Lesson Y8-U07-L03

Y8-U07-L03 Cowboys & Lawmen Myth vs Reality Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 13

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y8-U07-L03, Cowboys & Lawmen Myth vs Reality: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 13: Year 8: The Wild West, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is a 'myth' in history?

    • A written record of the laws passed by a town council in the West
    • A popular but exaggerated story that may not be fully true
    • A sworn statement given by a witness at a trial in court
    • A map showing the routes taken by settlers across the Plains

  2. What does the term 'interpretation' mean, as it applies to films and books about the Wild West?

    • A list of the dates on which the important laws were passed
    • A version of the past created later by a writer, historian or film-maker
    • A printed copy of a speech given by a famous gunfighter
    • A translation of an old document into a modern language

  3. What is a 'gunfighter'?

    • A soldier who fired cannons from a fort on the Plains, and who was paid by the army for every shot he took
    • A hunter who shot buffalo for their hides and meat, and who sold the bones to the railway companies for money
    • A marshal who was paid to arrest all the cattle thieves in the county, and kept their horses in the town jail
    • A man with a reputation for fighting with pistols, which was often exaggerated

  4. What is a 'vigilante'?

    • A lawman appointed by the town council to keep order
    • A judge who hears cases in a court of law in a large city
    • An ordinary person who punishes crime themselves, outside the law
    • A soldier who guards a railway line against attack

  5. What is a 'marshal'?

    • A railway official who checks tickets on the trains
    • A lawman appointed to keep order in a town or territory
    • A soldier who commands an army on the Great Plains
    • A rancher who owns the largest herd of cattle in a county

  6. What were 'dime novels'?

    • Newspapers that reported the price of cattle at the market
    • Official reports written by the army about the Plains wars
    • Cheap, thrilling paperbacks that turned real men into fearless heroes
    • Expensive hardback books that recorded the laws of the West

  7. When did Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show begin touring?

    • 1862
    • 1883
    • 1849
    • 1900

  8. From when did Hollywood Westerns become popular?

    • From the 1880s, when the first Western novels were printed
    • From the 1960s onwards, after the end of the Civil War
    • From the 1840s, when the first cowboy films were shown in London
    • From the 1900s, with their peak between the 1930s and 1960s

  9. Which myth did Hollywood Westerns help to invent?

    • The Homestead Act that gave away land to settlers for free
    • The buffalo hunts that fed the whole Plains population each winter
    • The railway journey that took six months by wagon train
    • The high-noon quick-draw duel and the lone heroic lawman

  10. What did many cow towns, such as Dodge City and Abilene, do about guns?

    • They gave every rancher a licence to fire at strangers
    • They sold guns at the railway station to all arriving settlers
    • They made every visitor carry two guns for their own protection
    • They banned guns, and visitors had to hand their weapons to the marshal

  11. How many killings a year did real cow towns average in their cattle seasons?

    • About 0.015
    • About 150
    • About 15
    • About 1.5

  12. Why is the fast-draw duel at high noon treated as a myth?

    • Because the fast-draw duel was banned in every Western state, and anyone caught duelling was jailed for life
    • Because the duel took place only on the railway, never in the streets, where marshals had banned every gun
    • There is almost no evidence of such duels, and real shootings were usually sudden, drunken or from ambush
    • Because gunfights were always fought with rifles from a distance, so a pistol duel in the street was impossible

  13. What usually kept order in real Western towns?

    • An army garrison that was stationed in every town on the Plains
    • A church council that punished every crime with banishment
    • A single brave sheriff who shot every criminal on sight
    • Town rules, gun bans, hired lawmen, courts and sometimes vigilante justice

  14. Who was Wyatt Earp in reality?

    • A Mexican outlaw who robbed stagecoaches on the Plains
    • A cattle rancher who never carried a gun in his life
    • A fearless lawman who never gambled or drank in any saloon
    • A part-time lawman who also gambled and ran saloons

  15. How long did the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral last?

    • About 30 seconds
    • About 30 minutes
    • About three hours
    • About three days

  16. How did 'Wild Bill' Hickok die in 1876?

    • He was shot in a duel at high noon in the street
    • He died of a fever in a cattle camp on the Plains
    • He was hanged in the main square of a cow town
    • He was shot from behind while playing cards

  17. How old was Billy the Kid when he was killed in 1881?

    • Around 21
    • About 50
    • About 35
    • About 12

  18. Who killed Billy the Kid in 1881?

    • Buffalo Bill, the showman who toured the East with a live arena show of cowboys and attacks
    • Wild Bill Hickok, a real lawman and gambler who was shot dead from behind while playing cards
    • The lawman Pat Garrett
    • Wyatt Earp, a part-time lawman who also gambled and ran saloons in several Western towns

  19. A film shows a sheriff killing gunmen in a duel at high noon. Which evidence suggests this is a myth?

    • Cow towns banned guns, and real shootings were usually sudden, drunken or from ambush
    • The film was made in Hollywood, which is always a sign of a myth, since studios cared little for real records
    • The film was made in colour, which was not possible in the 1800s, when cameras only took black and white photos
    • The sheriff in the film wore a hat, which real lawmen never did, and carried his pistol in a holster on his hip

  20. Which statement best sums up the main point about the Wild West myth and reality?

    • The West had no lawmen and no courts at all for the whole period
    • The West was a quiet place where no one ever carried a gun or owned a pistol
    • The West was far more violent than the films show, with duels every day
    • The wildness of the West is mostly myth, and real towns were often more law-abiding

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