local cattle producers
Europeans were still more attracted by Indians
Cowboy did become a frequent hero of tabloid novels and large-circulation newspapers in the 1870–80s, but, as Lonn Taylor convincingly showed, his image, although heroic, was not uniform. In the 1880s, he turns out to be more antisocial: “a rude, dangerous, recalcitrant and daring individualist,” in any case, when fate confronts him with a sedentary urban population. The new image was created by the middle class of Eastern America, where farming was very strong, and this image was very literary. This can be seen not only from a comparison of the cowboys with the medieval knights of Thomas Malory and the popularity of the one-on-one duel at exactly noon, like a knightly duel, but also from the European origin of some “western” topoi. Continue reading
The birth of a legend
But the most expensive part of the toilet was the boots. As a rule, they were made of cowhide, and were made to order. They had a high sloping heel, which did not allow the foot to slip in the stirrups, and a high bootleg. In addition, there were still a lot of different cowboy accessories: gauntlets with leggings, spurs, whips, lasso, tapas – leather cases that were put on stirrups, and of course the weapon. All this should be put in order after the haul, or replaced with new products. Say underwear, or Long Johns (long johns) – a sort of special jumpsuit made of pure wool, usually just thrown away. Continue reading
Experienced cowboy
So why did it take a dramatic increase in the number of shepherds? The fact is that grass grew on the endless plains of the West, which easily tolerated not only drought, but also frost. This allowed the settlers to keep cattle on the pasture all year round. In these open spaces, especially in Texas, feral descendants of Creole cows, still brought by the Spaniards, roamed the land. It was their settlers who caught and crossed with their cattle, mostly imported from England. Continue reading
