Josh Marshall

joshtpm.bsky.social

19 October 2026 13:35

My advisor used to say that the problem with early American history (17th cent) was that we actually have far too detailed a records of these people - Standish, Winthrop, Williams etc to have the kind of mythology you get in European founding myths. With these gunfighters, they're often only a ...

Josh Marshall

joshtpm.bsky.social

19 October 2026 13:35

2/ decades removed from the phonograph and motion pictures. Wyatt Earp dies in 1929 living in LA as a semi-consultant for Westerns. Buffalo Bill comparable arc.

Andrew Reeves

andrewsshi.bsky.social

19 October 2026 13:34

Yeah, they rack up these horrific rap sheets, then die in a random fight over some perceived slight in the lobby of a brothel where nobody knows the exact details because everyone's BAC was north of .2.

Josh Marshall

joshtpm.bsky.social

19 October 2026 13:34

Most of these guys died at like 22. And yes, if we met one today they'd be your average teenage psychopath either dealing meth or getting in a gang shootout.

Andrew Reeves

andrewsshi.bsky.social

19 October 2026 13:34

Like even the nastiest of the Spaghetti Westerns don't really emphasize how bleak and effing nihilistic the gunfighter life was. Just a whole string of murders until eventually it's you, but maybe you can live on via your reputation.