Cowboys

Well assembled bedroll helps you when traveling light

Back in the days of the Old West, a cowboy’s bedroll was much different than we imagine as overnight travelers, hikers, or campers today. Today’s bedroll generally means a hastily thrown together and rolled up sleeping bag, perhaps with a pillow and additional blankets tossed in, maybe even including a good change of underwear and one day’s outerwear. We strap all this together and shove it into the trunk of the car, or if we’re real outdoors adventurers, onto a bicycle, motorcycle, or horse.

Did horsebox or horse trailer play role in West?

Did the horse trailer — often called a “horsebox” in Europe — play any role in the Old West? Were horses often transported rather than ridden, and if so, what was the most common way?

A cowboy shirt topped list of things I wanted as a kid

A cowboy shirt topped the list for awhile of all the things I wanted as a kid. Of course the childhood passion I had for a cowboy shirt was closely followed by cowboy boots (with a jangling pair of spurs, of course!) and a great six-gun cap gun and holster set.

Cowboy’s bedroll was much more than a sleeping bag

The cowboy’s bedroll, unlike bedrolls or sleeping bags used by modern-day campers, was much, much more than a sleeping bag. The bedroll served as his “mini-home” on the range.

In its most elaborate form, a bedroll contained a whole host of personal possessions wrapped in canvas (when canvas could be found) or sometimes just in make-shift heavy grain sack cloth. Tied up or strapped within such a bedroll might be a “sugan” (also spelled “sougan” or “suggan” and several other very creative ways) or two and the cowboy’s “war bag” or “possibles sack.” In fact, a well-planned and well-stocked bedroll carefully wrapped and tied might be slung across a horse’s back behind the saddle, or if it was too large and burdensome and the cowboy was a working cowboy, his bedroll might be slung off the side of a chuck wagon or tucked down in the bed of the chuck wagon along with all the crew’s cooking utensils.

Order rodeo gear — then thank Buffalo Bill for it

Order rodeo gear, from saddles and ropes to rodeo wear of all sorts, then thank Buffalo Bill Cody for his role in “inventing” or at least popularizing modern rodeos.

Throughout America rodeo fans and participants from kids to old timers enjoy annual “Frontier Days” and high school or college rodeo contests. (I’m not a rodeo fan myself, although I’ve been to a few and had a cousin who was a bona fide professional rodeo clown.) I know there’s a professional rodeo circuit that’s been around for a long time, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (P.R.C.A.), and that cowboys and ranch hands from everywhere enjoy showing off their skills and rising to the challenge of serious rodeo competition all over America.

Westernisms or ‘cowboy talk’ enriched language of Old West

As a writer, I enjoy words, their meanings and their origin. As someone who enjoys reading and writing about life in the Old West, I really enjoy the various Westernisms or “cowboy talk” that enriched the language of the Old West.

Today’s horse riding boots differ greatly from Old West footwear

Today’s horse riding boots differ greatly from footwear in the Old West. Boot making and shoe making technology and materials are radically different today than they were on the Plains or prairies of the 1800s. Today’s boots offer comfort and fit unknown back then.

Cowboys’ spurs were both practical, dressy

Cowboys’ spurs were both practical and dressy. They helped the working cowboy control his horse, and they often were made of beautiful combinations of silver and iron — showing off the cowboy’s dressy side and reflecting something of his material success.

Books you need: Buy ‘Cowboy Culture’

Ever wonder when, where, and why “cowboys” came from? (And why are they called “cowboys” and not “horse boys”?) I would highly recommend a very readable, classic Western history book that contains the answers for just about any questions you’ve got about cowboys and the West where they lived and thrived. The book is “Cowboy Culture: A Saga of Five Centuries” by David Dary. (If you follow the link I’ve created to the book title, you’ll find copies available on eBay.)

Life in the Old West

True stories, tall tales, and memorabilia of the American West

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