make-up of a western man

[williamlayton]

what would you say was the general make-up of any man who moved west of the 100th merridian in say 1840. we're not talking family men-we're talking single males.
what was their mindset--what moved them?
been trying to come to some conclusions to this question for years. i have thought of adventure, running, avoidance of responsibility, and considered insanity in a cloudy haze one time.
input is needed--it's all opinion, no rights, no wrongs--just thoughtful opinion.
blessings

[Gatofeo]

I think it was probably 50/50.
Half went West for adventure and opportunity, after hearing the stories (largely myth and exaggerated) published in the East.
The other half ran away from the law, responsibilities or social customs they found objectionable (bathing and common courtesy come to mind).
What I've often thought about is that the West was filled with numerous accents: German, Irish, French, Italian, Spanish, African (in the case of escaped or freed slaves), English, Southern, Canadian, Chinese, Scandinavian, etc.
Few movies of the West have portrayed this mix of accents.
Immigrants who newly arrived on the eastern seaboard were in for a shock. America wasn't the golden land they envisioned. Most lived in squalor, in large cities, separated from others by religion, class distinctions and culture.
To them, the opportunity to go West and establish even a small farm or ranch and actually OWN land (a thing unheard of for most of them in their native countries) was a great lure.
Few realized how big America was, I'm sure, when they set out.
Of course, nearly all of this occurred well after the 1840 of which you speak, but the desire to have your own land and home transcends the ages.
Those who set out in 1840 were few, compared to the later swarm. But I suspect they also felt the urge to live free, far away from answering to any government or form of authority.
Unfortunately, humans being what they are, that lack of authority immediately led to theft, rape, pillage, murder, cheating, brutality and all manner of injustices among themselves and upon the natives they encountered.
People are people: generally nice but often brutish and greedy when they can get away with it.

[williamlayton]

do you think they brought with them any christian teaching, wheather reformed, catholic, or armenian, with them. was there any sense of spirit within them?
the delima in the thought process, for me, is responsibility and purpose. i can appreciate, having gone thru it, the adventure part of a single male. the shear delight of no responsibility and adventure is pretty great, still there always seemed to have been some undercurrent of a need for purpose in the adventure.
i guess there is always the mix in the equasion--but-- i have the feeling the majority left with this spirit--maybe lost it along the way, maybe regained it, maybe not--but, if you get the drift of thought, there was some purpose.
blessings

[Capt Hamp Cox]

Some of my ancestors settled on the East Coast (from Maine to Virginia) in the early to mid 1600s, and over several generations migrated westward, with many ending up in Texas in the 1840 - 50 period.  Since most of them were family men, I guess they don't fit the criteria for this thread.

From what I've read, however, I think a large number of single men who headed West were running away from something about as much as they were running toward something.  I'm sure the opportunity for "adventure in an untamed land" had appeal to some.  Those brought up in a religious family surely brought those mores and beliefs with them.  Obviously, both single and married men in this target group were risk takers.

[The Shrink]

Vary many motivations can be considered - lack of perceived opportunity at home, or the lack of a desired opportunity - not every young man dreamed of following the ass end of a mule every day!  The "dream" of the west was actively advertized even in the 1840's.  There is a degree of wanderlust that is present in very many boys of a certain age, and when you combine this with the awareness of an escape and something - real or imagined - to run away from, you have the young man wandering the West.  

It was the older, more thoughtful ones that went for the land.  This was probably most evident in Texas at that point in history, but is also seen in the move to Oregon.  Here you see men as point men for their families, or even bringing their families.  

There were then your wanderers, often of foreign extraction, looking for adventure or opportunity.  These same type of men settled British India, served in the armies of liberation of their day, and could generally be described as extremely practical romantics.  They were often very well educated, had lots of experience on other frontiers or military experience, and were probably the best prepared, individually, for what they found in the American West.  

Remember that, prior to 1849, there was not a huge movement West.  There was a gradual seepage of people, enough to outnumber the Spanish in Texas, but not enough to outnumber the Spanish in California.  It was in the Gold Rush of '49 that a large number of relatively "normal" people went West.  

Remember also, in the 1830's and 1840's, the romantic gold seekers went to Georgia - that's where "There's gold in them thar hills!"

