10. The emergence of films as a record of history
In the early days of film in the United States, sources for stories were abundant. The popularity of the western dime novels and magazine serials provided a ripe source for stories, and an audience ready-made to watch them. Historical facts were immaterial, and often inconvenient. Entertainment was what mattered. Ironically the first film based on the American West was made in Britain (Blackburn) in 1899. It had a running time of under ninety seconds and was titled Kidnapping by Indians. The first American-made film of the genre which became known as westerns followed four years later.
Titled The Great Train Robbery, it ran for 12 minutes, and though based in the American west it was filmed in New Jersey, itself a demonstration of how the new medium could deceive its audience. It contained several of what would become clichés of the genre, including amoral characters amusing themselves by discharging their revolvers at some unfortunate’s feet, making him dance. Dynamite used to rob the train was also featured. Though such events were relatively rare, they became staples of the western, and were engraved in the public mind as part of the history of the settling of the west.