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"Stampede"1940
Artist - Tom LeaBy
John Troesser
Photos courtesy Barclay
Gibson, 2009 |
Odessa's
WPA mural: "Stampede" (detail) by Tom Lea |
For
all the various romantic portrayals of cowboys, some people have seen them as
tragic figures. Evidently, this is a common thought, albeit one that is seldom
discussed. In McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Keith Carradine’s hapless tenderfoot
being tricked into “pulling” his gun comes to mind. Then there’s the unnamed dying
cowboy in the song Streets of Laredo. Forget the adventure and romance
of Saturday matinees. Being a cowboy was lonely, tedious – and then you died and
were buried in an unmarked grave.
Here in the Odessa
mural by El Pasoan Tom Lea, we see one particular cowboy’s end in a stylistic
but classical form. Totally devoid of gore, the depiction is nonetheless sobering
and the viewer is left with no doubt of the outcome. |
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| The clean-shaven cowboy
with his fresh shirt, un-scraped chaps and slicked back hair is frozen in time
like the “ghost portraits” of people left in mineral-laden glass panes of pioneer
houses. With the positioning of the cowboy’s body one could easily imagine a graceful
trapeze artist who lost his footing or Icarus falling to earth. |
The sea of glistening
cow horns hammers home the obviousness of a fatal ending just as surely as the
horns of the upended steer in the foreground will pierce the cowboy’s falling
hat. We needn’t witness the act of goring. (Hey, people are trying to buy stamps
here!)
A second human in the canvas would’ve been a distraction and Lea
(if he considered one) was right in keeping the tableau simple. The cowboy’s horse
in its panicked stare offers no help even as the cowboy reaches out as if to protect
his equine friend. |
“Their
brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns
were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel …”
From the song Ghost
Riders in the Sky lyrics by Stan Jones |
| The prominent steer
is death personified. No mercy or pity comes from the eyes made red from the flash
of lightning. It is as if Lea had been inspired by the song Ghost Riders in
the Sky, a postwar hit very popular with men. But the song was written nearly
seven years after this canvas was painted. |
Odessa
Post Office Mural: "Stampede" by Tom Lea, 1940
Click on photo for
large image |
The song, written
by composer Stan Jones, was a cautionary tale of changing one’s ways before it
was too late. The lyrics are simple with no preaching. Just the threat of eternal
damnation and the Sisyphean task of chasing the devil’s herd through eternity.
What part is unclear?
The composer is said to have stated that an old
cowboy told him the story when he was still a youngster and while there’s no record
of lyricist Jones seeing artist Lea’s painting – it wouldn’t be surprising that
such a stirring image would affect the composer’s lyrics. |
A portion of Stan
Jones’ lyrics:
“An old cowboy went riding out one dark and windy day
Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way
When all at once a mighty herd
of red eyed cows he saw
A-plowing through the ragged sky and up the cloudy
draw.
Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their
horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel …” |
For
those who remember the song, it made #1 on the Billboard chart in 1947.
It
was first recorded by Burl Ives, then Vaughn Monroe (who made it famous) and over
the years it has been recorded by notable singers like Frankie Laine, Marty Robbins
and Johnny Cash. |
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Tom Lea's brand-like Signature |
Photographer's Note:
Subject:
Odessa: WPA Tom Lea Mural
The display of this mural is the best I've seen
so far. It was moved from across the street to the new Post Office, not unusual.
It is well lit, accessible, well preserved and well mounted. It is in a wide area
where one can stand back and admire it. - Barclay
Gibson, December 15, 2009
Our thanks to photographer
Barclay
Gibson for his trip to Odessa
to photograph this mural.
©John Troesser
Photos ©Barclay
Gibson |
Stampede
Mesa - A Ghost Story
by
C. F. Eckhardt
Texas is a land of many legends. Some of them are
just that-legends. Some of them have a germ of truth in them-and some of them
are entirely true. At one time, when I was a young man, I had the opportunity
to hear what some would call a legend from a man who experienced it... more |
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