Although the California vaquero gave birth to the Great Basin buckaroo, he might have a hard time recognizing his modern day offspring. So says cowboy poet, buckaroo and life-long Great Basin resident Waddie Mitchell. Nev. The Gathering is set for Jan. 27-Feb.
Tickets are still available.
A live Internet broadcast allows participants from around the world to join the approximately 8,000 people who attend the Gathering. The Great Basin, which is also known as The Big Empty or Sagebrush Ocean, stretches from southeastern Oregon through Nevada and includes parts of eastern California, southern Idaho and western Utah. It is a series of a hundred basins divided by more than 150 mountain ranges. The apparent emptiness of this region is deceptive. The Great Basin is home to more than 2000 ranches, half a million head of cattle, tens of thousands of wild horses, and some of the toughest and most colorful buckaroos who've ever swung a reata.