Daniel Boone

Oil sketch of Daniel Boone by Chester Harding.  The only portrait of Boone painted from life. This was painted when Boone was 84 years old, a few months before his death. Harding painted Boone in June 1820 while Boone was living with his daughter Jemima Boone Callaway in Missouri. According to historian Ted Franklin Belue, "from this original oil portrait Harding made three copies: two busts and a full-length." (The Life of Daniel Boone by Lyman Draper, edited by Ted Franklin Belue. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1998, p. 2.)
Date: June 1820	(1820-06)
Source: Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. Reproduced from Alistair Cooke's America (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1973)

Long List of Cowboy Movies from the 60's

Do you have a favorite cowboy movie? Did it make the list below?

When I think back the first thing that really got me interested in cowboys and the ways of the west was my granma taking me to see an amazing movie which was set in the old west when I was very young. She may have taken me to it because she wanted to see it or because back in those days there were not many movies for kids or maybe she actually thought  I would like it but anyways I was young and impressionable and hence my live long love of all things cowboy and cowgirl. To this day I do not remember the movies name just the panoramic scenery, a few scenes like when an army guy has his leg amputated and I can hum a few bars of the film score but not so that anyone else can recognize it. I would love to know what movie it was.

• The Alamo: Directed by John Wayne; Starring John Wayne, Richard Widmark
• The Magnificent Seven Directed byJohn Sturges: Starring Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen
• The Comancheros: Directed byMichael Curtiz: Starring John Wayne, Stuart Whitman 
• The Deadly Companions: Directed bySam Peckinpah: Starring Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith
• The Misfits: Directed byJohn Huston: Starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter, Eli Wallach
• Two Rode Together: Directed byJohn Ford: Starring James Stewart, Richard Widmark.
• How the West Was Won: Directed by John Ford, Henry Hathaway,George Marshall, Richard Thorpe: Starring Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, James Stewart, John Wayne,George Peppard, Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, Debbie Reynolds
• Lonely Are the Brave: Directed by David Miller: Starring Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands, Walter Matthau, Michael Kane, George Kennedy
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Directed byJohn Ford: Starring Lee Marvin, James Stewart, John Wayne
• Ride the High Country: Directed by Sam Peckinpah: Starring Mariette Hartley, Joel McCrea, Randolph Scott
• Hud: Directed by Martin Ritt: Starring Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas.
• A Fistful of Dollars: Directed by Sergio Leone: Starring Clint Eastwood, Marianne Koch, Gian Maria Volonté.
• Invitation to a Gunfighter: Directed byRichard Wilson: Starring Yul Brynner
• Cat Ballou: Directed by Elliot Silverstein: Starring Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan
• Shenandoah: Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen: Starring James Stewart, Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, Rosemary Forsyth, Philip Alford
• The Sons of Katie Elder: Directed by Henry Hathaway: StarringJohn Wayne, Dean Martin, Michael Anderson, Jr., Earl Holliman
• El Dorado: Directed by Howard Hawks Starring John Wayne, Robert Mitchum
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Directed bySergio Leone: Starring Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
• Return of the Seven: Directed byBurt Kennedy: StarringYul Brynner, Robert Fuller
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Directed by George Roy Hill: Starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford
• Death of a Gunfighter Directed by Alan SmitheeRichard Widmark, Lena Horne
• The Desperados: Directed by Henry Levin: Starring Vince Edwards, Jack Palance
• Paint Your Wagon: Directed by Joshua LoganClint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Jean Seberg
• True Grit: Directed by Henry Hathaway: Starring John Wayne, Glen Campbell, Kim Darby
• The Wild Bunch: Directed by Sam Peckinpah: Starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson

SO MANY MOVIES SO LITTLE TIME

Of course this is the list of movies I have seen from the 1960's - there are hundreds more made in the 60's let alone before and after that. Here are a few that I am looking forward to finding and watching:

Charro! Directed byCharles Marquis Warren Elvis Presley, Ina Balin because Elvis is in a traditional western.

TepepaDirected byGiulio PetroniTomas Milian, Orson Welles because of Orson Welles.

If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your DeathDirected byGianfranco ParoliniGianni Garko, William Berger because of the title.

Lonesome CowboysDirected byAndy WarholJoe Dallesandro because of the director.

One-Eyed Jacks Directed by Marlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Karl Malden because of Brando both directing and starring in it.

Go Kill Everybody and Come Back Alone because of the title!

Going off to watch Django Unchained... oh by the way did you know there is a 1967 movie called Django, Kill... If You Live, Shoot!

Buffalo Soldier

An Afro-American Corporal, in the 9th Cavalry. Snow covers the ground

                                              Buffalo soldier from Denver, Colorado in 1890 

More photos and information on Buffalo soldiers

What do Cowboys eat from the chuckwagon?

This is a nice picture of a cowboy cook with his chuck wagon. The photograph was taken in 1907 on a Texas Ranch. I don't know if you have ever had the chance to eat real cowboy cooking, but let me tell you that it is really good. I grew up on West Texas cowboy cooking. Cowboy food is not about living long, but living large. A chuckwagon like this one would likely be cooking up buttermilk biscuits prepared in a dutch oven on a campfire, beef, lamb, and goat slow cooked over oak coals, hard cured hams, pinto beans, cowboy coffee and even peach cobbler. The food is typically high fat, and high salt. You can bet that this cowboy is not serving up a salad with the meal he is preparing. 

