Thanks to countless books, television shows and movies, the Wild West has often been romanticized, the wide open prairies, drinking whisky in quaint saloons, the savage Red Indians and gunfights galore.
The truth, as the truth often is, is somewhat more complicated than what the Hollywood lens has shown us about this pivotal part of American history. In reality, we really know very little about this tumultuous time in history.
So, it is through the lens of the camera we take a look as some rare pictures of the people and places from a time that was dangerous, brutal and some times wholly unforgiving.
