Figure 1.--This German boy, probably in the late 1960s, dressed up like an Indian complete with tomahak for what looks like a fancy dress costume party.

The mythology of both the cowboy and Indian are central to the American saga. There is something about the American West, however, that has an almost universal appeal. While associated wih American children, cheap book editions, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and after the turn of the 20th century the movie brought cowboys and Indians to Europe as well. The Americn Western saga and cowboys and Indians appealed to children around the world. Intrestingly, many foreign children seem most intreagued in the Native American aspect of cowboys and Indians.

America

The mythology of both the cowboy and Indian are central to the American saga. There are in fact to sagas. The lone individual facing the untamed frontier with first his long rifle and later his six shooter. Then there was the nobel savage unsullied by Euopean civilization. It as the cowboy saga that had the greatest appeal. The two most important founders of the American Scouting movement dueld over these two images. The two principal presursor groups to the Boy Scouts of American (BSA) were Ernest Thompson Seton's Woodcraft Indians and Daniel Carter Beard's Sons of Daniel Boone which of course were associated with the pioneers. An American reader writes, "I remember as a boy being definitely of the pioneer/cowboy persuasion. My cap gun six-shooter, cowboy hat, and boots were among my most prized possessions--second only to my teddy. I remember my first confrontaion with "the authorities". It was first grade and I was all of 6 years old. I had worn my new Christmas cowboy boots, of which I was enormously proud, to school--and they made a defening noise in the hall. I was sent home with a note never to wear my cowboy boots to school again. Even before TV, I was riding along (using first my trusty riding horse a turned around the dining room chair) with six guns in hand. I clearly remember the Long Ranger on telivision. Once TV arrived it was Hoppy--Hopalong Cassidy. In the movies my favorite was Gene Autury. Roy Rogers was a distant fourth, but I did like Trigger. I also remember finally getting a BB gun at about age 10 which I loved to go on forays with in my cowboy hat, boots, and trusty six shooter. I never had an actual coistume, but with the hat, a flannel shirt, six-shooters, leather belt and holsters, jeans, and cowboy boots made a rather convincing, if I say so myself, convincing cowboy. I also remember getting in to hot water one weekend when I targeted one of by uncle's cows with my BB gun." I remember reading a book by a Black author many years ago. I think it was James Baldwin, but am not sure. He remembers goung to the movies as a boy and always rooting for the cowboys until realizing "We were the Indians!". On a similar plane as a young teacher in South Carolina I remember mentioning to my students that a substantial portion of the cavalry soldiers were Blacks--known as the Buffolo soldiers by the Indians. My students didn't believe me at the time. (Television and movies until well into the 1970s never pictured Black cowboys or cavalary soldiers.)

Australia

An Australian reader gells us, "I used to watch cowboys and indians on tv, read comics, hardbacks, and I had cap guns and rifles and homemade feather headdresses--chicken feathers. I had a basic cowboy suit made of leather metal studs, leather pistol hostles, cotton overpants, and a black or white straw cowboy hat and a cowboy top made by my aunty out of thick red check cotton cloth like in lumberjack shirts. My vision of the Wild West was formed by the "The Lone Ranger", "The Cisco Kid", "Rin Tin Tin", "Gunsmoke", "Bonanza", "Little House On The Prairie", and "Rawhide" plus John Wayne classics and many many more too many to remember. I even had a wooden rocking horse when I was younger that chased many an imaginary redskin and I think back and smile out how nice it was to escape the world for half an hour in my imagination. We were lucky little boys." A reader tells us, "My cowboy suit was made of a little waistecoat with strips of many colours of plastic ribbons with a tin Star badge telling me or my little friends that I was Sheriff or Marshall and they better get on their horses or I would lock em up. I had a pair of cowboy overpants with cotton braids and 2 pairs of spurs which my dad made out of old coke bottle tops and I relished them and soon the whole streets boys had their own version of my spurs. I had a plastic purple cowboy hat and a Lone Ranger mask and a shorts set based on the blue calvary uniform with corperal stripes like my hero Rusty. I used to jump of the shed roof on to an old matress to kill a redskin (a sister or a girl) and once I misqued and ended up in the throuh the roof feet upwards with cuts, abrasions, and bruises and a slapped bottom but a hardy laugh from dad and a big hug. My younger brother missed his jump and ended up tangled in the chicken wire and a tanned bottom. The shed roof was the grand canyon cliff or ledge on a tall mountain and mud bombs rained down many an indian. We both grew up in wonderful times because when I was a boy you could leave your bike any where and it would still be there when you went to pick it up."

