The Cowboy Mystique
"Aiding A Comrade" by Frederic Remington
One of the most iconic figures in American History has been the image of the cowboy. Symbols of freedom, masculinity and the spirit of adventure, the cowboy was once a kind of role model. They lived and worked in a dangerous & lawless land and they managed to survive and they inspired a legend. Frederic Remington painted them in all their glory. Writers told of their courageous deeds. Singers, like the great Marty Robbins, romanticized them.
The cowboys were not necessarily good men or bad men. They kind of existed somewhere in between. Billy the Kid took on the role of cowboy during the "Lincoln County Wars".
In this rare, recently discovered photograph, Billy is on the left in the back row, The man who eventually killed him (Pat Garrett) is in the front row - far right.
/https://public-media.smithsonianmag.com/filer/b7/d8/b7d8bcef-32c8-4839-a742-c24b07ea5204/billythekid.jpg)
The following lyrics are from an old song of the kid:
I'll sing you a true song of Billy the Kid
I'll sing of some desperate deeds that he did
Way out in New Mexico long long ago
When a man's only chance was his own forty-four
When Billy the Kid was a very young lad
In old Silver City he went to the bad
'Way out in the West with a gun in his hand
At the age of twelve years he did kill his first man
There's Mexican maidens play guitars and sing
Songs about Billy, their boy bandit king
'Ere his young manhood has reached his sad end
With a notch an his pistol for twenty one men!
Was on a sad night when poor Billy died
He said to his friend, "I'm not satisfied
There's twenty one men I have put bullets through
Sheriff Pat Garrett must make twenty two!"
I'll sing you how Billy the Kid met his fate
The bright moon was shinin', the hour was late
Shot down by Pat Garrett who once was his friend
The young outlaw's life is now come to an end
There's many a man with a face fine and fair
Who start out in life with a chance to be square
Just like poor Billy they wander astray
They'll lose their lives in the very same way!
In the little 45 record version of this song I had as a very young boy there was narration added between lines. I recall to this very day the narrator saying that he killed twenty one men, not counting Mexicans and Indians. Yes, I found that strange even as a child. They didn't bother to count Mexicans and Indians, which brings me to a little observation, now at my advanced age, in the year 2018. Back when the cowboys drove cattle across the southwest, they were feared by certain groups. I would venture to say that two groups lived in such fear: 1) those who wanted to settle/farm the range and 2) the Indians who lived near the cattle drives.
It was a violent episode in the history of the west.
Eventually, the rule of law came to the great west, ya, even "out there" in New Mexico! The raucous cowboy was replaced by a much more docile cattle man. Civility and equality followed once law was established, enforced and respected. The west lived in such harmony for almost a century.
However, fear has returned to the southwest. It is no longer that sobering man on the horse, now it's the alien stranger. It is he who seems to be devoid of any fear of law enforcement and it is he who strikes fear into the hearts of American citizens living along the border.
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We have come full circle!
The story of a true modern cowboy from last month's Texas Monthly.
This is a long article but worth the time.
You are right!
Are you from Texas or living there?
Been here for several years now
I've never been to the Lone Star State, though it is on my bucket list. The furthest west I've gone is Las Vegas, (many times in my younger days) and Gallup, New Mexico.
Flat, flatter, and more flat.
OK, that's bit of an exaggeration, I'm at 400 ft above sea level but if you dig down 10 - 12 feet you get large pieces of ancient coral limestone, sea shells and Nautilus fossils.
Houston is on average 80 feet above sea level but many don't consider it "Texan", lol
It is now the 4th largest city. What do they consider it?
OK, my first answer would probably be a rather racist comparison to little Bombay or Islamabad - Houston is more like the UN than the UN or NYC.
As far as the cities go? El Paso gets little respect among our major cities but this article from Texas Monthly describes the rivalries rather nicely.
Again a long read but not as long as the last one, lol
I always enjoyed El Paso...Had an office there and my wife's aunt lived there so we were there quite a bit.
They're handing you a line Tex. I am in Michigan, it is August and the temperature is not pleasant at all. Where Texas is hot and dry in the summer, being a peninsula, Michigan is hot and humid. I was in Monahans some time back during the summer. While it was hotter than Hell, your body cooled off quite easily since it was so dry. Doesn't happen here. Ever since Southeast Asia, I have had a really hard time dealing with hot and humid. Maybe I should be like a reverse snowbird. Instead of spending the summer here and the winter in the South, I should spend winters here and summers in Alaska.
Far as the snow goes, who shovels??? If I'm going to use a riding mower to minimize time in the sun, I'm also going to use a snowblower rather than a shovel. The internal combustion engine is our friend.
One of the guys here (haven't seen him in a while) grew up in Michigan and now lives in Palm Springs, CA. We used to do the same teasing routine. During the winter, he would ask how deep the snow was and whether we too would like to go out and sit by the pool. I could win those ones, though. Since he was in Southern California and almost always under water restrictions, all I had to do was ask how tall the grass was out there. When he moved in, a major decision was whether to put white or red gravel in the place where his lawn was supposed to be.
About 25 years ago, when we were both in our 40's, I was talking to one of my cousins about our Uncle George. Shortly after WWII, he married a lady from Wyoming and moved out there. When I talked to my cousin, I found out that both of our minds had gotten the same impression. Wyoming; far out, Uncle George is a cowboy. We both kept that impression until, in our thirties, our aunt died and George moved back to Michigan. Then we found out that, rather than being a cowboy, he was a plumber in Casper.
another rapidly growing city
Most definitely. Damn, we don't have a sweating emoji (hey Perrie, we need one of those).
Amen to that. That huge body of water called the Gulf of Mexico is attached to the Caribbean Sea.
We've just had several weeks of 105 plus days and 90 degree nights.
Got to the point where I was cold outside last night when it was 72 degrees, lol
Depends which one you go to. If it's the city, it's spelled with a "W". If it's the straits, the bridge or the island, it's spelled "Mackinac" (we didn't do it, blame the French, none of them knew how to spell).
Having lived in the DFW area twice and traveling to all the major cities in Texas on business I got a pretty good view of Texas...We now spend the winters in Port Aransas or Rockport on the gulf.
We are only a block from the beach in Port A..Great fishing, seafood, entertainment and bird life.
Here is one of the local residents. A Heron.
Vic, I have a couple of Remington sculptures.
The Cheyenne and Mountain Man.
Not a series MUVA...
Love it!