The Wild West: the American ‘frontier,’ Cowboys, bandits, and pistols duels at high noon. Americans can’t get enough of the frontier genre. Since before and after the closing of the American ‘frontier’ in 1890, Americans have been obsessed with an idealized and romanticized idea of the ‘frontier.’ This space forms an essential component of American national identity, and from this, American national myths. Join us on this episode of SNAFUBAR as we examine the mythic elements of the American West, and how these myths evolved and transformed across different periods of American history.
SNAFUBAR is hosted by Jeff Crane who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt, and Dr. Sara Hart, Chair of the Department of Applied Humanities at Cal Poly Humboldt.
Research and writing for the show by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor. SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.
Works Cited:
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino, 2008.
Clint Eastwood, The Outlaw Josey Wales, 1976.
Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven, 1992.
Frederick Jackson Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” 1893.
Fred Zinnemann, High Noon, 1952.
George P. Cosmatos, Tombstone, 1993.
Howard Hawks, Rio Bravo, 1959.
John Ford, The Searchers, 1956.
