Yeah, Deadwood is supposed to be quite accurate as far as depicting what the west was really like. You'll love it. I'm not familiar with Hell on Wheels; thanks for the tip keyser.
A question for my friends in the USA about cowboys.
by punkofnice 87 Replies latest social current
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talesin
Hi, Unky Punky! :))
I got interested in this subject because of a friend from Texas. He told me to watch the TV series "Lonesome Dove" (easily downloaded, btw), because it was more realisitc than most films or TV series.I looked around today, and found this site, which I think gives a really good account of the Origins of the (american) Cowboy. I hope you find it informative -- I did~!
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/cowboyculture.htm
xx
tal
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talesin
From Wiki, this is really interesting, too. :))
Ethnicity
Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho youths learning to brand cattle at the Seger Indian School, Oklahoma Territory, ca. 1900.
American cowboys were drawn from multiple sources. By the late 1860s, following the American Civil Warand the expansion of the cattle industry, former soldiers from both the Union and Confederacy came west, seeking work, as did large numbers of restless white men in general. [52] A significant number of African-American freedmen also were drawn to cowboy life, in part because there was not quite as much discrimination in the west as in other areas of American society at the time. [53] A significant number of Mexicans and American Indians already living in the region also worked as cowboys. [54] Later, particularly after 1890, when American policy promoted "assimilation" of Indian people, some Indian boarding schools also taught ranching skills. Today, some Native Americans in the western United States own cattle and small ranches, and many are still employed as cowboys, especially on ranches located near Indian Reservations. The "Indian Cowboy" also became a commonplace sight on the rodeo circuit.
Because cowboys ranked low in the social structure of the period, there are no firm figures on the actual proportion of various races. One writer states that cowboys were "... of two classes—those recruited from Texas and other States on the eastern slope; and Mexicans, from the south-western region..." [55] Census records suggest that about 15% of all cowboys were of African-American ancestry—ranging from about 25% on the trail drives out of Texas, to very few in the northwest. Similarly, cowboys of Mexican descent also averaged about 15% of the total, but were more common in Texas and the southwest. Other estimates suggest that in the late 19th century, one out of every three cowboys was a Mexican vaquero, and 20% may have been African-American. [24]
Regardless of ethnicity, most cowboys came from lower social classes and the pay was poor. The average cowboy earned approximately a dollar a day, plus food, and, when near the home ranch, a bed in the bunkhouse, usually a barracks-like building with a single open room. [56]
Social world
Over time, the cowboys of the American West developed a personal culture of their own, a blend of frontier and Victorian values that even retained vestiges ofchivalry. Such hazardous work in isolated conditions also bred a tradition of self-dependence and individualism, with great value put on personal honesty, exemplified in songs and poetry. [57] The cowboy often worked in an all-male environment, particularly on cattle drives, and in the frontier west, men often significantly outnumbered women. [58]
However, some men were also drawn to the frontier because they were attracted to men. [59] Other times, in a region where men outnumbered women, even social events normally attended by both sexes were at times all male, and men could be found partnering up with one another for dances. [58] Homosexual acts between young, unmarried men occurred, but cowboys culture itself was and remains deeply homophobic. [dubious – discuss] Though anti-sodomy laws were common in the Old West, they often were only selectively enforced. [60]
Development of the modern cowboy image
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans at the 61st Academy Awards
The traditions of the working cowboy were further etched into the minds of the general public with the development of Wild West Shows in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which showcased and romanticized the life of both cowboys and Native Americans. [61] Beginning in the 1920s and continuing to the present day, Western movies popularized the cowboy lifestyle but also formed persistent stereotypes, both positive and negative. In some cases, the cowboy and the violent gunslinger are often associated with one another. On the other hand, some actors who portrayed cowboys promoted positive values, such as the "cowboy code" of Gene Autry, that encouraged honorable behavior, respect and patriotism. [62]
Likewise, cowboys in movies were often shown fighting with American Indians. However, the reality was that, while cowboys were armed against both predators and human thieves, and often used their guns to run off people of any race who attempted to steal, or rustle cattle, nearly all actual armed conflicts occurred between Indian people and cavalry units of the U.S. Army. [citation needed]
In reality, working ranch hands past and present had very little time for anything other than the constant, hard work involved in maintaining a ranch.
tal
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talesin
My own impression, after reading a bit a couple of years ago, is that the 'white' American cowboys were people very similar to today, who chose to live outside of the cultural norm for personal reasons. Some were adventure-seekers, others were social misfits (hate that word, but it conveys what I am meaning to say) who chose to live more-or-less outside of society's rules, and also, those who loved nature and chose to live 'under the open sky' for the pure love of it.
It's a fascinating part of history ....... both American and other cultures .......... :))
xx
tal
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Vidiot
punkofnice - "I wasn't aware there were cowboys in Canada."
They're almost all here in Alberta.
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talesin
Vidiot, for some reason you made me think of Ian Tyson.
:)
tal
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RubaDub
My money is still on Brokeback Mountain.
Rub a Dub
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TD
It depends on what you mean by, "Cowboy." If you're talking about someone who made their living working around cattle, than yes, they most certainly existed. The way they dressed is protrayed fairly accurately although trousers and shirts were baggiery back then.
The prevalence of guns is blown out of proportion by Hollywood. It was common for ranch hands to carry a lever gun in a rifle scabbard when traveling, but wearing a .45 belt rig all the damn time? That's pure fiction. Then as now, pistols were every bit as expensive and had less utility.
Hollywood's notion that gunfights were basically modified gentleman's duals of previous centuries with antagonists facing each other and seeing who could draw and fire first is mostly fiction. Yes it did happen once in awhile, but improvements to firearms technology by the 19th century made it practically suicide.
Many of the disputes Hollywood portrays were real enough, but the details are usually garbled to the point of being unrecognizable. The Clanton's and McLaury's weren't raggedly outlaws, they were filthy rich land owners and the Earps were not angels themselves by any stretch of the imagination.
Hollywood also badly garbles the structue of legal authority at the time. Even today, the county Sheriff is still the highest ranking law enforcement official and if a chief of police is corrupt and needs to be arrested, it would fall upon the Sheriff to do it.
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Vidiot
talesin - "Vidiot, for some reason you made me think of Ian Tyson."
Funny; 'cause I'm nothing like him.
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talesin
lol, sweetie. I hope not! :P He had a long and coloured drinking career, including wife-beating. Although he seems to be much more stable in his 70s, lol, nope, you wouldn't want to be him! Except for maybe, healing in his old age and making amends :P
tal
