, it is likely that everywhere he goes trouble will follow. Leaving a trail of more dead men behind, Josey and the gang continue on in search of freedom from those pursuing them. Shortly after their encounter in Texas, Josey and the gang come across a group of Comancheros who have taken in their captivity a family from Kansas. Here Josey not only saves a Grandmother and her husband, but also his second damsel. This scene features Josey riding in on his horse, out numbered by the Commancheors, yet he still manages to kill them all with the quick draw of his pistols. Although Josey saves the day yet again, this creates more trouble for Josey because the Commancheros he killed had intended to trade the captives to the Comache Chief, known as Ten Bears, in exchange for horses. There is also the conflict of Josey trespassing on the land of the Comanches.
For as long as we have known them, myths or cultural stories have had many lively adventures and meaningful morals told throughout them. The story “How Coyote Came by his Powers” from Coyote Tales (1933) uses the devices of personification and irony to communicate the theme of humility.
Because of the outlaw hero’s definitive elements, society more so identifies with this myth. Ray said, “…the scarcity of mature heroes in American...
In this book, Robert M. Utley depicts the life of Sitting Bull a Hunkpapa Indian, from when he was born to his death in 1890. Utley shows both the personal life and political life that Sitting Bull endured throughout the years. Utley looks at Sitting Bull's life from both “...the white as well as the Indian perspective. From both, he emerges as an enduring legend and a historical icon, but above all as a truly great human being.” (xvi). To his tribe Sitting Bull was an extraordinary man who was brave and respected, but to many in the US government believed him to be a troublemaker and a coward. Utley works to prove how Sitting Bull was a man who became an American patriot.
Coyote is a character I found to be funny. I found his ignorance and interrupting behavior to create some extra humor to Green Grass, Running Water. I also wonder what Coyote’s identity is. I would also like to bring this up in discussion.
...nd a man of reserve against violence. Also as a man who will stand for the good of the community, protecting those who need protecting as the Vigilante of the western frontier. The Virginian was a true cowboy hero because he was a vigilante who followed his own moral code. The cowboy’s moral code was not dictated by the laws of society because he was an independent who was working to escape civilization. The Virginian was the first of the western heroes who gave the world someone to look unto as an example. He showed a very strong moral code which had a special responsibility to the protection and respect of women such as Molly. He also had a great many skills which gave him the realistic air that made the hero’s of the west so popular in the early 1900’s as the western frontier came to a close.
What kinds of ideas or beliefs make up the dominant American mythology according to Ray? What are the function of the outlaw hero and the official hero in this dominant mythology?
Henry Starr was a 17 year old Cherokee cowboy working a steady job at a ranch. One day, however he was framed for stealing two horses by a man that was in cahoots with a crooked sheriff. Henry’s uncle paid his bail, and Henry went back to work. A little while later, a rival cowboy hid whiskey in Henrys wagon, and Henry was stopped with a whiskey warrant, which was a way for crooked lawmen and lawyers to make money off of each other. Once again, Henry’s uncle bailed him out.
When one thinks of the United States of America, they probably consider our history, our culture, our media, our impressive cities and the extremely wide variety of beautiful wildernesses that we are lucky enough to still enjoy. We are lucky enough to have a melting pot of cultures in this country, and many different kinds of people. However, when thinking of an original, all-American figure, cowboys come to mind for many people. Our history and the settlement of the U.S. was unlike any other country, and the development of the country in the more western states came with the unique and fascinating time period referred to now as “The Old West”. The Old West was a crucial time in American history, and though it was a simpler time it also came with its share of excitement. Some of the most memorable details about the Old West were the characters that came with it, and some extremely interesting ones were the least conforming- the outlaws. Jesse Woodson James was one of the most notorious outlaws in American history. His name would go down in history as one belonging to a tough as nails and fearless bank robber who led a group of outlaws across the mid-west robbing banks and trains, and even murdering people. When we look at the big picture of what the U.S. has become today, The Old West certainly has had a large impact on our culture, and Jesse James certainly had a large impact on the Old West. Though most would argue that he was not a decent or moral person, one cannot argue that he was still a very interesting and unique icon of the west. So how did Jesse Woodson James change and leave his mark on the United St...
