{"id":225,"date":"2010-05-27T17:09:21","date_gmt":"2010-05-27T17:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buckroth.wordpress.com\/?p=225"},"modified":"2010-05-27T17:09:21","modified_gmt":"2010-05-27T17:09:21","slug":"cowboys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/?p=225","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mm, mm, mm.\u00a0 To me, cowboys are rated right there among firemen<\/em>, policemen, men<\/em> in uniform.\u00a0 Yep, so I’m easy.\u00a0 Through my experiences with camping (earlier blog), I have become acquainted with a few real-life cowboys.\u00a0 As rustic and rugged when days of old, the characteristic stereotype\u00a0of each cowboy I have met remains the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here’s a little story I found from a Physicians’ Mutual<\/em>\u00a0pamphlet I recently received and wanted\u00a0\u00a0to share with you about cowboys.\u00a0 For instance, “American cowboys get their roots from the Mexican ‘vaqueros.’\u00a0 All the way back to the 1500’s, vaqueros were hired\u00a0by ranchers to herd cattle from Mexico to what is now New Mexico and Texas.\u00a0 When American settlers moved into the area, they were influenced by the vaqueros’ culture, including the way they dressed, spoke and drove cattle.\u00a0 This influence was the start of the traditional cowboy image.<\/p>\n

“With the building of railroads in the 1860s and after the Civil War, cowboys became important figures in the Wild West.\u00a0 As herding routes changed and expanded, many towns were founded in their wake.\u00a0 These settlements often benefited from cowboys who came to spend their hard-earned money, although most settlers considered cowboys to be troublemakers.\u00a0 In reality, cowboys were young (normally in their 20s), hardworking men whose life was often exhausting and lonely.\u00a0 They lived a life based on self-reliance and individualism.<\/p>\n

“By the end of the 1800s and into the early 1900s, the cowboy way of life changed.\u00a0 As more ranchers sectioned land with barbed wire and railroads moved farther west, the cowboys were not needed as much.\u00a0 However, while the life af the cowboy changed, their culture began to be idolized by the rest of America.\u00a0 With popular movies like High Noon<\/em> and Gunfight at the O. K. Corral <\/em>and famous TV shows like The Lone Ranger<\/em>, Bonanza<\/em>, and Gunsmoke<\/em>, cowboys became heroes in the public eye.\u00a0 There was also the birth of the “singing cowboy” portrayed by Gene Autry and Rex Allen, as well as rising star actors such as Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and John Wayne.\u00a0 So, even though the real cowboys saw themselves as survivors just doing their job, Hollywood portrayed them as romantic, hero figures.<\/p>\n

“In some aspects, the cowboys’ way of life today isn’t much different than it was 100 years ago.\u00a0 For example, it is still hard work requiring long hours watching over large herds of cattle.\u00a0 But other aspects have completely changed.\u00a0 Some cowboys and ranchers use modern technology to make the work easier, like using helicopters to watch over the land and cattle (instead of relying solely on horses<\/em>).\u00a0 Though times are changing, the cowboy continues to live on as a symbol of persistence, independence and hard work.”<\/p>\n

Ah, I repeat: a symbol of persistence, independence and hard work<\/em>, very analogous to many of our life’s daily<\/em> situations.\u00a0 Take care!\u00a0 A. K. Buckroth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mm, mm, mm.\u00a0 To me, cowboys are rated right there among firemen, policemen, men in uniform.\u00a0 Yep, so I’m easy.\u00a0 Through my experiences with camping (earlier blog), I have become acquainted with a few real-life cowboys.\u00a0 As rustic and rugged … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}