Top 25 Reasons to Be a Cowboy | #3: The Stories

Growing up, I looked so forward to the times our family would gather with friends, extended family, and new acquaintances for one simple reason: the stories.

Whether it was a branding, working cutting horses in anticipation of an event, or even weddings and funerals, as the business of the day concluded, invariably, the stories began to flow.

The cowboy culture fosters not only incredible stories but also incredible storytellers. What’s more, the culture embraces the verbal tradition of storytelling. Many halls of fame and anniversary-type celebrations for the cowboy culture feature panel-style storytelling. The World Championship Ranch Rodeo, in fact, will host Ross Knox and James Gholson spinning their favorite yarns this year.

Storytelling is so vital to keeping a culture vibrant. And whether it’s in the oral tradition, through visual arts, the written word, or filmmaking, the cowboy remains one of America’s most reliable sources of stories.

Our stories are cautionary, educational, informative, entertaining, historical, full of adventure, and sometimes they’re even true. The act of storytelling naturally brings people together. We listen to one another, we engage emotionally as the story unfolds, we anticipate, we react, we think.

While both the previous sentences are true of cowboy culture, they can be true of any culture. So, what makes our stories so special? The reason is because they’re ours. We love the cowboy lifestyle, we are cowboys, so when we learn about other cowboys’ experiences, we connect. We remember when something similar happened to us. We think about how we might react in the same situation.

Why, then, do outsiders love to hear cowboy stories? I think it’s because cowboys live a life that’s on the edge. Our stories are about bad broncs, blizzards, wild cows, stuck trucks, and proud and independent men and women. In literary terms, the cowboy is the ultimate American man versus nature conflict narrative.

Mostly, though, I think the reason “stories” is so high on my list for what makes being a cowboy special is because of the way their telling brings us together. And as we’re finding out in this pandemic, connection is more valuable than we might have ever realized.

photo courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division