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The Cowboy Way
In honor of the National Day of the American Cowboy on July 26, 2008,
We bring you these tributes to some special cowboy influences
by Rod Miller
What is it that makes the
American cowboy a worldwide
icon? We often hear
about, and talk about, concepts like
“The Code of the West,” and “The
Cowboy Way,” and “The Cowboy
Code.”
But what does it all mean, really? Is
the answer in a list created by a matinee
idol for fan club distribution? Is it
in the pages of shoot-’em-up novels
with their steel-jawed heroes? Is it in
the songs and stories that outlive
passing generations?
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Rod Miller, a cowboy poet and lifelong
Westerner, is the author of John Muir,
Magnificent Tramp. He resides in Sandy, Utah. |
Well, it depends on whom you ask. And ask we did. We spoke with several
folks who are, in one way or
another, representative of the cowboy
life and spirit as it carries on
today—the kind of people to
approach for a tribute to the National
Day of the American Cowboy. We
asked them to talk about someone
from the cowboy tradition who
inspired, influenced, or otherwise
made a difference in their lives; someone
who personifies those nebulous
qualities we call “The Cowboy Code.”
As you’ll see in the pages to follow,
cowboy idols cover a lot of country.
From easels to arenas, authors to
entertainers, those who typify the
cowboy spirit aren’t restricted by
time, place, or occupation. But one
thing is consistent throughout—
each hero we profile here is, well,
heroic. Each represents qualities
worthy of emulation; attitudes
deserving admiration.
Read on to learn which cowboy
heroes inspired these cowboys to
become heroes themselves. And, this
July 26 on the National Day of the
American Cowboy, let your thoughts
turn to any of these, or any of your
own cowboy heroes, and take pause
to recall what they contributed to the
West and to our unflappable
American spirit.
Larry Mahan on Roy Rogers and Dale Evans - Cowboydom’s First Couple
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Larry Mahan has been a hero to generations of young cowboys dreaming of making it big in rodeo. Of course, Mahan has cowboy heroes of his own. Some inspired him in rodeo—where he won the World Champion All-Around Cowboy buckle six times, was two-time bull riding champion, and earned induction into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s
Rodeo Hall of Fame.
But when asked to talk about a cowboy hero he found particularly influential, rather
than look to the rodeo arena, he turned in wide-eyed youthful wonder to the silver
screen and Roy Rogers.
“Many’s the Saturday afternoon I sat in the Elsinore Theatre in Salem watching Roy
Rogers matinee movies,” Mahan says. “This was before I was interested in rodeo, or
even had a horse. I’d watch Roy and Trigger race across the silver screen chasing after
the bad guys. The good guys always won.” He says those battles between good and evil,
with a hero standing for the right and prevailing in the end, represent “a lot of what this
country stands for.” Among those values are “integrity, people pulling together for the
common good, and a handshake that’s as good as a contract.”
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| “We need to get back to the values Roy Rogers and Dale Evans represented in their movies. It’s a must. If not, we’re in for a bumpy ride,” Mahan says. “Events like the National Day of the American Cowboy can bring those values back for the younger generation, o at least create a knowledge base of what was there, of what matters.” |
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But there was another lesson in those movies—Roy’s wife and co-star, Dale Evans. “The partnership between Roy and Dale brought to the forefront the implications of having a significant other, a wife, and showing that relationships could work,” Mahan says. “When I look at all the Western heroes, I think Roy’s relationship with Dale Evans had the biggest impact on me.”
Larry relishes the fact that he got to know Roy and Dale personally, first meeting them
at a rodeo at the Houston Astrodome, and later being invited to a Hollywood roast for
Roy Rogers and Gene Autry—the legendary pair’s first appearance together in many
years. He found his hero to be “a gentleman, a great human being.”
After retiring from rodeo and taking up other interests, Mahan became acquainted
with Snuff Garrett, a legend in the music business. “On occasion, Snuff would invite me
to his home, where he had this 50-seat theater, and I’d get to watch Roy Rogers movies
while sitting next to Roy himself. What a treat that was!”It took him back, perhaps, to
his youth, when those same movies were a “very positive influence.”
Elmer Kelton On Will James - From One Author to Another
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Take a look at the bookshelf of any serious reader of
Western fiction and it’s dead-certain you’ll see books by Texas
author Elmer Kelton there. His novels have appeared regularly for
more than half a century, with some 40 titles published.
