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1This nation, turning 100 years old, had no {\em Odyssey}, no
2St.~George slaying the dragon, no Prometheus. The emerging American
3genius for making a lot of money was a poor substitute for King
4Arthur and his knights (although the Horatio Alger myth of rags to
5riches was good for a lot of mileage). Without a mythology and set
6of ancient heroes to call its own, America had to manufacture its
7heroes. So the mythmaking machinery of nineteenth|-|century American
8media created a suitable heroic archetype in the cowboys of the Wild
9West. The image was of the undaunted cattle drivers living a life of
10reckless individualism, braving the elements, staving off brutal
11Indian attacks. Or of heroic lawmen dueling with six|-|guns in the
12streets at high noon. This artificial Wild West became America's
13Iliad.