Tales of the Old West, Songs & Stories: The American Cowboy

The American cowboy came into the west to begin after a bloody civil war had ended. He worked long hours in lonely cow camps and his pay was meager, but he had grit and determination. He faced constant danger; he fought Indians and rustlers and braved swollen rivers and stampedes. He reveled in wide and wooly cowtowns and he fought with fists and guns for the things he believed in.

And, finally, when the days of the open range were over, he rode off into the sunset. But his legacy lives on. He had created a new West, a West that would endure forever in books, songs, movies and television. In your mind's eye, you can still see him astride his horse, silhouetted on a hill, looking resolute, wild and free.

There were others, though, who wanted to claim a homestead and live forever in the west. On September 16, 1893, they had their chance. A hundred and fifty thousand men and women waited at the edges of a vast tract of government land they called the Cherokee Strip waiting for a signal that would open 40,000 homesteads for settlement. They had come from every state and abroad. Among them were doctors and lawyers, housewives, farmers, cowboys and drifters. But for every persn who would claim a homestead, two would be disappointed.

Songs of the American Cowboy -- 34:46

A collection of famed cowboy songs, sung by Texas cowboy Donnie Blanz: Red River Valley -- Little Joe the Wrangler -- Old Paint -- Home On The Range -- The Chisholm Trail -- Yippee Ti Yi Yo -- and more; songs that bring back the songs the cowboy wrote and sung.

The Cowboy -- 65:38

The cattle drives -- The Chisholm Trail -- Dodge City and the cowtowns -- The great ranches -- The Johnson County war -- Absentee owners and the Last of Five Thousand -- Arizona's Pleasant Valley -- Barbed wire and the day the west changed

The Run of '93 -- 60:36

The Cherokee Strip -- The Cherokees -- Cattlemen and cattle trails -- The lines of death -- The sooners -- The Run of '93 -- 40,000 homesteads; 150,000 people - New towns and town lots -- Homesteads and soddies