Folklore and Songs

Folk Stories/ Heroes and Heroines; Tall Tales and Legends	Notes
Historical Figures made into "Legends" and "Movie Legends"
Billy the Kid	Seen as a 'Robin Hood';  E. Estavez "Young Guns2" first on the left
Calamity Jane	Doris Day Musical version of Calamity Jane
Jeremiah Johnson
Davy Crockett	Died at the Alamo 1836  TV star Fess Parker as Davy Crockett
Geronimo	Chuck Conners as Geronimo    Wes Studi (far right) as Geronimo White Mountain Apaches
Gregorio Cortez Lira	Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
Wild Bill Hickok	Guy Madison TV Wild Bill; Movie Jeff Bridges
Judge Roy Bean
Jim Bowie	Died at Alamo 1836; produced a long bladed knife famous on the frontier made by Jim Black
Peg Leg Smith
Bigfoot Wallace	Texas Ranger 6'2" 240 lbs
Fictitious Characters
Pecos Bill and Slue-Foot Sue
Joaquin Murietta	Thought to be a real character, but is in fact fictional
Deadwood Dick
Yosemite Sam
La Llorona: Omen of Death
Sasquatch	NW monster
Bandit of the Goldfields
Slide Rock Bolters	CO monster that eats tourist
Jackalope	Taxidermist creation
Wile E. Coyote
Zorro	TV show filmed at San Juan Capistrano and San Luis Rey Missions Guy Madison plays Zorro

SOURCES:

1) Schlosser, S.E.

         2005 Spooky Southwest. Globe Pequot

2) Erdoes, R.

        1991 Legends and Tales of the American West. Pantheon, New York.

3) Erdoes, R. and A. Ortiz

       1984 American Indian Myths and Legends. Pantheon, New York.  

Western Singers/Singing Cowboys	Notes
Roy Acuff
Gene Autry	Movies, TV; Owned a baseball team (Angels) and established Western Heritage/ Autry Center, Los Angeles CA
Roy Rogers	Movies/TV; Museum moved from Victorville CA to Branson. MO
Tex Ritter	TV movie themes such as "High Noon"; son in TV: John Ritter
Patsy Montana
Marty Robbins
Ian Tyson
Frankie Lane	original "Rawhide" song
Bing Crosby
Ray Price
Johnny Horton
Arizona Wranglers

[edit] List of Western songs

• "Abilene"
• "Along The Navaho Trail"
• "Along The Santa Fe Trail"
• "Back In The Saddle Again"
• "Ballad Of The Alamo"
• The theme song to Bonanza
• "Buenas Tardes Amigo"
• "Big Iron"
• "Billy The Kid"
• "Blue Shadows On The Trail"
• "Blue Prairie"
• "Buffalo Gals (Won't You Come Out Tonight?)"
• "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"
• "Call Of The Canyon"
• "Carry Me Back To The Lone Prairie"
• "Cattle Call"
• "Cheyenne"
• "Cimarron (Roll On)"
• "Cool Water"
• "The Cowboy's Life"
• "Oh My Darling, Clementine"
• "Deep In The Heart Of Texas"
• "Don't Fence Me In"
• "Don't Take Your Guns to Town"
• "El Paso"
• "El Paso City"
• "Git Along, Little Dogies"
• "Halfway To Montana"
• "Happy Trails"
• "Hold on Little Dogies"
• "Hold On"
• "Home On The Range"
• "I'm An Old Cowhand (From The Rio Grande)"
• "I Ride An Old Paint"
• "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart"
• "Jingle Jangle Jingle (I Got Spurs)"
• "Little Joe The Wrangler"
• "The Last Roundup"
• "The Lone Star Trail"
• "The Masters Call"
• "Night Rider's Lament"
• "Oh! Susanna"
• "The Old Chisholm Trail"
• "Pistol Packin' Mama"
• "Red River Valley"
• "Red Wing"
• "Running Gun"
• "Ghost Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)"
• "Rogue River Valley"
• "San Antonio Rose"
• "Sioux City Sue"
• "Song Of The Sierras"
• "The Soughrty Peaks"
• "Strawberry Roan"
• "Streets Of Laredo (The Cowboy's Lament)"
• "Sweet Betsy from Pike"
• "Texas Plains"
• "Tumbling Tumbleweeds"
• "Utah Carol"
• "Way Out There"
• "When The Cactus Is In Bloom"
• "The Yellow Rose Of Texas"
• "Zebra Dun"