So history’s mostly a horseback song

And set to the thud of the hoofs.

~~~from Horseback Men by Charles Badger Clark

The horseback man has long been revered worldwide. From Genghis Khan, who kept showing up where he wasn’t expected, to the Argentinian gaucho to the Guardians in the South of France, the romantic figure of a man on a horse has become part of the folklore of many cultures. The cowboy, relatively new on the scene, has become the most recognized symbol of our once-wild American West. Here in Yavapai County, he is a huge piece of our present as well as our past.

The cowboy has become an icon, a representation of a time when the West was an unsettled place, a frontier for those who were brave, strong, adventurous and, perhaps, foolhardy. Most cowboys were not born to the saddle, but chanced upon the job. They were those coming west looking for change. Historically, when human beings have made big changes, leaving behind old ways and seeking new sunrises, they’ve done so for ideals and for concepts bigger than themselves like freedom, independence, strength, survival and opportunity. The storytellers of all times have found those words hard to weave into legend; instead we’ve asked the cowboy to carry his share of this national and local history.

Now the West is settled, and we sometimes forget the campfires and the dirt and the work. We speak of tradition, recite poems and sing songs, dress up for reenactment scenarios and make our cowboy not so much about raising food as paying entry fees and cooking bar-b-que. We’ve named sports teams after him, used his silhouette in advertisements and bought clothes like his to wear on the Fourth of July, as if his hat crease might give us a taste of his independence. We relegate him to the past.

However, icons only work if there is something of substance to back them up. The cowboy is not some model of character or ethics or integrity, but a husband of the land, a grower of food.  He is not an actor getting his share of the corporate take by reciting the words of scriptwriters and making his horse rear in time to the music. The cowboy is not a nostalgic touchstone from Saturday matinees, but a present-day reality. Six-guns and wooly chaps and parades and rodeos aside, the cowboy is a steward of precious resources, a caretaker of animals. Cowboy is not something that he is; it is something that he does, a set of skills that are part antique and part innovation, part heritage and part passion.

We recognize the value of hard-working men and women who are rarely seen from the road. They are out there, producing something of value on tillable and untillable land, managing herds on private ranches and pubic grazing allotments. The past informs the present as they look back to methods and traditions proven by time, while looking forward toward ways to continue to grow food to feed an ever-expanding hunger on shrinking available ground.

The modern-day cowboy faces different challenges, including ever-changing markets and many misconceptions about his work. The working ranch cowboy still shows up in poems, songs and books, and he still does his work aboard a horse. He is still a horseback man.

July 8, from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm in the Education Center Auditorium at Sharlot Hall Museum, experience Twilight Tales- the poetry and music of Don Fenwalt & The Rusty Pistols Reloaded. There will be a light reception by the Transportation Building before the performance. For more information and tickets to the event, visit SharlotHallMuseum.org. Seating is limited.

“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.sharlothallmuseum.org/library-archives/days-past. The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles to dayspastshmcourier@gmail.com. Please contact SHM Library & Archives reference desk at 928-445-3122 Ext. 14, or via email at dayspastshmcourier@gmail.com for information.