TITLE: Recognizing July 27, 2013, as the National Day of the Cowboy in Texas.

SUMMARY: Recognizing July 27, 2013, as the National Day of the Cowboy in Texas.

FULL TEXT:
WHEREAS, The American cowboy has been the principal archetype of the West and of Texas in particular for more than 150 years, and the colorful tradition that the cowboy represents is truly deserving of celebration; and WHEREAS, The first vaqueros were horseback-riding American Indians who tended the Spanish mission herds of the Southwest; in 1598, Don Juan de Onate drove 7,000 head of cattle along the Rio Grande; soon vaqueros were regularly driving cattle from Texas to Mexico City, and their way of life eventually spread from Argentina to Canada; the word "cowboy" first appears in English in 1725, as a direct translation of vaquero,which was also Anglicized into "buckaroo"; and WHEREAS, Cowboys have always lived in close communion with nature, learning to read and endure the extremes of weather; their specialized skills include riding, roping, branding, and herding, and they have also learned to train horses, turn simple ingredients into tasty and satisfying meals, and make repairs to their equipment and to themselves with only the materials at hand; although the typical working environment of the cowboy was dominated by men, many women performed difficult ranch work across the West, giving rise to the cowgirl, and in the later 19th century, entertainers such as Annie Oakley and rodeo riders such as Fannie Sperry Steele proved that women could ride, rope, and shoot as well as men; and WHEREAS, The cowboy and his horse occupy a central place in the American imagination; he has been the hero of countless novels, from Owen Wister's The Virginian to Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove to Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses,and his image has been immortalized in the paintings and sculptures of Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell; the Western is perhaps the most distinctively American of all movie genres, and the careers of stars such as John Wayne, Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, and Clint Eastwood have all been dominated by their portrayals of cowboys; and WHEREAS, Cowboys themselves have made their own distinctive contributions to culture, from such classic traditional songs as "The Streets of Laredo," "The Old Chisholm Trail," and "I Ride an Old Paint," to the works of cowboy poets such as Baxter Black, Red Steagall, and Steven Fromholz, who has served as the Poet Laureate of Texas; rodeo has grown from informal contests between cowboys into a professional sport enjoyed by 30 million people around the world, and the cowboy way of cooking has given rise to chuck wagon cuisine; and WHEREAS, The multitude of organizations devoted to cowboy heritage continue to grow and thrive, including the Single Action Shooting Society, the Working Ranch Cowboys Association, the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the Women's Professional Rodeo Association, the U.S. Team Roping Championships, the Western Music Association, and many others; and WHEREAS, The cowboy tradition transcends gender, generations, ethnicity, geography, and politics, and at their best, the cowboy and the cowgirl represent strength, courage, and self-reliance; nowhere is this tradition more vibrant than in the Lone Star State, where the cowboys of today ride side by side with the ghosts of cowboys past, whose grit, good humor, and determination helped define what it means to be a Texan; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas Legislature hereby recognize July 27, 2013, as the National Day of the Cowboy in Texas. Pickett Speaker of the House I certify that H.R. No. 1168 was adopted by the House on April 17, 2013, by a non-record vote. Chief Clerk of the House