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The Duel
Monday, January 29th, 2007 by joel It was probably close to the end of the Wild West Era that the dime novels really became popular. Not that the famous western characters weren’t popular before then, but once the dime novels came out, the feats of such characters as Jesse James, Bat Masterson, Seth Bullock, Wyatte Earp, Geronimo, Billy the Kid, and Crazy Horse become more than just impressive. They became legendary.
And it was at this point when the kids started staging their battles and picking their sides. Who would win in a showdown between Doc Holliday and Wild Bill Hickock?
This isn’t some isolated phenomenon. Its part of human nature. Its actually part of ANIMAL nature. Pack animals look to the dominant one, the alpha male to be their leader. Guys want to follow him and Chicks want to get with him.
We long to see these showdowns, skill versus skill to see whose is better. Its been like that for all of history. The western era is the only time in our nation where we had roaming warriors who could really be pitted against one another in death matches. Not that it happened like that very often.
But in fiction, we can see it as often as our imagination allows.
