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The Cowboy Encyclopedia

By Richard W. Slatta

(New York: W. W. Norton, 1996)
496 pages
Paperback
ISBN: 978-0399314731

Review by Dr. Kirk Bane,
Central Texas Historical Association

April 1, 2023
Richard W. Slatta, professor of history at North Carolina State University, has skillfully assembled this impressive reference work, which focuses "on the essentials of cowboy history, culture, and myth for both North and South America." Dr. Slatta provides more than four hundred wide-ranging entries, covering such subjects as "cowboy equipment and dress, work and play, cultural imagery in pulps and other fictional literature, films, western music and singers, historians who have studied the cowboy, Native-American and African-American cowboys, women, rodeo, the cowboy's environment, and locations such as museums, dude ranches, and historic sites." Among the broad variety of topics he addresses are the dangers of cowboy life, Nat Love, cow towns, trail drives, cowboy humor, spurs, Charles M. Russell, saddles, firearms, Charles Goodnight, saloons, boots, Ned Buntline, the beef cattle industry, bronc busters, Jack Schaefer, strikes, Roy Rogers, fencing, Frederic Remington, longhorn cattle, Georgie Connell Sicking, religion, Theodore Roosevelt, windmills, rustling, Ben Johnson, quarter horses, Clint Eastwood, roundups, and wages.

The Lone Star State, of course, plays a prominent role in this publication. For example, Dr. Slatta discusses such Texans as Gene Autry, Bill Pickett, Michael Martin Murphey, Charles Siringo, Ernest Tubb, Ramon Adams, Larry McMurtry, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, who cautioned "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys." Assessing Willie, Professor Slatta observes, "Born in Abbott, Texas, in 1933, Nelson was already performing with a Bohemian polka band at age ten. He became known as a songwriter during the 1950s and early '60s ("Crazy," "Funny How Time Slips Away," "Night Life," "Hello Walls.") He left Nashville and returned to Texas in 1970. Five years later RED HEADED STRANGER finally earned him respect as a performer as well as a songwriter. Neither marital ups-and-downs nor IRS troubles have kept Nelson down. He performs widely and remains a vibrant part of the musical scene."

Appraising the best oaters, Dr. Slatta asserts, "The following criteria identify outstanding cowboy films. The film must have (1) horses and preferably cattle, (2) cowboys or outlaws, and (3) a western location." In Slatta's view, the greatest cowboy movies include STAGECOACH (1939), MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946), RED RIVER (1948), HIGH NOON (1952), THE LUSTY MEN (1952), SHANE (1953), LONELY ARE THE BRAVE (1962), RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (1962), BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969), MONTE WALSH (1970), SILVERADO (1985), and UNFORGIVEN (1992). Evaluating RED RIVER, he contends that the iconic motion picture, directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne and Monty Clift, "has it all-the dust, danger, and death. The story also takes up another epic western theme, the use of violence and force to maintain order and protect property on the frontier. Wayne is powerful and threatening as the maniacal Tom Dunson. He represents the Old West where might made right. The young Clift…represents the future of rule by law and reason."

A leading authority on cowboys and frontier culture, Dr. Slatta has written several important studies in the field, including GAUCHOS AND THE VANISHING FRONTIER (University of Nebraska Press), COWBOYS OF THE AMERICAS (Yale University Press), and THE MYTHICAL WEST: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LEGEND, LORE, AND POPULAR CULTURE (ABC-CLIO). Readers fascinated by western history will enjoy the terrific COWBOY ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Review by Dr. Kirk Bane,
Central Texas Historical Association


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