SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER

The American cowboy ropes in a day of honor

By Julie Carter

The United States Senate has proclaimed July 23 to be the National Day of the American Cowboy.

The resolution was introduced by Wyoming Senator Craig Thomas and embraced by the agriculture industry.

Recognizing that pioneering men and women helped establish the American West and that the cowboy spirit continues to infuse this country with its solid character, sound family values and good common sense, the day of honor was approved.

The cowboy is declared to be the embodiment of honesty, integrity, courage, compassion, respect with a strong worth ethic and patriotism.

The resolution recognizes the cowboy as one who loves, lives off of and depends on the land and its creatures for his livelihood. It acknowledges the cowboys’ excellent stewardship, protection, and enhancement of the environment.

Although cowboys and the west are synonymous with each other, ranchers aren’t just found in the west. The agriculture census lists 800,000 ranchers doing business in all fifty states of this country.

Cowboys are definitely not a feature of western bygone days. The senators acknowledged that the rancher cowboy continues to “play a significant role in America’s culture and economy.”

The rodeo cowboy is part of the sixth most-watched sport in America and membership in rodeo and other organizations surrounding the livelihood of cowboy transcend race, gender and spans every generation.

The resolution calls the cowboy an American icon and declares him to be part of America’s ongoing commitment to an esteemed and enduring code of conduct.

It fills my heart with pride to not only be part of such a heritage but to also see it honored in such a way.

But in true form of the cowboy, they will humbly just shrug off the attention and go on about their day. If you ask one what it feels like to be an American icon they will honestly look at you and say, “What’s that?”

They work on holidays, Sundays, their birthday, their wife’s birthday, anniversaries and throughout all four seasons of the year irregardless of weather conditions. A clock is for setting meeting times but governs little of what happens on the ranch.

July 23 will find the majority of the American cowboys stacking hay, checking cattle and their waters, fixing pipeline leaks, pulling a well, branding a few late calves, building fence, mechanic-ing on a pump jack or the feed pickup, waiting on a rain and pondering the cattle market for a timely sale of their calf crop.

If there is a celebration it might be that they are forced to go to the family reunion they would rather avoid. A selection of them will be entered in a summer rodeo somewhere and a few others will simply be horseback in places where he can almost imagine it is still l890.

I don’t know if the suits on Wall Street will acknowledge the honor given the American Cowboy or if the masses in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Washington D.C. will even know about it. It doesn’t matter.

The day is an honor given. It won’t change the cowboy in any way. He is not the dying breed he's said to be by those that drive up and down the road looking for him.

He is as much an enduring part of Americana as baseball, apple pie and Microsoft.

Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net

© Julie Carter 2005


Does the king have clothes?

by Larry Gabriel

About all one need say is, "the Endangered Species Act" (ESA) and the arguments begin about this "king" of natural resource management. Congress is doing that right now.

Just like ordinary people, most Congressmen already have their minds made up. The difference is many are afraid to say so. I admit my bias up front. ESA makes no sense to me.

First, I know of nothing in the Constitution that says the federal government should regulate state-owned property. All the wildlife here is owned by the State of South Dakota. Giving control to Congress makes no sense to me.

Second, managing a chunk of the environment for the exclusive benefit on one particular critter is exactly what preservationists have been arguing against for a hundred years. The difference is the "one particular critter" is now a rodent instead of a cow. They can't have it both ways.

Third, ESA does not work and everyone knows it. The "isolated wilderness" and "save a single species" ideas were tested for fifty years. They don't work. That is why the conservation movement invented "ecosystem management" twenty years ago and why the United State Forest Service officially adopted it into law ten years ago. We now manage natural resources for the big picture, not for the preservation of just one little thing.

Even members of the "green movement" acknowledged the old system's failure, but they argued for keeping ESA until the new system was in place. Time is up.

Fourth, extinction is a perfectly normal cycle of selection that operated long before man decided he knew better how to run things.

Fifth, the assumption that each one of the millions of critters potentially protected by ESA has some mystical and extraordinary value may create a noble feeling, but it is not rational.

Sixth, Congress says a protected species or subspecies is "unique". The people who collect the money are the people who decide it is unique. For example, the Northern Swift Fox was a protected "unique" subspecies until another group of researchers decided it does not exist.

Last but not least, Congress is generally the worst imaginable manager of natural resources.

If you want millions of acres of scorched black earth, let Congress manage your forests. If you want barren grasslands, give them to Congress.

If you want just about anything (including your money) lost or destroyed without meaningful accountability, normally Congress can help you out.

If you are a real conservationist like me, you may agree that local governments and local owners are better managers of natural resources than Congress ever will be.

Larry Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture.

Received via email:

Here's a quote from someone who witnessed a recent interaction between an elderly woman and an antiwar protester in a Metro station in DC: "There were protesters on the train platform handing out pamphlets on the evils of America. I politely declined to take one. An elderly woman was behind me getting off the escalator and a young (20ish) female protester offered her a pamphlet, which she politely declined. The young protester put her hand on the old woman's shoulder as a gesture of friendship and in a very soft voice said, "Ma'am, don't you care about the children of Iraq?" The old woman looked up at her and said, "Honey, my first husband died in France during World War II, my second husband died in Korea, one of my sons died in Vietnam, a Grandson died in Desert Storm, all so you could have the right to stand here and bad mouth our country. If you touch me again. I'll stick this umbrella up your ass and open it."

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During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director which is the criteria that defines a patient to be institutionalized. "Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the patient and ask the patient to empty the bathtub."

Okay, here's your test:

(Those with an abnormal tendency will scroll to the bottom to get the answer before taking the test.)

1. Would you use the spoon?
2. Would you use the teacup?
3. Would you use the bucket?

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would choose the bucket as it is larger than the spoon."

keep scrolling

"No," answered the Director. "A normal person would pull the plug."

So how did "you" do?


I welcome submissions for this feature of The Westerner

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