Posted on 03/27/2014 6:33:58 PM PDT by Clintons-B-Gone
As a western author, I am extremely proud of our rich, American heritage, our Westward expansion, the rugged individualist, and the man alone in the saddle.
The Gunfight at the OK Corral isn’t just a tale from our history; it is part of the fabric of our great nation.
Cowboy hats, boots, and six-guns are the items that often defined us as Americans. We are cowboys.
(Excerpt) Read more at clashdaily.com ...
Red Steagall, Sons of the San Joaquin, Chris LeDoux, Marty Robins...some of the best music of cowboying ever made.
Quite possibly.
Which is quite odd, since "the Old West" existed only in a relatively small part of the country and for at most 35 years.
Y’all are welcome at my place here in the wild west.....
so long as ya carry a 30 round magazine with your piece,
and have a copy of the constitution in your pocket.
Quite possibly.
Which is quite odd, since "the Old West" existed only in a relatively small part of the country and for at most 35 years.
I think there is much of the “Old West” contained/foreshadowed by the march of settlers over the Appalachians and out onto the plains.
It was also a story of failed gun control laws.
Real Cowboys still exist.
See the work of Wyman Meinzer, the State Photographer of Texas:
He grew up on a ranch near me. He has photographed many of the great ranches in Texas.
He is one of us. Certainly a Texan. (and no Damn Lib)
Try Cisco Houston to get some of the old ones.
My favorite Western of the last twenty years or so.
Great movie.
Cisco Houston was a communist.
Possibly. Yet how many “westerns,” books or movies, are set in the Appalachians or Midwest (or the southern territories FTM) between 1790 and say 1830? Very darn few.
“The Old West” in common parlance refers to a mythical period between the Civil War and the end of the century, or perhaps more precisely to the end of the open range in the late 1880s when barbed wire became ubiquitous.
By this definition “the Old West” lasted less than 25 years, though it hung on culturally in remote areas possibly into the 1920s.
I’ve always thought it very odd that American history focuses so obsessively on this period, when our history of over 400 years has a great many aspects that are fascinating.
Somehow the movies even manage to portray this period as lasting much longer, with a very B-movie I recently watched on late-night TV portraying a family as having a long, presumably multi-generational, history on their ranch on the open range. Untrue, except in the Old West of the myth, since the open range itself lasted less than 25 years.
Also a friend of Woodie Guthrie. However, he collected a remarkable collection of old west songs, beyond the depression era organizing music you likely refer to.
To see real men (cowboys) in action watch the show Cowboy Authentic on the RFD channel. They go around and spend time on several real working cattle ranches in the US (Winecup-Gamble, Tongue River Ranch, etc...). They show the day to day and interview several of the men. The re-occurring theme is their faith in God and their work ethic for a job they absolutely love.
Having been a line cowboy in my youth I can say a better job you cannot have if you have the metal. Sadly I was corrupted to making more money and sought “my fortune” to the forfeit of a great way of life.
Put things back where you found them.
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