Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of cowboys, Plains Indians, army scouts, outlaws, and wild animals that existed in the American West. While some of the storylines and characters were based on historical events, others were fictional or sensationalized.
Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World - Poster showing cowboys rounding up cattle and portrait of Col. W. F. Cody on horseback. c.1899.
Buffalo Bill Cody, Ned Buntline, Texas Jack Omohundro in The Scouts of the Prairie, 1872.
Poster showing Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World battling Cuban insurgents, c. 1898
Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill, 1885
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. Cattle drives ensure the herds health in finding pasture and bring them to market. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of special significance and legend. A subtype, called a wrangler, specifically tends the horses used to work cattle. In addition to ranch work, some cowboys work for or participate in rodeos. Cowgirls, first defined as such in the late 19th century, had a less-well documented historical role, but in the modern world work at identical tasks and have obtained considerable respect for their achievements. Cattle handlers in many other parts of the world, particularly South America and stockmen and jackaroos in Australia, perform work similar to the cowboy.
Cowboys portrayed in Western art. The Herd Quitter by C. M. Russell
American cowboy, 1887
"King of the Plains" postcard, 1898–1924
18th-century soldado de cuera in colonial Mexico