A list of awards, recognition, and honors he’s received would require a book of its own. Highlights include two honorary doctorate degrees; four
Wrangler Awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum; a
Distinguished Achievement Award from the Western Literature Association; and seven
Spur Awards from Western Writers of America. His fellow members in that organization
also recently voted him the Greatest Living Western Writer.
Kelton grew up in various cow camps and at the headquarters of the McElroy Ranch
in Texas, where his father worked for more than three-and-a-half decades. At some
point during his school years in nearby Crane, probably third or fourth grade, the boy
was handed a copy of Smoky the Cowhorse by Will James, a book approved for use in
Texas classrooms. It was a revelation.
“The grammar may have left a lot to be desired from an English teacher’s standpoint,”
Kelton says, “but I could see the kind of cowboys I knew in his characters. Will James
was a natural storyteller. His books are more like listening to a story than reading one.”
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| “The cowboy has made a
unique place for himself in
American history, folklore,
and the popular imagination,
and is this country’s most
recognizable iconic figure in
other parts of the world,”
Kelton says. “It is fitting that
he be recognized with the
National Day of the Cowboy.” |
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Kelton read the entire Will James library before long. He particularly admires
Scorpion, which many critics consider to be James’ best work from a literary standpoint.
“When I read Lone Cowboy,” Kelton says, “I bought the whole thing.” He did not know
until many years later that the purported autobiography was mostly a work of fiction,
but it probably wouldn’t have mattered. Besides, he says, “knowing that, there’s an extra
poignancy to his stories that may have come from fear of being discovered.”
Despite James’ personal fictions about himself, Kelton found much realism in the
books and much to admire and emulate when he took up writing himself. “Like Will
James, I wanted to write about the life I knew. Many Westerns aren’t realistic, and I
wanted to convey reality.”
Kelton says the artwork of Will James is also worthy of adoration. “I think he’s the
best pen and ink artist of cowboys and horses—especially horses. His anatomy is perfect,
and he expresses action precisely.”
While he hasn’t re-read Will James for some years, Kelton admits to cracking open
the books from time to time. “I still go back to his pictures for inspiration.”
Baxter Black on Red Steagall - Black on Red
“I was at the height of the lowest part of my life,” cowboy
poet Baxter Black says, “if you can say such a thing. That’s when Red Steagall showed up.” Writing poetry hadn’t occurred to Black at the time. “I thought I was a songwriter,” he says.
He was working as a veterinarian for an Idaho cattle company and was beset by problems in his personal life. Somehow, a tape of
songs he had written made its way to Steagall, who tracked him down and asked for an
improved version of one of the songs. Steagall recorded the rewrite on an album, and
strong-armed the star-struck Black into traveling to his ranch in Texas. “I couldn’t
afford a bus ticket to Nampa,” Black says. “Red said, ‘You need to come down here. I’ll
send you a plane ticket and take the money out of your royalties.’ ”
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| “Red represents the
original, traditional image
of the authentic cowboy,”
Black says. “And those are
the qualities the National
Day of the American
Cowboy promotes—it can
help push the qualities we
like, and stand against the
tendency some have to use
‘cowboy’ as an insult.” |
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Steagall was a significant force in Western music at the time, performing at scores of
rodeos, writing hit songs for many other artists and recording several of his own, as
well as appearing on television and in movies. His career has flourished since, with
continued success in music, with publication of books of poetry, and with a syndicated
radio program that he hosts. Not to mention honors such as his numerous Wrangler
awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, his induction into
the Texas Trail Hall of Fame and the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and his stint as Poet
Laureate of Texas.
Black spent several days with Steagall and got his first exposure to show business—
holding Reba McEntire’s horse while she and Red sang at a rodeo. He also got his first
exposure to real poetry. “We were sitting on the porch one day when Red brought out a
book of poems by Carlos Ashley and read some to me. I’d never heard anything like that.
It had a profound impression on me.” Steagall forced the book—an autographed copy—
on Black and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I think he saved my life,” Black says, speaking not only of the introduction to what
would become his life’s work, but of his hero’s kindness. “He gave me hope that there
was something good on the other side of this low spot I was in. And it’s not just me. He
helps lots of people in his own, quiet way.”
Black says he once objected to a kindness Steagall offered. “I told him, you can’t do
that—why, we’re only friends. He gave me a line—one I’ve used since. Red said, ‘Baxter,
you can’t be more than friends.’”
Pam Minick on Sammy Thurman - Pam’n’Sammy
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When she was a teenager, Pam Minick “thought rodeo
queens were just fluff.” She was determined to be a cowgirl. “I
thought I had to choose—being a cowgirl or being a rodeo queen,”
she says. Then, while still in junior high school, she attended a barrel-
racing seminar taught by Sammy Thurman.
