Final answer:
Cattle drives, critical to the American West's history, symbolized by cowboys, were eventually made obsolete by the expansion of railroads. The mythic West tends to emphasize cowboys and conflict, which distorts the significant role of federal policy and efforts of ordinary families. The actual history reflects broader themes of class struggle and was more progressive in terms of social mobility and women's suffrage.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cowboys and their mobile lifestyle on horseback became a symbol of the American West during the period of western migration and settlement. The iconic image of a cowboy driving a herd of cattle across the Great Plains is deeply etched into the American historical consciousness.
In reality, cowboys during cattle drives lived a life of hard work, facing dangers from the environment and the task of handling large herds of cattle over vast distances to reach railheads. The development of railroads was critical to this migration and economic activity, significantly shaping life in the West.
As the railroads expanded, they enabled ranchers to move cattle more efficiently to market, greatly reducing the need for long cattle drives. Moreover, this transportation revolution also facilitated the movement of goods and people, influencing every aspect of life in the American West from agriculture to mining.
The creation of the mythic Old West distorted the actual history by downplaying the strategic federal policies in land distribution, the homesteading acts, the multiple roles women played on the frontier, and the significant struggles for women's suffrage.
Yet, in some aspects, the West provided a more egalitarian society where hard work could lead to land ownership and social mobility, contrary to the restrictive social hierarchies prevalent in the East. Women's suffrage found success in the West earlier than in the rest of the nation, suggesting more progressive attitudes towards women's roles within Western society at that time.