Cowboy life: reconstructing an American myth / edited and with a new preface and afterword by William W. Savage, Jr.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Savage, William W.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cowboys--West (U.S.).

Cowboys.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (228 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2012

Place of Publication:

Boulder, Colo. : University Press of Colorado 1993.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

First published in 1975 and now in paperback, Cowboy Life continues to be a landmark study on the historical and legendary dimensions of the cowboy. The central figure in American mythology, the cowboy can be seen everywhere: in films, novels, advertisements, TV, sports, and music. Though his image holds little resemblance to the historical cowboy, it is important because it represents many qualities with which Americans identify, including bravery, honor, chivalry, and individualism. Accounts by Joseph G. McCoy, Richard Irving Dodge, Charles A. Siringo, and many others detail the daily trials and tribulations of cowboy life on the southern Great Plains-particularly Texas, Indian Territory, and Kansas-from the 1860s to around 1900. And in a new Afterword, editor William W. Savage, Jr. discusses the directions the cowboy myth has taken in the past two decades, as well as the impact the "new Western history" and films such as Lonesome Dove have had on popular culture.This edition contains a new preface and afterword by the author.

Contents:

""Contents""; ""Preface to the New Edition""; ""Illustrations""; ""Editors Introduction""; ""JOSEPH G. MCCOY: Anger and bad whiskey urge him on to deeds of blood and death(1874)""; ""RICHARD IRVING DODGE: The most reckless of all the reckless desperadoes(1882)""; ""WALTER BARON VON RICHTHOFEN: Among cowboys are to be found the sons of the best families (1885)""; ""CHARLES A. SIRINGO: spent my last dime for a glass of lemonade (1885)""; ""JOSEPH NIMMO, JR: A creature of circumstance (1886)""; ""CHARLES MOREAU HARGER: A man of unflinching courage (1892)""

""RICHARD HARDING DAVIS: There are cowboys and cowboys (1892)""""W.S. JAMES: The cow-boy goes to the school of nature (1898)""; ""BAYLIS JOHN FLETCHER: Wilderness was a source of great joy to the cowboys (1898-1912)""; ""ALFRED HENRY LEWIS: He becomes deeply and famously drunk (1902)""; ""NATIONAL LIVE STOCK ASSOCIATION: No class of men ever was so unfaithfully represented (1905)""; ""ANDY ADAMS: Dead tough men bawled like babies (1906)""; ""FRANK COLLINSON: I am glad I had the experience (1934-43)""; ""Afterword to the New Edition""

Notes:

Originally published: Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 1975.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781607321217

1607321211

9780585026862

0585026866

OCLC:

42329265