“She showed me that you can be a respected horsewoman, and
look like a lady,” Minick says of the woman who pioneered the barrel racing school. A
respected horsewoman she certainly is. Sammy Thurman won the Women’s
Professional Rodeo Association barrel racing championship in 1965, and on occasion
worked as a pickup woman in the rodeo arena. Now Sammy Thurman Brackenbury, she was honored with induction into the Indian Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2002.
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| “The National Day of the
American Cowboy is becoming
a worldwide celebration of
Western ideals, bringing attention
to the cowboy and providing
opportunities to spread
the word about people like
Sammy and what they stand
for,” Minick says. “It’s all
about education. Sammy is always willing to share her
knowledge.” |
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Looking like a lady also served her well. Thurman modeled for magazine advertisements
for Tony Lama boots, and she has appeared in a number of films, including a role
as the mother of Robert Blake’s character in the 1967 movie In Cold Blood. Her equestrian
skills have also played a role in movies—she has been a stunt rider or performed
other stunts in some twenty films. “Even today, at age sixty-plus, she is one of the most
respected stuntwomen in Hollywood,” Minick says of her hero.
“Sammy Thurman proved to me that women could be both beautiful and tough. She
represents the way women of historical significance were—they could cook breakfast,
give birth, then cook dinner,” Minick says. “She was obviously not of that generation,
but she does it all. She speaks well, looks beautiful, trains her own horses, and can hook
up her own horse trailer and drive a thousand miles.”
Minick credits Thurman for much of her own success in life. “I think she let me
believe that I could become Miss Rodeo America [which Minick did, in 1973]. Becoming
Miss Rodeo America opened doors for me in everything I have done in broadcasting,
from CBS to ESPN to TNN to my own series, now on RFD-TV.” Minick’s other accomplishments
include World Champion Breakaway Roper, qualifier for the Women’s
National Finals Rodeo in team roping, Lane Frost Award winner, recipient of the Tad
Lucas Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, membership
in the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and recognition as one of the Great Women of Texas.
“I don’t know that Sammy Thurman has been given enough credit for the positive
influence she was for my generation,” Minick says. “And she is still a force in the movie
industry and for women and horses.”
Jeff Wolf on George Paul - Wolf’s Point
Jeff Wolf has studied the cowboy life from a number of
vantage points. First, as a boy growing up on a Utah ranch, then
from the backs of countless bulls as a professional rodeo cowboy,
and later from horseback as a working cowhand on ranches
throughout the Great Basin buckaroo country, and now as a prizewinning
Western sculptor and artist. Wolf’s works are collected
internationally and are in numerous galleries and museums, including the ProRodeo
Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy.
While a boy on a family vacation in Montana, Wolf saw his first copy of Rodeo Sports
News and read of the life and death of world champion bull rider George Paul. “Right
then, I knew that I wanted to be like him, and determined to learn everything I could
about riding bulls the way he did,” Wolf says. After amateur and high school rodeo, Wolf
hit the road full time, spending eight years on the PRCA circuit. “Everywhere I went,” he
says, “I’d talk to bull riders about George Paul.” Donny Gay told him stories. “Freckles
Brown said George had the strongest arm of any bull rider he’d ever seen.” Jerry Pardue,
one of Paul’s traveling companions, showed Wolf personal photos of the champion.
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| “George Paul was the kind of
cowboy who made an impression
everywhere he went,”
says Wolf, who thinks Paul
would have been a perfect fit
for the National Day of the
American Cowboy. “George
was a colorful character, as
colorful as the history of the
American West. The National
Day of the American Cowboy
is a way to preserve and
recognize what we had and
what we have.” |
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Wolf’s hero was someone who attacked bull riding with determination. He was
among the first to earn a pilot’s license and fly himself to rodeos. In 1967, he placed
fourth in bull riding and 13th in the All-Around standings—he also rode bareback horses—
and in 1968 was World Champion Bull Rider and fifth in the All-Around.
“There’s no doubt he is one of the greatest bull riders of all time,” Wolf says. “The year
he won the championship, he topped 79 bulls in a row without a buckoff. So far as I
know, no one else have ever come close to that streak. If he’d have lived, nobody would
have beat him.”
The airplane that contributed to the champion’s success also led to his demise. Wolf
says, “I don’t know if it’s true, but the story was that he would put the plane on autopilot
and take naps. That time, he wasn’t flying high enough and crashed into a mountain.”
