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Myths have been the object of keen interest and study for a very long time. Almost exactly one hundred years ago, Adelbert Kuhn published his treatise on comparative mythology. This was followed by extensive research work by such men as Miller, Roth, Cohen, Murray, Perry, to name a few. It was Freud, however, and his followers, notably Abraham, Rank and Jones who showed that myths, like dreams, represented wish-fulfillments of repressed childhood fantasies. This viewpoint is still ignored or rejected by many authors, while others, unable to advance any convincing alternatives, simply (and honestly) say that they do not know.
It is not the purpose of this paper to discuss the existence of the cowboy myth, nor its importance. Some may question its respectability and its worth. Be as it may, the cowboy, his guns and his horse are deeply imbedded in the minds of people, here in America and abroad.1 Of particular significance is that the cowboy myth is less than one hundred years old, it is widespread, and there are still cowboys living today. There is an abundance—almost an excess—of information