The Mythical West: an Encyclopedia of Legend Lore, and Popular Culture

Folklore, April, 2004 by W.F. Ryan

The Mythical West: An Encyclopedia of Legend Lore, and Popular Culture. Edited by Richard W. Slatta. Santa Barbara, Calif., Denver, Colo. and Oxford: ABC-Clio, 2002. 446 pp. Illus. 59.95 [pounds sterling] (hbk). ISBN 1-57607-151-0

This very readable book contains a series of articles on aspects of "the American West" as mythologised in literature, art, Hollywood, television, on the Internet, and even by toymakers. These articles appear to have been written largely by the editor, although some signed pieces were written by others, including, intriguingly, half a dozen students at the editor's own University of North Carolina. The editor, who also produced The Cowboy Encyclopedia for ABC- Clio, remarks in his preface: "... everyone from national politicians and lobby groups to corporate advertisers invokes western myth and allegory. Western images serve as shorthand images of patriotism, democracy, rugged individualism, and a host of other virtues. Thus broadly held but faulty assumptions about the nation's historical past shape real events and lead to real consequences."

This is the serious purpose of a book otherwise fairly popular in tone, and one well worth pursuing--much of what non-Americans admire or hate about the United States, and a good deal perhaps of what Americans believe about themselves, can be traced to the pervasive images and themes, usually violent, of "the West." The seven-column article "Politicians and Western Myth," which surveys the cowboy pretensions of American presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to George W. Bush, and the articles "Battles or Massacres" (on "battles" with Indians), "Manifest Destiny," "Gun Control" and "Comparative Frontier Mythology" are good examples of the more sober and, dare one say it, liberally inclined side of the book. "Action Shooting" outlines the activities of groups (not exclusive to the United States) re-enacting Western events, real or imaginary, and includes the remarkable piece of information that these "action shooters" expend no less than 24,000,000 rounds of ammunition annually!

The mildly revisionist tone extends to the inclusion of a modest Hispanic element ("Hispanics in Western Films" and several biographical entries), but Native Americans fare perhaps a little less well than they might. In his introduction, Slatta admits that he does not include much Indian information because ABC-Clio has a very strong existing list on Native American topics. He might have defended himself better by saying that the mythology of the West he is describing is essentially a white American phenomenon in which Indians are for the most part an undifferentiated enemy. The extension of this mythology into the literature and film-making of the rest of the world, and especially the anglophone world, and the effect this has on the image of America is mentioned only occasionally in passing; "spaghetti westerns" are mentioned only incidentally in the article on Clint Eastwood.

Despite the serious critical purpose of the articles already mentioned, the writing throughout is lively and usually amusing, and there are some nice oddities to leaven the mass. I liked "Bicycle Corps," "Women, Wild," "Wizard of Oz" (a balanced exegesis), the "Texas Embassy" (the original and the restaurant in London), "Swallows of San Juan Capistrano" (oddly enough almost the only article dealing with religion, apart from the Mormons who feature in several articles; no mention of the Inkspots' distinctive rendition of the song), and best of all "Mountain Oysters," also known as prairie oysters (i.e. calves' testicles as a culinary delicacy), with several recipes for their preparation.

The book is strong on biography--Roy Bean, Billy the Kid, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill, actors such as Kit Carson, Gene Autry, John Wayne, and Clint Eastwood all have substantial entries, musicians from Aaron Copland to John Denver, writers like Zane Grey (he was christened Pearl--enough to make anyone search for a more heroic identity). Places of legendary repute are also well represented: the Alamo, "Lost Mines," "Ghost Towns," "Area 51" and "Roswell" (beloved of ufologists but surely a bit out of place here?), "Route 66."

The encyclopaedia's presentation can only be described as modest given the high price asked, and the illustrations are a disappointingly fuzzy grey. On the other hand, the longer articles all have bibliographies, there is an extensive final bibliography and list of specialist websites, and the index is adequate for most purposes.