Belgium

A European reader writes, "Boys in Belgium and the Netherlands during the 1950s played cowboys and Indians. It was very popular game indeed. Most boys sided with the Indians, even in those days when political correctness had yet to be invented. Most of us read stories by Karl May in which the Indian chiefs´ virtues were exalted. I also remember stories about Tecumseh de Bergleeuw (Tecumseh the Mountain Lion) by another German author, Fritz Steuben. Speaking of taking sides, I think that even before Martin Luther King Dutch, juvenile literature sided with American blacks. I am thinking of a book in which a Flemish family emigrated to California and adopted the son of their black servant, even took him home to Belgium after her death. I have written to the publisher and asked for information about the writer and the title. Apparently the role of pioneering American whites was less appealing to us than the plight of blacks and natives. Interestingly, when relating own ' frontier history' with the Boers in South Africa our childrens' books in those days exalted the virtues of the hardy Dutch voortrekkers, comfortably disregarding the subjugation of the blacks who were depicted as noble but troublesome natives. In the 1970s the advent of political correctness brought about radical changes in these attitudes."

Canada

England

We know that British boys would play Red Indians. Notice the English illustration on the previous page. Cowboys and Indians rather than Saxons and Normans or Rounheads and Cavaliers. German boys played Indians. I seem to remember both Jennings and Our William in Red Indian exploits. One of our HBC readers, Bill, remembers playing cowboys and Indians with his friends as a boy.

France

I'm not sure to what extentb French boys were interested in cowboys and Indians. We note that French writer, Marcel Pagnol, mentions he and his brother playing at “peaux rouges” (redskins) in “La Gloire de Mon Pere” inspired by reading Fenimore-Coopers “Dernier des Mohicans” that their (teacher) father had bought for them to read when the weather was bad on their holidays. I don't recall the film showing this. A French reader writes, "In my period during the 1950s, many boys played cowboys and Indians. We played everywhere, at home, in the streets, in parks, and other pleces as well. A La Samaritaine catalog in 1939 suggests how popular Red Inians were. Indeed It was very popular game! Generaly French boys prefered to be a cowboy who with a gun akways prevailed over the Indians. There were many illustrations for boys to copy from iillustrated magazines and movies. Girls were not very interested in these games."

Germany

German boys seem especoially interested in cowboys and indianns and Westerm lore in general. I'm not sure when this began. We know it was the case in the inter-War era, but it probably began before World War I. At first it was through books. Bufalo Bill's Wild west show was a bit hit in Germany as it was in other European countries at the turn of the 20th century. Hollywood silent films added to the interest as did the talkies, but soon after sound appeared (1929), the NAZIs seized power (1933). Here we are not sure about NAZI policies toward permittingthe showing of foreogn films or racial attitudes toward Native Americans. NAZI propaganda targeted both Jews and Blacks in America--but not Native Americans. We know that the interest of German boys in the lore of the West continued in NAZI Germany, even afyer the outbreak of World war II. . and then talkies British Enigma Machine code breakers found operator who used "Tom Mix" (a movie cowboy) as a key code. A German reader who was in the Hitler Youth remebers playing Indian and even had a war bonnet--a better one than most American boys. A far as we can tell, there seems to have been a greater interest among German boys on Indians than cowboys. (American boys generally wanted to be the cowboys.) We are not etirely sure why German boys were enamored by the Indians. (This mat have been a generalized European reaction, but we are not sure about this because we have limited information on other European countries.) We note German boys dressing up in Indian gear into the 1960s.

Italy

We know that Westerns are popular in Italy. Italy is well known for what has become known as spaggetti westerns, especially the Clint Eastwood classics. What we do not yet know is to what extent Italian boys played cowboys and Indians.

Mexico

A Mexican reader tells us he played Vaqueros and Indios. He never remembers anyone playing Conquistadors and Indians. We suspect a similar patern was the case in other Latin American countries. There are substantial differences in the Native American population in different Latin american countries which affects attitudes. In the 20th century, important Native American leaders became national heros. Even so this has not generally been affected in children's play.

(The) Netherlands

Cowboys and Indins was apparently also popular in the Netherlands. And as in Germany, the primary interest was the Native Americans. Here the German author Karl May was also very popular in the Netherlands. A Dutch reader writes, "His books were extremely popular throughoutb Europe. I read them all (in Dutch translations) as a boy. The Indian chiefs Winnetou and Old Shatterhand were our heroes."

Russia

Spain

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Created: February 11, 2004
Last updated: 6:07 AM 10/25/2010