How long did real cowboys live One answer may be found in the book The Last Cowboys by Connie Brooks University of New Mexico Press This delightful book presents a thoughtful sociological study of cowboys in West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico around the year 1890 A sample of 32 cowboys gave the following years of longevity stem 4 a Make a stem and leaf display for these data Enter numbers from smallest to largest separated by spaces Enter NONE for stems with no values 5 6 7 8 72 60 69 74 71 72 86 83 89 58 76 9 77 85 94 57 leaf 46 b Consider the following quote from Baron von Richthofen in his Cattle Raising on the Plains of North America Cowboys are to be found among the sons of the best families The truth is probably that most were not a drunken gambling lot quick to draw and fire their pistols Does the data distribution of longevity lend credence to this quote No these cowboys did not live long lives as evidenced by the high frequency of leaves for stems 4 and 5 i e 40 year old and 50 year old Sort of these cowboys lived somewhat long lives as evidenced by the high frequency of leaves for stems 5 and 6 1 e 50 year old and 60 year old Yes these cowboys certainly lived long lives as evidenced by the high frequency of leaves for stems 7 8 and 9 i e