Cowboys June 28, 2010

Until Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show began touring in the 1880s, the American cowboy was seen as a rough character, herding cattle on the western grazing grounds. Cody's cowboys and cowgirls rode bucking broncos and raced mustangs. They were gallant trick riders and sure shots in flamboyant get-ups! The great western artists, such as Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, helped perpetuate this image. The cowboy became a rescuer of damsels in distress or a rider for the Pony Express, tending to just about everything but cattle on the open range.