The 100 Best Historical Photos of the American Cowboy

http://www.truewestmagazine.com/ ^ | December 8, 2015 | Meghan Saar

[V K Lee]

Before the Mexican-American War concluded in 1848, American traders who traveled to the Western frontier encountered Spanish vaqueros of northern Mexico. The arrival of railroads and an increased demand for beef during the Civil War drove the need for the cowboy. The earliest known photographs of these iconic Americans are tintypes, taken as early as the 1870s, most likely captured during a trail drive or at an end-of-trail town.

The Texas Live Stock Journal wrote glowingly of the cowboy on October 21, 1882: “A man wanting in courage would be as much out of place in a cow-camp, as a fish would be on dry land.

Indeed the life he is daily compelled to lead calls for the existence of the highest degree of cool calculating courage…the cowboy is as chivalrous as the famed knights of old.”

[V K Lee]

Lots of old photos found at this site. American cowboys and days of old.

In which to place Donald J. Trump? A knight of old or an original American Cowboy? http://www.truewestmagazine.com/the-100-best-historical-photos-of-the-american-cowboy/

[gunnyg]

Yeh!
Mr Trump in...High Noon! or The Searchers.....oh no, that one was a racist flik...even in its day....

Semper America!
Dick.G: aka: Gunny G
*****

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

[V K Lee]

I see DJT in a movie such as 'Rio Bravo'. His stature is similar to John Wayne. A larger than life man and one who never quits, never surrenders.

TRiUMPh

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Bookmark

[bigbob]

“Heifer-branded men”...lol. Then and now.

[A Navy Vet]

IIRC, the term "cowboy" didn't exist until the Earp/Clanton feud in Tombstone. It was a derogatory term associated with the Clantons/McLaurys who would cross the border and steal Mexican cattle. It's well documented in many books, writings, and court documents. BTW, they didn't wear red sashes like in the movie Tombstone. They were known to where sombreros, most likely to facilitate their theft of Mexican cattle.

The original terms were: drover, wrangler, cow-puncher, cattleman, and cow-herder. I could be wrong.

[dsrtsage]

We took this one while 4 wheeling across Nevada a couple of years ago (real photo, not staged).

[MUDDOG]

Trump

Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. He is the hero; he is everything.

[lefty-lie-spy]

Wow. That is a beautiful photo. Thank you.

[Bratch]

Best Cowboy Photo
A Texas Ranger during the Civil War before becoming a cattle businessman, Texas John Slaughter opened his final ranch near Douglas, Arizona. Robert G. McCubbin, the world’s foremost Old West photo collector, says this circa 1885 cabinet card of Slaughter’s cowboys is the best group photo of real working frontier cowboys. (Top row, from left) James Pursley, Walter Fife and James G. Maxwell. (Bottom row, from left) Billy Riggs, J.H. Mclelme and Judge John Blake.
– Courtesy Robert G. McCubbin Collection –

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

In which to place Donald J. Trump? A knight of old or an original American Cowboy?

I've always liked this one by Leighton called "Godspeed". I can imagine Sir Trump headed out to meet the enemy in a campaign to defend the realm.

So I'm a romantic. So what?

[V K Lee]

Even men of strength have a bit of true romanticism and compassion in their hearts. The two make them the men they are. Imagine Donald on a horse. Yuge!! :-)

[waterhill]

My paternal grandfather was born in the OK Territory in 1895. He was 14 and his brother 12 when they rode their horses to Arizona to work cattle on a ranch. He naturally ended up in the cavalry for WWI. Later in the Air at Love Field Dallas. Never knew him, but I have pics of him and. He was a cowboy. Real.

[Liberty Valance]

Randy Newman - Rider in the Rain

[waterhill]

He was a good judge of character my granny always said. Swore he was chivalrous and a true man who would help anyone. My dad still has some of his medals and other assorted things.

[Liberty Valance]

"He was a good judge of character my granny always said. Swore he was chivalrous and a true man who would help anyone."

A wonderful legacy to be cherished.

[truth_seeker]

“My paternal grandfather was born in the OK Territory in 1895. He was 14 and his brother 12 when they rode their horses to Arizona to work cattle on a ranch. He naturally ended up in the cavalry for WWI. Later in the Air at Love Field Dallas. Never knew him, but I have pics of him and. He was a cowboy. Real.”

My paternal grandfather was born in 1881, in then Dakota Territory. Both parents were from Sweden. He left home at about 14 and went west, to Northern Wyoming and Montana.

He wound up working in Bill Cody’s Wild West Show, as an acrobat and cowboy. He registered for the WWI draft in Sweet Water County, Montana in 1918, but was too old at age 37.

Finally settled down at about age 40, married, had two sons, the younger being my father. When my dad was a kid, his father rode horseback inspecting pipelines for Marathon Oil.

Lived out his days in Big Horn County Wyoming, dying in 1967 at age 86 plus/minus. His widow, 20 years his junior, lived until age 95 and died in 1996. Both buried at Cowley Wyoming.

His nickname was “Tex,” but nobody now alive knows if he was ever in Texas. I remember walking with him, through the museum in Cody, and hearing his stories of things he could remember.

[Rockpile]

There is a Washington Irving story @ 1830 where he writes
of passing “cowboys” driving cattle to market in New York state.
It might even be a word used in England originally.

[waterhill]

👍