The story of the American West is still told today, even though most of the historical events of the Wild West occurred more than a century ago. In films, novels, television and other ways the stories of the old west are still told, staged and reproduced to relive the events of that once wild and untamed western land, about which so many now they fantasize. After reading about the old west and watching early westerns, it's surprising how much Hollywood still glorifies the history and myth of the old west. It may not be immediately obvious to everyone, but if you look closely there is always a hint of Western mentality such as honor, justice, romance, drama and violence. The most interesting thing about the Old West is the fact that history and myth have a very close relationship together in telling the story of the West. The relationship between history and myth in Western history go hand in hand for the most part. Why? The myth of the West was born just as the history of the West was happening. So much of history was often considered myth, and many myths were often considered real history. Buffalo Bill, for example, was extremely important to the West because he was a mythical and historical figure at the same time. There were myths about him that were actually true and there were also myths about him that were made up and he made them true. Author Lee Clark Mitchell states in his book that some writers who wrote Westerns such as Stephen Crane addressed "the intersection of history and fiction, fact and legend, without ultimately appealing to one or the other at the expense of 'other". Furthermore, "refusing to acknowledge that legends are more interesting than history (the art, that is, which surpasses life); Crane's stories at the same time resist any simple equation of the legendary with the fact itself (the art which corresponds to life)" (Mitchell). Frontier cowboys have long captured the imagination of the American public. Americans, faced with the reality of an increasingly industrialized society, love the image of a man who lives in the wilderness and defends himself against the dangers of the unknown. By the end of the 19th century there were few renegade Indians left in the country, and the vast expanse of open land west of the Mississippi was rapidly filling with settlers..