talesin

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Posts by talesin

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  87

  A question for my friends in the USA about cowboys.

  by punkofnice in

  1. social
  2. current

  as a kid growing up in the uk we used to play 'cowboys and indians' and watch high chaparal and bonanza along with other cowboy films.

  later, in the 70's kung fu would be shown with caine going through the 'old west'.

  we even had a chocolate bar that was marketed with a 'cowboy' theme...milky bar.. as far as i know the 'wild west' as shown on tvdidn't actually exist.. are there people that believe it did?.

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  talesin

  Vidiot, for some reason you made me think of Ian Tyson.

  :)

  tal
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  87

  A question for my friends in the USA about cowboys.

  by punkofnice in

  1. social
  2. current

  as a kid growing up in the uk we used to play 'cowboys and indians' and watch high chaparal and bonanza along with other cowboy films.

  later, in the 70's kung fu would be shown with caine going through the 'old west'.

  we even had a chocolate bar that was marketed with a 'cowboy' theme...milky bar.. as far as i know the 'wild west' as shown on tvdidn't actually exist.. are there people that believe it did?.

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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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  87

  A question for my friends in the USA about cowboys.

  by punkofnice in

  1. social
  2. current

  as a kid growing up in the uk we used to play 'cowboys and indians' and watch high chaparal and bonanza along with other cowboy films.

  later, in the 70's kung fu would be shown with caine going through the 'old west'.

  we even had a chocolate bar that was marketed with a 'cowboy' theme...milky bar.. as far as i know the 'wild west' as shown on tvdidn't actually exist.. are there people that believe it did?.

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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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  87

  A question for my friends in the USA about cowboys.

  by punkofnice in

  1. social
  2. current

  as a kid growing up in the uk we used to play 'cowboys and indians' and watch high chaparal and bonanza along with other cowboy films.

  later, in the 70's kung fu would be shown with caine going through the 'old west'.

  we even had a chocolate bar that was marketed with a 'cowboy' theme...milky bar.. as far as i know the 'wild west' as shown on tvdidn't actually exist.. are there people that believe it did?.

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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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  11

  /u/perp27 requests her "file" from Bethel (Canada)

  by wifibandit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  over at the exjw sub-reddit, www.reddit.com/r/exjw , perp27 has posted a letter she sent to the canadian branch.

  in this letter she has requested her records under the privacy act of canada & privacy act of the province of alberta.. .

  source: http://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/2j8xc7/and_so_it_begins/.

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  talesin

  lol @ prologos - fuddle duddle!

  tal
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  20

  Melbourne's Herald Sun -- "confessions of a Jehovah's Witness"

  by MrMonroe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  all the dubs pouring into melbourne, australia for the international convention gonna choke on their cornflakes when they read this .... http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/former-jehovahs-witness-lifts-lid-on-stifling-doomobsessed-religion/story-fni0ffsx-1227092921890.

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  talesin

  Whoa! That is most excellent, and will be the talk of the convention. hehehe
  
  It would be interesting to be a 'fly on the wall', to hear what the JWs are saying. Also, I wonder what types of questions they may field about this article from 'worldly people' who they may interact with.

  tal
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  20

  Lockheed: Limitless Energy?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://news.yahoo.com/lockheed-says-makes-breakthrough-fusion-energy-project-123840986--finance.html.

  a prototype for testing in a year?

  there have been a number of claims about fusion reactors in the past year but this seems the most bold.. .

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  talesin

  What DATA-DOG said ^^^. It's all about the money.
  
  Isn't science and technology wonderful? Too bad it isn't used to fix the world's problems instead of lining the pockets of the uber-rich.

  t
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  75

  Hey I am Back

  by mouthy in

  1. social
  2. current

  did anyone miss me????.

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  talesin

  Good to see you, GG!
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  91

  The EBOLA conspiracy...

  by gopher123 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey guys.

  there has been a ton of illuminati hollywood mind control pre-programming about this virus outbreak before it actually happened.

  conspiracy people of the world... unite.. .

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  talesin

  *sigh* I miss Breaking Bad. Why, oh, why, did it have to end?
  
  BTW, gopher123, I don't think conspiracy theories are crazy -- we just don't know *what* the governments are doing, and they are not to be trusted. Lest we forget, The Tuskegee Experiment is a great and very sad example of how little our governments value the lives of their citizens.

  tal
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  9

  Strange quote about JW

  by scary21 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so i'm reading a book about a young black man sent to prison for 40 years.

  the name of the book is in the place of justice a story of punishment and deliverance.

  by wilbert rideau.

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  talesin

  It sounds like Dot and hubbie were very 'liberal' JWs! I'm guessing it was the 50s / 60s because of the mention of her race causing problems ....... very odd, indeed! I wonder if Dot's executive husband was an Overseer? (that's what they were called, back in the day)

  tal