Cowboy Culture

 

                                           Cowboys are iconic. 

Symbolic of Americana.

A unique culture.

 

Hi, my name is Dalyn Weller, and I write romance novels. My favorite heroes are cowboys. I suppose the Wild West is in my DNA.

My family, like many others, were European immigrants who managed to trek from Scotland, Sweden, and a few other countries. They eventually got itchy feet, looking for that greener grass, and came West in the late 1800s.

My Great-grandfather came to the Pacific Northwest with one of his brothers and became a game warden. Charlie raised mules. But most of my great-grandfather’s brothers and sisters stayed in Colorado, where the family had settled. They became prominent cattle ranchers. One of my great-great-uncles sold his ranch in the 70s. Maybe you've skied on his land? Or stayed at a luxury Western dude ranch where another of my great-great-uncles once raised his family and cattle. 

My great-great-grandfather was an illiterate freight wagon driver everyone called Sandy (as redheads were nicknamed back in the olden days), and my great-great-grandmother Ella was a tough little woman who ran a boarding house while her husband and young sons worked in a place they called Ditch Camp.

We idolize cowboys and always have, but what about the cowgirls? What about the women whose grit and no-quit attitudes built the West? Sometimes stone by stone? The rugged land, the unforgiving elements, and the dirt-poor living brought the cream to the top in my opinion. Many of us in the West owe our lives, and certainly our colorful family histories, to these women who carved out lives for themselves right alongside the men.

There’s a reason so many of us do our best to keep the western traditions alive and thriving all these generations later. We honor and value those whose calluses, tears, sweat, and blood made the West what it is: a place that values the land, the animals, the people, and the culture of a handshake promise, protective men, and women who can tame a horse with a baby on her hip. 

 

 

My great-great-aunt Belle is a prime example. Tenacious, tough, with a work ethic to put many men to shame. Aunt Belle built a ranch and started a herd while her husband worked the railroad, and after he got sick and died, she continued to own their brand. How I wish I could time travel and visit Belle on her ranch. I have so many questions, but mostly I’d tell her how proud I am… how often I look at her photo, and how I brag about her when I have the opportunity (like now). Her sister Pearl was pretty cool, too. 

Back to cowboys…

To me, cowboys have meant safety in a life that wasn’t always safe with a single mom raising my sister and me. I know where I stand with a cowboy, and I’m assured of help when and if I need it. Most of them are reliable and loyal, and they will keep working until the job is done.

I live in an agrarian area with lots of cowboys, farmers, ranchers, and the associated good old boys that sell them tractors and hay and come out to vet their animals, so I’m familiar with these guys. 

When I think of cowboys, I associate them with certain characteristics. I don’t just mean Wranglers (but who’s complaining about those?), cowboy hats, and boots. I mean grit, determination, a certain toughness of mind and body, hard work ethic, honesty, polite manners, deference to ladies, protective instincts, and the kind of determination that sometimes requires everything a man’s got to get ‘er done.

We think of cowboys as loyal and protective, with a quiet strength that stands guard between the vulnerable and harm. A man who is capable of becoming dangerous to danger. Swoon.

Yep. I like cowboys. For one thing, they often have horses and dogs. 

           If you like books with cowboys, kids, & dogs, check out the Apple Valley Ranchers. 

I write stories featuring cowboys because I want to fall in love with the hero right along with the heroine. He needs to be a certain type of guy to make me take notice. Work-worn hands and a soft heart hidden underneath a gruff exterior? Swoon.

How about you? What’s your favorite kind of hero?

          Until next month, Dalyn Weller