The accident occurred August 1, 1970. Flying between rodeos, Paul failed to clear
Commissary Ridge near Kemmerer, Wyo.
“George Paul was all guts,” Wolf says. “He determined to be the best of all time, and
nothing was going to stop him. I admire that kind of attitude.”
Gov. Brian Schweitzer on the Cowdog - And a Canine Champion, Besides
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All National Day of the American Cowboy tributes
aside, let us take a moment to praise the American Cowboy’s
best friend…
Some things in life are predictable. Brian Schweitzer, governor
of Montana, isn’t one of them. When asked about inspirational
influences in his life, he reeled off a list of folks whose names would
surprise no one. Then he settled on what he thought most representative of all that’s
good and true about the West: the cow dog.
His reasoning is indisputable. “Your top hand will leave you for greener pastures. Not
a cow dog,” Schweitzer says. “A cow dog won’t quit on you. He’s loyal. He stays with you
through thick and thin. A dog works hard—and for what? Just to be with you. And that
dog will save you from a mad mama cow when nobody else will.”
Both history and experience support the governor. He’s a third-generation Montana
rancher and cattleman who has worked with livestock his entire life. He tells the story of
a famous Montana dog named Shep. “When ol’ Earl, his owner, died long ago around Fort
Belknap, they boxed him up and shipped him home on the train for burial. Then folks
started noticing a dog hanging around the train station. It was Earl’s dog. And that dog
stayed there, winter and summer, year after year, waiting for his master to come back,
until the day he died.” Thousands of Boy Scouts laid that dog to rest in a place of honor,
the grave marked with a statue—a bronze replica of which sits on Schweitzer’s desk.
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| “Here in Montana, cowboy
ideals and traditions are
important, both historically
and today,” Gov. Schweitzer
says. “Every year, we officially
recognize the National Day of
the American Cowboy to help
perpetuate Western values
here and across the country.” |
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He’s had good dogs of his own. The current version, Jag, spends his days in the governor’s
office, or traveling with Schweitzer to meetings, speaking engagements, and
other functions. “He’s a good judge of character. At receptions, he shakes hands. When
people visit the office, Jag makes them welcome. Except when lobbyists come to call.
Then he stays under the desk and growls. If I let him, he’d bite ’em heel and nose as
quick as say howdy.”
When it comes to handling cattle, no man can equal a good stock dog. “When off duty,
they’ll lay down and watch cows. They learn the psychology of cows,” he says. “Anyone
who works cattle knows the less you say, the less quick movement you make, the more
psychology you use, the more successful you’ll be. All that is innate in dogs. They’re
born with that information.”
The governor goes even further in his praise. “The smartest one in any cattle outfit
will be a cow dog. There’s never been a good cowboy without a good dog. They’re the
real deal.”
“Stompeding” for the Cowboy Cause
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President Truman |
While American Cowboy was the first to successfully lobby for a national holiday
to recognize the importance of the cowboy in American culture—getting a resolution passed through Congress to that effect in 2004—an earlier maverick floated the idea up to the highest ranks much earlier, and with a much more blunt style of diplomacy.
In the mid-1940s, a journalist named Samuel A. Montague
completed service with the Army Air Corps in Panama during World War II. Back Stateside, he traveled to the tiny town of Bandera, Texas, on a photographic assignment. He was enthralled with the town and its many working dude ranches, and devised a public relations campaign to help bring national attention to the cowboy world of Bandera. In the guise of a fictional Bandera cowboy named Zeke, Montague sent an ultimatum via telegram to President Harry S. Truman, asking that May 21 or 22 be proclaimed a national holiday in recognition of the cowboy. Montague gave Truman 48 hours to respond, and when no reply came, he sent another telegram informing the president that because he would not proclaim cowboy day, Bandera was “Stompeding” from the union to become the “Free State of
Bandera’’. He also sent the telegram to national media, and the story was picked up by the Associated Press, San Antonio papers, and other media outlets.
“The reason we were going to stompede out of the Union was because there was a Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day, and sweetheart’s
day, and pickle day, and you name it, but there was nothing ever done for cowboys,” Montague said during an oral interview
that’s included in the Truman Library archives. “The cowboy had settled the West; he had brought law and order out there,
and he rode for the Pony Express and delivered the mail. He did all of these things and nobody ever gave him any recognition.”
The Bandera Stompede became a raucous local event that was held annually until the early 1970s.
Montague, who is now 96 years old, was tourism director for Kansas City from 1963 until he retired. His wife recently sent his
typed memoirs to Bandera’s Frontier Times Museum for inclusion in its collection.
—Tom Wilmes
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