One of the most perplexing things I find about American history is the mythos surrounding the nu American west and how it is portrayed within the greater cultural zeitgeist. I mean the cowboy was essentially a manufactured hollywoodification of a cattle rustler. There are very few actual cowboys in the sense most would think off. Even legendary figures like Wyatt Earp didn’t kill all that many people and whose exploits are far less glamorized as movies like Tombstone would have you believe. In contrast the old American west of West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana boast far more legendary figures whose exploits are far greater than most found in the Nu West. However these figures are far less glamorized and less remembered. Of the legendary frontiersmen only Daniel Boone remembered by most. Despite this there are still far more legendary heroes of the old west whose name is only known by local historians or those particularly interested in the topic.