http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2176273.jpg> Winchester Model 1866 Yellow Boy (modified), .44 rimfire.

The Western is dead, right? In the 1980s, many historians predicted the decline of the genre; therefore, this assertion should be true. But recently, it seems the western is everywhere. While science and apocalyptic fiction may seem an odd bedfellow for the western, finding old west remnants in 'new frontiers' has become a veritable 'Where's Waldo'; only instead of an awkward man in a striped hat, you just have to locate a cowboy gun.

Westerns have evolved significantly over the years, from classic melodrama to adult psychological drama. However, at its core, it always has been a reflection of American spirit. After the Civil War, Americans sought to reconcile their fractured country by establishing a national identity. Creating a singular American identity across a diverse population, however, is no easy task. It can be formed through a group phenomenon that embodies both the past and present, known as collective memory. In the late 19th century, writers and novelists, like Mark Twain, began romanticizing the frontier. The result was a fictionalized frontier mythology. This myth permeated collective memory and became an outlet for Americans to turn 'tragedy of war into triumph'.

Wild West Shows, dime novels, and eventually western films helped disseminate American ideals into collective memory by employing a series of mnemonic devices such as firearms. In fact, cowboy guns have become so prevalent in Hollywood that twenty-three models of Winchesters have been featured in movies, television and video games, with the Model 1866 alone appearing in over 29 major motion pictures. Interestingly, these guns reinforce memory so extensively that they appear in films set before they were invented and can serve as a trigger regardless of whether they appear in traditional or nontraditional settings.

http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2176275.jpg> Winchester Model 1892 (without shortened barrel), .38 WFC.

Throughout the 20th century, the western underwent a drastic evolution that reflected cultural shifts. But by the 1980s, historians believed the genre would be unable to remain relevant and compete with increasingly popular new frontiers like science fiction; a genre that predates the western by centuries and is not distinctly American. Sci-fi may stray light-years from traditional westerns, but it, like frontier fiction, has been successful at reinventing its narratives to embrace change and in many cases, has begun to emulate western cues. No show holstered the dissonance of futurism and the old west quite like Joss Whedon's 2002 cult hit, Firefly. The show was set in an untamed part of the galaxy in the wake of civil war. The actors clothed head-to-toe in western apparel, carry futurized western firearms. One character even carried a short-barreled Winchester Model 1892; the same 'prop' used in Steve McQueen's 1957 show Trackdown.

Sci-fi was not the only genre to contain the western spirit; apocalyptic fiction as early as the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, used Smith & Wesson Revolvers and Winchester Rifles. More recently, AMC's The Walking Dead directly has applied the western framework to zombie mythology. The show set in Atlanta after the outbreak of a virus, centers around Rick Grimes: a sheriff who is disillusioned by actions he has made to ensure his family's survival. From Grimes' sheriff uniform to his Colt Python Revolver, the character is reminiscent of Eastwood-esque anti-heroes.

http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2176277.jpg> Colt Python Elite Model Revolver, .357 mag.

Zombie fiction still utilizes its fair share of modern rifles, but cowboy guns remain prevalent. Even Shaun of the Dead, an apocalyptic satire akin to Blazing Saddles that takes place in England, retains ties to the American frontier. In the movie, a pub is named the "The Winchester" because of a Yellow Boy mounted to the wall that is ultimately used to save the lead character's life.

Works of popular culture often emerge to rectify and understand issues of national identity. As circumstances around us change, identity is reinvented and remembered differently. It makes room for new inventions and shifting attitudes but will never fully forget the past. The western continues to thrive in traditional and nontraditional venues because cowboy guns and other recognizable devices are engrained in our collective memory as an enduring symbol of American spirit.

-- Ashley Hlebinsky

Ashley Hlebinsky is deputy curator of the Cody Firearms Museum

Images courtesy of Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wy, USA; Gift of Olin Corporation, Winchester Arms Collection, 1988.8.168, 1988.8.265. Gift of Colt's Manufacturing Company, 2003.20.1