Vintage news - The wild West only lasted 30 years

[Tsalagidave]

I have been giving this a lot of thought since my initial answer and it can arguably be said that the "Wild West" is still very much alive and well. I live in rural Arizona where we still have the following:
Outlaw Desperadoes or Desperado Gangs - (Check!) Except we call them 1% MCs now.
"Indians" (Check!) The ones I deal with are great farmers and good ol' boys whom I enjoy shooting with. I live right down the road from a few reservations.
Carrying Guns (Check!) We still commonly do this in Arizona and just like the past, most of us open carry on the trail and conceal carry in town. The 2nd amendment represents a great responsibility with which comes terrible consequences if abused. The same goes for our rights to make a citizen's arrest and to use deadly force in self defense should the unfortunate circumstances occur.
Posses (Check!) We still have those too. Citizens are still trained and deputized to serve as reserve officers, assist in search & rescue, respond to large social events or massive casualty events, etc.
Riding around on horses (Check!)  It is more for recreation or getting around a large spread if you have one but yes, the horse culture is alive and well.
Gold Prospecting (Check!) Yes, it is still a thing and wading into a creek to pan on a hot day with a 6-pack of beer is still a good time.
Bank Robberies - Murders - Shootouts (Check!) They all still happen but in greater number though not as much in rural areas where the citizens are more likely armed. Urban areas tend to have the high crime statistics but yep! they still occur. (Side note: Bank Robberies were not at all common until the invention of the automobile.)
Bounty Hunters (Check!) We still have them and they are more common than just Dog and his crew.
"Cowboy" clothing (Check!) We still wear western hats and clothing that are appropriate to ranch work but there is a big difference between that and the buckle-bunny crowd who only does the "Cowboy Up" thing for line dancing. Also technically, my uncles, aunts and cousins run dairy and cattle ranches so they can be called "Cowboys" (I suppose) but they prefer to be called "Ranchers". Come to think of it, I don't recall any ranchers I know calling themselves "Cowboy" unless it is in an off-handed way. Me, I worked on horse ranches and my only experiences with cattle, bulls, etc., comes from visiting family and working rodeos so I'm not actually a "Cowboy" either. In regards to the clothing, when I was young we typically wore tee shirts, jeans, ball caps and running shoes when working with stock (just easier and cheaper for a 20-year old kid hopping horse to horse) but we wore boots for long rides or working rodeos. Same thing with western hats though I have friends who wear them 24/7 in their neck of the woods. I wear mine on occasion but normally go about in a ball cap, Wranglers and Carhartt.

All that said, the only thing I can say that we no longer have is a "frontier" but we still have a whole lot of pretty unspoiled country out there.

BTW, I know a lot of you readers get this already. I am writing this mostly for those who live in cities or out of the country who wanted to know but were afraid to ask.

-Dave

[Dave T]

OOPS! Just realized I already responded to this post a while back.

[DB Books]

I still think what we know and popularize as the old west was mostly between 1849 and about 1890. the rest seems to be isolated pockets of familiarity. My various relatives, though, still used mules, horses and old ways up into the 1930's On Cogar Mtn in WV.