[MOGorilla]

I imagine if these fellows were wearing make up, they were running for a reason.   Seriously, I agree with the immigrant comments.  One side of my family came in the late 1600s, settled in Maryland and stayed until they lost everything in 1865, they were on the loosing side.  The others were strong Germans fleeing wars and hunger in Wurtenburg in the late 1830s and 1840s.  They landed in New York and quickly moved to Illinois where land was plentiful.   Ironically, fleeing the fighting in Germany allowed them to get here just in time for the previously mentioned war, they were on the winning side.  The Marylanders, wandered west, only getting as far as Illinois too.  So my western roots are really east.  But what I've read for the immigrants, the lure of land was an amazing thing.

[williamlayton]

texas did have some advantage as it was colonized, begining in the 1820's, and by 1840 had many towns in the eastern part of the state. the western part was fairly establised by the spanish.
texas, to me, was a different area than say oklahoma or the plains states. development had begun by mexico but they had problems with the commanche, as well as others, and were finding it difficult to defend, which is why the spanish allowed anglo's to establish colonies--they just didn't think thru the problems very well.
americans setteling in texas prior to the 1840's, and really until the 1870's , had two wars on their hands-the spanish and the indians, both proving to be a handful. even after the war of independance ( texas by god) there was continual conflict with the spanish-the dred nueces strip thing- until the turn of the century. this strip of land between the neuces river and the rio grande was contested for by both anglo and spanish--became really a no-mans land or lawless area--sparsely settled and what settlements existed were both spanish and anglo.
this situation gave rise to opportunity for continual violence and lawlessness. it did creat a vaccum(sp) which drew strong men, strong meaning not always moral or lawabiding, who had a code of extreme independance and idividualism. the rangers were typical of this type, and the state and the people merely accepted this behavior as a price to be paid for the protection provided. generally a ranger was tolerated until the work was done and then tha folks were more than happy when HE left also. this was the reasons the rangers were dibanded and reorganised several times thru the 1940's. they were different.
anyway, to digress, this was the general makeup of the single male, not just anglo, who filled this void west of the 100th merridian.
blessings

[williamlayton]

i'm going to add a story-documented- as an example of the type individual we are talking about.
in the 1930's, two rangers were is a town in the valley. they were there to restore order to the area which had grown some what lawless. not everbody there was plaesed to have the rangers in their community.
the two rwngers had gone to a local cafe to have breakfeast and coffee but were ignored by the owner of the cafe.  it became apparent to the rangers that sevice and hospitality were not going to be offered. one of the rangers unholstered his gun, shot two or three holes in the coffee urn, walked behind the counter and filled two coffee cups, sat back down, had their coffee, paid and left.
blesssings

[Holiday]

I ,too, think there were more than one reason for the movement westward. The Adventurer and Explorer is a deep rooted, important part of the human makeup. We have always wanted to see what is over the next hill. There was simply no way we could sit still with all that unknown  land before us and not wonder. Don't forget, the origional settlers left Europe to see what was across the water, to see what came next. This "wanting to know" is probably one of the most common driving forces of our ancestors.
    And to go along whith what others have said here, I think many were running from something. Not always the Law or from Jutice, but from Civilization maybe. Some men, then and now, don't do well around crowded populations. Think of some of the more famous Mountain Men and early explorers. Many stayed in trouble when they came back East. The cowboy was at home on the range, but often a misfit in town. Fast forward to today. How many of the men of today's society are alienated and often treated as criminals but are not "bad men" at heart? In the wild frontier with the stuggles of the wilderness, many might have become great men. But in todays society of the Internet, computers, and the business world, they are left out. They may not be super smart in the ways of higher learning, but they have an inate survival sense. Many of the old timers of the Wild West couldn't read or write, but they could survive on little to nothing, and they had the guts and nerve to build a nation!

[williamlayton]

dogone it all doc--everoneceinawhile ya stick yer haid out--but ya doan give nough warnin soas we can get a bead.
i think yer right about many reasons--but the man behind tha reasons lord knows there were many but only a few took tha trip---mountain men were the same--i'm leaning towards strong men--some with character some without. doubtless, the ones we hear and read about were the stronger--some of the strong died also.
it's and interesting thing and i'm almost certain i would not have the same traits as did they--but hay-ya never know--i've done some verrry screwy thangs--and i have wondered fer years---WHY.
blessings

[Holiday]

William, my old Drill Sergeant always said ta keep yer head down and never stay eposed fer more than two seconds or you'll get your fool head shot off! :-D  But don't worry. I'm always around here somewhere! :wink:

[williamlayton]

there are sneakers and snipers==i'm disposed to lable youse a sniper. :grin:
blessings