{"id":4282,"date":"2015-05-16T10:54:21","date_gmt":"2015-05-16T07:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ants-in-pants.com\/?p=4282"},"modified":"2018-01-03T11:54:30","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T09:54:30","slug":"cowboy-museum-in-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ants-in-pants.com\/en\/blog\/cowboy-museum-in-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboy museum in Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cowboys are mainly associated with Westerns, and it is hard to imagine that one can meet them today. In fact, the tradition of cowboys is very much alive today, and they exist far beyond the movies. They grow cattle, train horses, participate in rodeo, and get together for the cowboy poetry evenings. In Oklahoma, we visited Cowboy museum to learn more about cowboys.<\/p>\n

Irish herders who came to colonial America to tend livestock had been initially called cowboys<\/em>. Interestingly, during the American Revolution, mounted cattlemen loyal to England who stole stock from American farmers also called themselves cow-boys<\/em>. People tending stock are also called vaqueros, buckaroes or drovers, depending on their heritage. The Spanish word for cow is vaca<\/em>, and men tending cattle from cowboys in Texas were called vaqueros, whether they were Mexicans or not. On the West Coast vaquero was modified to buckaroo. The term drover was preferred by cowboy of Midwestern roots. Among cowboys, there were also men of Native American and black origin.
\nMoreover, there are not only cowboys, but also cowgirls! The term appeared in 1890s to name the daughters of many pioneer ranchers who grew up runching and roping along with their brothers. Victorian attitudes deemed it improper for women to dress and ride like a man. Most women wore full skirts and rode sidesaddle.
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A huge pavillion in the museum imitates the Prosperity Junction \u2013 an imagined 20-year old cattle town located somewhere in the west of the country \u2013 after dusk, when its structures are lighted by kerosene and gas lamps. Its homes and business are authentic in the design and style of that era.
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Runch work required good riding and roping skills. Though daily chores tended to be more mundane than heroic, the cowboy\u2019s knowledge of cattle and his ability as a horseman set him apart from the miners, farmers, and other laborers on the frontier. The cowboy took pride of this distinction, and his equipment reflected this pride. Many exibitions of the museum are dedicated to different kind of equipment:
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When the cattle herds spread through the West, cattlemen took advantage of large expanses of grazing land, relying on natural barriers like rivers and valleys to contain their stock. An elaborate system of brand symbols and ear markers helped them to identify their cattle on the open range. The brand often bacame the name of the ranch.
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Barbed wire, which inspired both respect and hate from cowboys, became the symbol for the closing of the open range on the Great Plains. By the 1880s, when competition for land and water increased the need for fencing, barbed wire provided a solution for sprawling ranches where traditional fencing was impractical. The museum exibition contains 1300 examples drawn from the museum\u2019s collection of more than 8000 different wires.
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And of course, the cowboys\u2019 clothes and musical instruments:
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The cowboy\u2019s most importan ally is a good horse, carefully trained to work cattle. With experience, a well-trained mount can develop \u201ecow sense\u201c \u2013 the ability to anticipate actions of the cattle. Ideally, an experienced handler has to take months or years to produce a finished cow horse.
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Additional halls present and tell about cowboy hats, boots, and jeans.
\nAnd, of course, the Western Performers Gallery telling about actors and films of Western movies.
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An additional exibition, imitating the rodeo arena, tells about the history of this competition. Here, cowboy athletes complete a series of events combining the skills of working cowhand with the spectacle of the wild west show. Saddle bronc riding, calf roping and steer roping represent historic range practices. Bareback bronc riding, steer wresttling and bull riding are feats of cowboy daring added to the spot durung the 20th century. Some videos in the pavillion demonstrate these competitions in details.<\/p>\n