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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The American cowboy has been the principal archetype |
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of the West and of Texas in particular for more than 150 years, and |
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the colorful tradition that the cowboy represents is truly |
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deserving of celebration; and |
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WHEREAS, The first vaqueros were horseback-riding American |
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Indians who tended the Spanish mission herds of the Southwest; in |
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1598, Don Juan de Onate drove 7,000 head of cattle along the Rio |
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Grande; soon vaqueros were regularly driving cattle from Texas to |
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Mexico City, and their way of life eventually spread from Argentina |
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to Canada; the word "cowboy" first appears in English in 1725, as a |
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direct translation of vaquero, which was also Anglicized into |
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"buckaroo"; and |
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WHEREAS, Cowboys have always lived in close communion with |
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nature, learning to read and endure the extremes of weather; their |
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specialized skills include riding, roping, branding, and herding, |
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and they have also learned to train horses, turn simple ingredients |
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into tasty and satisfying meals, and make repairs to their |
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equipment and to themselves with only the materials at hand; |
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although the typical working environment of the cowboy was |
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dominated by men, many women performed difficult ranch work across |
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the West, giving rise to the cowgirl, and in the later 19th century, |
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entertainers such as Annie Oakley and rodeo riders such as Fannie |
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Sperry Steele proved that women could ride, rope, and shoot as well |
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as men; and |
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WHEREAS, The cowboy and his horse occupy a central place in |
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the American imagination; he has been the hero of countless novels, |
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from Owen Wister's The Virginian to Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove |
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to Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses, and his image has been |
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immortalized in the paintings and sculptures of Frederic Remington |
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and Charles M. Russell; the Western is perhaps the most |
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distinctively American of all movie genres, and the careers of |
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stars such as John Wayne, Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, |
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and Clint Eastwood have all been dominated by their portrayals of |
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cowboys; and |
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WHEREAS, Cowboys themselves have made their own distinctive |
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contributions to culture, from such classic traditional songs as |
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"The Streets of Laredo," "The Old Chisholm Trail," and "I Ride an |
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Old Paint," to the works of cowboy poets such as Baxter Black, Red |
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Steagall, and Steven Fromholz, who has served as the Poet Laureate |
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of Texas; rodeo has grown from informal contests between cowboys |
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into a professional sport enjoyed by 30 million people around the |
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world, and the cowboy way of cooking has given rise to chuck wagon |
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cuisine; and |
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WHEREAS, The multitude of organizations devoted to cowboy |
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heritage continue to grow and thrive, including the Single Action |
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Shooting Society, the Working Ranch Cowboys Association, the Cowboy |
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Mounted Shooting Association, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys |
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Association, the Women's Professional Rodeo Association, the U.S. |
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Team Roping Championships, the Western Music Association, and many |
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others; and |
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WHEREAS, The cowboy tradition transcends gender, |
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generations, ethnicity, geography, and politics, and at their best, |
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the cowboy and the cowgirl represent strength, courage, and |
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self-reliance; nowhere is this tradition more vibrant than in the |
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Lone Star State, where the cowboys of today ride side by side with |
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the ghosts of cowboys past, whose grit, good humor, and |
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determination helped define what it means to be a Texan; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize July 27, 2013, as the National Day of |
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the Cowboy in Texas. |