FROM OLD PICTURE OF THE DAY

Cowboy, Grant-Kohrs ranch, Montana, USA, around 1910

What did cowboys eat on the range?

Texas Cowboys eating lunch. 1907 

 

These cowboys are eating out of cans. Canned tomatoes and canned peaches were cowboy favorites on the range. They probably got sick of beans...cowboys ate a lot of beans, dried beef, buffalo or pork and more beans. Dried meat was called Jerky which was a way of preserving the meat so it would last. It was made and eaten by Native Americans and cowboys.
In 1866 the first chuckwagons started moving from camp to camp feeding the cowboys.

RESOURCES: Cowboy Culture: A Saga of Five Centuries by David Dary

Are the true cowboy ways fading?

Code of the West.

• A cowboy always helps someone in need, even a stranger or an enemy
• A cowboy is loyal to his "brand," to his friends, and those he rides with.
• Never shoot a woman no matter what.
• Respect the land and the environment by not smoking in hazardous fire areas, disfiguring rocks, trees, or other natural areas.
• Honesty is absolute - your word is your bond, a handshake is more binding than a contract.
• Live by the Golden Rule.
• Look out for your own.
• Defend yourself whenever necessary.
• Never steal another man's horse. A horse thief pays with his life.
• Don't inquire into a person's past. Take the measure of a man for what he is today

Meeting of Boone and his Brother

Daniel Boone meeting his brother Squire

SOURCE: Mason, Lynch Augustus. The Romance and Tragedy of Pioneer Life. Cincinnati, OH: Jones Brothers and Company, 1884.

The humble and adventurous Daniel Boone who lived from 1734 to 1820, meeting one of his brothers - Squire Jr. (1744-1815), who was named after their father.

Chief Spotted Tail

Chief Spotted Tail taken before 1881
SOURCE: Library of Congress

Chief Spotted Tail was born Siŋté Glešká (Jumping Buffalo) in South Dakota in 1823. He was a a Brulé Sioux. He was given his warrior name, Spotted Tail, as he wore a raccoon tail in his war head dress.
He was known for being a warrior and later a statesman, speaking for peace and defending the rights of his tribe, with special interest in bringing education to the Sioux.
He recognised the futility of fighting when his village was destroyed by the army in 1855.
See more Sioux chief's at Native American Images.
Read quotes by Native American chiefs.

Martha Jane Cannary - (Calamity Jane)

Martha Canary, 1852-1903,
"Calamity Jane"
full-length portrait, seated with rifle as General Crook's scout

Calamity Jane was often around Fort Laramie. For a time she worked at Three Mile Ranch (a house of ill repute) near Fort Laramie Military Reservation.  She often dressed as a man to work with the army. This way she joined Professor Jenny's Expedition in 1875 disguising herself as one of the cavalry troopers escorting the expedition.

Text Credit: National Park Service

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum




1928 World Series Rodeo Contestant signature card of Cowboy Morgan Evans

The National Cowboy Museum & Western Heritage Museum offers many educational opportunities. It is in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Here you celebrate the contributions of men and women of the American West including explorers, Native American leaders, writers, poets and politicians.  See the world's largest collection of American rodeo, photographs and saddlery.

The Museum includes three Halls of Fame, including The Hall of Great Westerners for actual people who lived through the frontier era to present. Other halls include the Hall of Great Western Performers, for actors, and the Rodeo Hall of Fame. 
There is so much to see here so i will just focus on 1 part the Hall of Great Western Performers a large exploration of interpretations of theWest in books and movies.  film. It includes the John Wayne collection of personal firearms, artwork, and memorabilia.
 Hands-on activities have been incorporated into educational programs for elementary school children, while junior and high school students enjoy a guided tour of the Museum.

Reservations are required for all group visits.

Helpful info when planning your field trip: National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum School

Get along little dogies or Dogie's Lament

Whoopee ti yi yo, git along little dogies
It's your misfortune and none of my own
Whoopie ti yi yo, git along little dogies
You know that Wyoming will be your new home

Do you know this American folk song? Little dogies means the cattle or more specifically a motherless calf which was sometimes referred to as a dogie, (pronounced with a long "o")  In this traditional song, Dogie's Lament, also known as Git along little dogies, the "dogies" meant cattle strong enough to be herded from Texas to Wyoming, including  young, non-orphaned animals. 

"In Western Words Ramon F. Adams gives one possible etymology for dogie, whose origin is unknown. During the 1880s, when a series of harsh winters left large numbers of orphaned calves, the little calves, weaned too early, were unable to digest coarse range grass, and their swollen bellies "very much resembled a batch of sourdough carried in a sack." Such a calf was referred to as dough-guts. The term, altered to dogie according to Adams, "has been used ever since throughout cattleland to refer to a pot-gutted orphan calf." Another possibility is that dogie is an alteration of Spanish dogal, "lariat." Still another is that it is simply a variant pronunciation of doggie." THE FREE DICTIONARY

You can hear different versions of the song on:
Cisco Houston Sings Songs Of The Open Road, 1960 ALBUM
Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs Volume 2, 1964 ALBUM
Creek Nickel Little Cowpoke, 1998 ALBUM

Have you heard this song before? I originally thought Woody Guthrie wrote it but have learnt that he often takes traditional songs and changes them around. Do you know any other cowboy songs?