Was the WIld West Really Wild

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If you said the words Wild West to someone, no doubt they would picture a mustached man sitting at a card game in an old saloon surrounded by cowboys and prostitutes. A player opposite him would be hiding an extra card up his sleeve, and soon enough he would be called on it and face off in the city square. Both players would step back and there’d be a long moment before the cheater moved for his hip holster, however he wouldn’t be fast enough. The gamer would draw his revolver and shoot the cheater dead between the eyes. Nonchalantly, the cowboys and prostitutes would go back to their drinks like it didn’t happen. The Wild West has long been depicted as lawless, violent, and chaotic. The West was populated with strangers from various backgrounds, countries, and nationalities who wanted to get their hands on gold. Farmers and business people deserted their lives to look for gold and a prosperous life. The gold rush in California attracted 80,000 men in 1849. It transformed California from a calm society into a violent one. San Francisco held more than five hundred bars and one thou...

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