There’s a case to be made that the Wild West — that is, the Wild West as it has come to be imagined over the decades — actually began on July 21, 1865. That day, at around 6:00 p.m., “Wild Bill” Hickok stood facing a fellow gambler and gunman, Davis Tutt, in the town square of Springfield, Missouri. Both men drew guns, but only Hickok walked away. It was the first quick-draw shootout in the West, and it was soon turned into legend by a journalist whose tall tale about Hickok would be the inspiration for countless deadly showdowns in the western novels and movies in years to come. In this special publication, we look at both the fact and the fiction of the Wild West — a time of gunfights, gold, gambling, and glory. We explain how the era unfolded and tell the stories of Wild West icons like Buffalo Bill, Butch Cassidy, Wyatt Earp, Annie Oakley, Jesse James, and Lakota chief Sitting Bull. We also celebrate the movies that turned the Wild West into the quintessential American story and spotlight the best surviving ghost towns to visit to relive the Wild West yourself.