Romantic Author James’s Fennimore Cooper created characters in the tradition of independence and self-control. Apart of his “Leather Stockings” series, “The Last of The Mohicans,” uses the American frontier an aesthetic articulation of male Identity. (“Masculine Heroes” American Passages Voices and Visions) In an excerpt from Cooper’s classic, “From Volume I Chapter III”, (Cooper. 485-491) the reader is introduced to the recurring character Natty Bumppo – referred to as Hawkeye-- and his friend Chingachgook. Both men can be seen as representations of the American Frontier, Heroes that embody the mythic elements in Cooper’s setting. They are rugged frontiersmen that thrive self-sufficiently, in a world of harsh realities.
...hey leave the reader with a lesson that could influence communities. Their context, impact, and ability to be associated in any society allow them to function with power and vigor in societies to come and in societies past. Although the language and grammar of the trickster tales is challenging, the image that can be created is greater than any barrier. Dr. Bright of the Unviersity of California recognizes the persistence of the Native American tricksters tales in the world today.
Folklore is a collection of stories passed down from generation to generation that includes Legends, Myths and Fairy tales. Legends are a semi-true story, which has been passed on from a person to another person that has an important meaning. Myths are a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon. A Fairytale is a children's story about magical which they have imaginary beings and lands. Hispanic Folklore is the traditional is mostly about beliefs, legends, customs and stories of the community of the hispanic culture. Hispanic or latino culture encompasses the traditions, language, religious beliefs and practices, legends, music and history.
In fact, Davy Crockett career as a politician help to develop his reputation as a frontiersman. “[…] [I]n 1834 Crockett a grand speaker conducted a triumphal speechmaking tour of Whig strongholds in the East. During these tour he was famous for telling attention catching stories. Many of those stories appeared in newspapers and books during his congressional years, the legend, rapidly grew of an eccentric but perceptive “bar-hunting” and Indian-fighting frontiersman”. David Crockett the rebellious Politian, sharpshooter, tale-spinner and larger-than-life frontiersman became a legend, mostly because he was able to package himself and win votes during his political campaigns. Crockett fame helped him defeat the incumbent candidate in three out of four bids for re-election to Congress. But most of all David Crockett’s ability to tell a story made him the peoples champ. He was labelled the king of the tall tales (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett).
The relationship between history and myth in the story of the West go hand and hand with each other for the most part. Why? The myth of the West came around just as the history of the West was happening. So a lot of history was often though of as myth and a lot myths were often thought of as actual history. For example, Buffalo Bill was extremely important to the West because he was mythical and historical figure at the same time. There were myths about him that were actually true and there were also myths about him that were made up he made them true. Author Lee Clark Mitchell states in his book, that some writers who wrote westerns such as Stephen Crane confronted "the intersection of history and fiction, fact and legend, without in the end appealing to either at the expense of the other." Also, "refusing to acknowledge that legends are more interesting than history (art, that is, surpassing life); Crane's stories at the same time resist any simple equation of the legendary with the fact itself (art matching life)" (Mitchell).
The native American tribe the Iroquois Confederacy has an origin story for the start of folk stories. This is an interesting piece of writing in the way that it describes how stories began. It shows the high regard for the art of storytelling. This story starts off by telling the reader about a young boy who had lost his parents. There was no other family that would look after him so he raised himself the best that he could. This young boy was unhappy as the villages saw him as an outcast and wanted nothing to do with him. The young boy one day came across a canoe. Once in the canoe the boy was brought into the sky and paddled until he stopped atop a peek. The boy had made a home and at night heard a voice calling out to him. The voice demanded the boy offer him Tabaco. After the boy obeyed the voice the voice preceded to tell the young man a story. The voice then told the young boy a set of rules that he must follow if he wanted to be told stories. This continued for a while and the boy also came