Honestly almost all of it comes from a single duel Wild Bill Hicock had, and also a bunch of bullshit that a traveling huckster named Buffalo Bill Cody just sort of made up for fun in his touring wild west shows.
Actually yeah now that you mention it, it does sound like something out of a renaissance festival where they’re setting up a scheduled show lol.
“Dirty Dave I’m calling you out! You and I are going to have a duel to the death! At 12:00 in the town square! Right in front of the Hootenanny Stage! Be there to see who is the winner! Tips welcome!”
Actually I have a history book about the history of ballooning called Aeronauts that I found at a thrift store. If I remember I’ll see what that has to say about this tale because it does call out other largely fabricated tales as such
But like most fictions, the fiction of Wild West duels contains some kernels of truth and certainly makes for great drama
Makes me wonder where the trope came from…
People definitely used to do pistol duels at prearranged times, but maybe that fell out of favor in the West?
Honestly almost all of it comes from a single duel Wild Bill Hicock had, and also a bunch of bullshit that a traveling huckster named Buffalo Bill Cody just sort of made up for fun in his touring wild west shows.
Actually yeah now that you mention it, it does sound like something out of a renaissance festival where they’re setting up a scheduled show lol.
“Dirty Dave I’m calling you out! You and I are going to have a duel to the death! At 12:00 in the town square! Right in front of the Hootenanny Stage! Be there to see who is the winner! Tips welcome!”
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Duels did happen from time to time in the 19th century. For example, California Senator David Broderick in 1859 became the only US Senator to die in a duel, and there’s a difficult to validate tale of two French men in 1808 holding a gun duel in hot air balloons!
Actually I have a history book about the history of ballooning called Aeronauts that I found at a thrift store. If I remember I’ll see what that has to say about this tale because it does call out other largely fabricated tales as such
But like most fictions, the fiction of Wild West duels contains some kernels of truth and certainly makes for great drama