<P> The mythologizing of the West began with minstrel shows and popular music in the 1840s . During the same period, P.T. Barnum presented Indian chiefs, dances, and other Wild West exhibits in his museums . However, large scale awareness really took off when the dime novel appeared in 1859, the first being Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter . By simplifying reality and grossly exaggerating the truth, the novels captured the public's attention with sensational tales of violence and heroism, and fixed in the public's mind stereotypical images of heroes and villains--courageous cowboys and savage Indians, virtuous lawmen and ruthless outlaws, brave settlers and predatory cattlemen . Millions of copies and thousands of titles were sold . The novels relied on a series of predictable literary formulas appealing to mass tastes and were often written in as little as a few days . The most successful of all dime novels was Edward S. Ellis' Seth Jones (1860). Ned Buntline's stories glamorized Buffalo Bill Cody and Edward L. Wheeler created "Deadwood Dick", "Hurricane Nell", and "Calamity Jane". </P> <P> Buffalo Bill Cody was the most effective popularizer of the Old West in the U.S. and Europe . He presented the first "Wild West" show in 1883, featuring a recreation of famous battles (especially Custer's Last Stand), expert marksmanship, and dramatic demonstrations of horsemanship by cowboys and Indians, as well as sure - shooting Annie Oakley . </P> <P> Elite Eastern writers and artists of the late 19th century promoted and celebrated western lore . Theodore Roosevelt, wearing his hats as historian, explorer, hunter, rancher and naturalist, was especially productive . Their work appeared in upscale national magazines such as Harper's Weekly featured illustrations by artists Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell, and others . Readers bought action - filled stories by writers like Owen Wister, conveying vivid images of the Old West . Remington lamented the passing of an era he helped to chronicle when he wrote: </P> <P> I knew the wild riders and the vacant land were about to vanish forever...I saw the living, breathing end of three American centuries of smoke and dust and sweat . </P>

Where did the term wild west come from