Happy Cowboy Day

Even if you have never been on a horse, if you like the Flint Hills, you should have an appreciation for cowboys. So here at FHTG, we celebrate National Day of the American Cowboy, which is the fourth Saturday of every July – which is today.

Jim Hoy's book, Flint Hills Cowboys, is a great way to discover what cowboys mean to the Flint Hills, and vice versa.

I am not a cowboy; heck I don’t even own a pair of boots. I have ridden horses, however, – friends’ horses, not mine – but that was a long time ago, before the insides of my knees rotted away. It’s surprising how hard horseback riding is on knees. I do know a few cowboys, however, and have a lot of respect for what they do.

So in honor of National Day of the American Cowboy, let me recommend a great book by a great cowboy. Jim Hoy is a professor of English at Emporia State University and has a Ph.D. in Medieval and Renaissance English Literature. Now, how many cowboys can quote Chaucer and Malory? Shoot, Jim is also a former rodeo cowboy, so we should also ask how many medievalists have busted broncos.

Jim is also a son of the Flint Hills and deeply interested in the heritage of ranching in the prairie. He has published several books and articles, both for scholars and for the reading public. His most recent book, Flint Hills Cowboys, Tales of the Tallgrass Prairie, is a wonderful look at the cowboy heritage of the Kansas Flint Hills. He describes the life and work of the American cowboy as they lived it in the Flint Hills of Kansas, and from what I understand, cowboys of the Flint Hills have a different kind of life and job than almost any other rancher. Jim talks about fire, fences, cattle, and horses. But mainly he talks about people and he has a great ear for their stories and retells them with respect and admiration. Like the following story about cowboy Pete Cooper on a job at a ranch in Oklahoma:

On Pete’s first morning the other hands told him about the horse situation and that he could start out on his top horse so he could kind of get a feel for the job and get acquainted with the pastures before he had to ride one of the less well trained horses. The horse they had run into the corral, however, was (a wild, outlaw horse). When Pete’s rope went around his neck, the horse turned inside out, kicking and lunging and rearing and squealing. Pete finally got him snubbed up close enough on the snubbing post to get his saddle strapped on. When he swung into the saddle, the horse really came apart, making the preliminary ruckus seem tame. The horse leaped high, he sunfished, he bucked blind and splintered corral poles. Pete eventually got the horse’s head pulled up out from between his front legs, circled him around the corral a couple of times, then pulled him to a stop. As the dust finally cleared and the outlaw stood panting and quivering, the other cowboys told Pete it was just a joke, that this was the worst horse in his string, not the best. “Why, hell,” said Pete, “this horse is just like all the ones I ride at home. Open the gate and let’s get to work.” (pp. 26-27)

Jim also loves the Flint Hills. He says it has “The best grazing land in the world,” (p. 2). He also points out the Flint Hills are “America’s last tallgrass prairie,” (p. 2). His book tells of the pioneers that kept the tallgrass prairie alive in these hills. While others were plowing the prairie under, the first settlers in the hills discovered the soil was too thin and rocky to be plowed. They also discovered, however, that bluestem grass was great for cattle and the limestone in the soil added calcium to the grass and thus to the diet of the cattle that grazed here. Modern television ads tell us how important calcium is for our aging bones. Well, calcium is also good for the bones of the cattle, and stronger bones support more meat.

Jim’s book also describes many other aspects of cowboy life. Right there among the chapters on rodeos, whiskey, and hunting, there are even chapters about baseball in the Flint Hills and cowboy polo matches.

So let’s celebrate the American cowboy, especially those of the Flint Hills.