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With old guns under such discussion during this period, the public’s fascination and interest in the outlaw and other notable gunmen of the frontier grew exponentially, which sparked a fairly widespread side discussion on gunslinger topics. This seems to have peaked in the early 1920s. “Could the Bad Men of the West Really Shoot?” and “The Truth About Wild Bill” were among the juicy titles.

The bad man was the seldom seen but perpetually perceived image of the Wild Frontier. His willingness to use the gun and his alleged proficiency with it were a big part of the mystique. Most of us are able to relate to an attraction to and a fixation with the outlaw, though we may not be able to put our fingers on the reasons. Each of us as youngsters played cowboys and Indians. I can’t recall any of my boyhood chums volunteering to be the village dolt that groomed horses at the livery. Not one wanted to clerk at the dry goods store or perform coolie labor with the railroad gang. All of them wanted to be the good guy or the bad guy (depending). We all wanted to be the players who got to carry and shoot the guns.