Observer, I have to disagree with your addition to this thread. While the impact and role of dueling has been greatly magnified and glorified in the American re-interpretation of Western expansion of the 1940s, dueling certainly did happen.

Check this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_duels#United_States

By my count there are at least 7 well-documented duels in the American West in that list. And those are only duels between people well-known enough to be historically documented. And a quick search of historical records can easily turn up more; I found this duel and this duel (both not mentioned in the Wikipedia link above) in a matter of minutes.