July 4, 1900: Louis’ Noble Lie?

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance offers us one of American film’s great moments. U.S. Senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) has gained his position of service from an act of selfless heroism: he has faced down Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), a notorious Western outlaw. Stoddard is a good and true man who lives by the letter and spirit of the law. White-collar Easterner that he is, a gunfight on a dirt street took his ultimate courage. But he knows something. Decades and grey hairs later, he returns to the scene for the funeral of his friend Tom Doniphan (John Wayne). This is big news: a U.S. Senator visiting a hole-in-the-wall Western town. The local press turns out and wants his story. Why has he come? Who was Tom Doniphan? In the press interview, Stoddard reveals the truth: It wasn’t he who killed Valance: it was Doniphan, shooting from the shadows, covering for his friend, who never would have stood a chance. When the editor learns this, he puts down his pen. “You’re not going to use the story?” Stoddard asks. Replies the editor, “This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” Researchers and biographers depend on fact, not on legend. Justice, too, depends on fact, as does science. The Enlightenment took us away from monarchy and dogma and brought us to an age of reason. So, what value does legend have, if it cannot be verified? Th