Many people think of the Wild West as an exciting saloon-filled hodgepodge of towns used as the backdrop for real life Cowboys vs Indians. 

But that reality is a Hollywood creation. For instance, far more people on the frontier died from starvation and disease than violence.

The common thread between fact and fiction is that people yearned for the freedom of the frontier. So here it is. 

Here are 23 Wild West photos that get increasingly wild as you go.