The Code They Killed For — Honor, Manhood, and the American Gunfighter

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When you picture a gunfighter, you probably think of a Hollywood cowboy — spurs jangling, six-shooter on his hip, squaring off at high noon in a dusty frontier town. But gunfighters weren’t just products of Hollywood. They were real men who lived and died by a code: one rooted in a particular sense of honor.

My guest today is Bryan Burrough, author of The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild. We dig into the true story behind America’s gunfighting era — how it grew out of the South’s dueling culture, was intensified by the violence of post–Civil War Texas, and spread across the frontier via the cattle drive. We explore why so many gunfights had less to do with crime and more to do with reputation, why the Colt revolver transformed personal conflict into deadly spectacle, and how young men came to see violence as a rite of manhood. Along the way, Bryan also explores how gunfighters went from frontier figures to pop culture icons — and which films, in his view, captured their essence best.

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Transcript

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0:33.3	Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:41.6	When you picture a gunfighter, you probably think of a Hollywood cowboy, spurs jangling,
0:46.5	six shooter on his hip, squaring off at high noon in a dusty frontier town.
0:50.4	But gunfighters weren't just products of Hollywood.
0:52.7	They were real men who lived and died by a code, one rooted in a particular sense of honor.
0:58.3	My guest day is Brian Burrow, author of The Gunfighters, how Texas made the West Wild.
1:03.4	We dig into the true story behind America's gunfighting era, how it grew out of the South's
1:07.8	dueling culture, was intensified by the violence of post-Civil War,
1:10.9	Texas, and spread across the frontier via the cattle drive. We explore why so many gunfights
1:15.7	had less to do with crime and more to do with reputation, why the cult revolver transformed
1:19.9	personal conflict into deadly spectacle, and how young men came to see violence as a right
1:24.2	of manhood. Along the way, Brian also explores how Gunfighters went from frontier figures to pop
1:29.2	culture icons, and which films, in his view, capture their essence best.
1:33.6	After the shows over, check at our show notes at AWM.com.
1:35.7	I.S. slash Gunfighters. All right, Brian Burrow, welcome to the show.
1:54.0	My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
	...

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