Bill Text: TX HR1168 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing July 27, 2013, as the National Day of the Cowboy in Texas.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-04-23 - Reported enrolled [HR1168 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HR1168-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 1168 |
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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 | ||