The reasons why the western was popular (and is enduring) is many fold
(birth of the American Myth for example) and the reasons why the genre
died are many. Not the least of which is
that it resisted an accurate view of the west, ignored the diversity of
the west, and catered to a white, American, male audience (and was
filtered through that view point). By the time the revisionist history
books of the 1970's came out that showed a more accurate representation
of the west and, more perhaps more importantly, the effect of those
books were felt in fiction in the 1980's, it was too late for a course
correction.
Also, in the 50's and 60's the ideal representative
of the explorer moved away from the settler (ie: cowboys) and moved
towards the astronaut. The western started to decline, science fiction
started to climb. Maybe its a coincidence, maybe not.
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