The American cowboy first became common in the late 1860s after the Civil War. With the United States at peace and the expansion of cities underway, the country developed a taste for beef. Cowboys helped fill this need, as they drove huge herds on cattle drives lasting months on end to reach the nearest railheads, generally in Kansas. From there, cattle were railed to newly built meatpacking plants in Chicago. Cowboys were simple, lower class folk. While most were white male Civil War veterans, others were black ex-slaves and even Europeans, Mexicans, and women.
Cowboys were fiercely independent and tough, but were generally lonely and quiet around strangers. With vast, unpopulated stretches of the country before them, they frequently needed to take the law into their own hands. Their code did not tolerate cowardice, meanness, or dishonesty. Mistreatment of women was not acceptable. Thievery and cattle rustling in particular forced cowboys to become judge, jury, and executioner in the absence of lawmen. Examples were made by lynching or with their Colt .45 gun, nicknamed "The Peacemaker."
Cowboys were adept with firearms. Some became gunslingers and bandits. However, in the next state, a former bandit could become the law. The image of the cowboy often suffered at the end of a long cattle drive. Being set loose with a lump sum payment, many went on wild spending sprees, got quickly drunk, gambled fiercely, and wound up spending the night with a local prostitute. Many towns actually forbade them entrance. It was a different era with rules foreign to us today.
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