Includes bibliographical references and index.

There have to be heroes -- The legend begins -- The lure of the dime novels -- The great showman -- Buffalo Bill's Wild West -- More and more wild west shows -- Our cowboy heroes -- Flickering images -- Tom Mix and the flashy showmen -- Pulp magazines and mass-market paperbacks -- Warbling cowboys and the silver screen -- Brooding heroes -- And a suitable heroine -- Violence returns -- The image persists.

"As business interests have commercialized the American West and publishers and studios have created a compelling image of the West, the expectations of readers and moviegoers have influenced public perception of the cowboy as a hero figure. This book describes the evolution of the Western cowboy hero as a mythic persona created by dime novels, television and Hollywood"-- Provided by publisher.

Description based on print version record.

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2014. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.