Well Thanksgiving is coming up fast. I hope you are all looking forward to over-stuffing yourselves. We all have a lot to be thankful for. Family, friends, the Reel Cowboys, etc. God's blessings abound. For thos of you who don't already know, I have compiled a collection of photos taken at the 2019 Silver Spur Award show from a variety of photographers and put them all on a two-dvd set. The cost for Reel Cowboy members is $10 and non-members is $15 per set. Add $7 if you want me to mail them to you. Just send me an email if you want to order a set.

~Nooseletter Editor

The answer begins with the creators. Jules Levy, Arthur Gardner and Arnold Laven, who’d met in the Army Air Forces Motion...

John Wayne was an American icon.

The actor was best known for his trademark roles as a tough-talking, no-nonsense, always-quotable cowboy, and although he died almost 40 years ago, Wayne still regularly ranks as one of the country’s favorite actors.

These are his most classic quotes:

• “I think government is a necessary evil, like say, motion picture agents."

What do you imagine when you hear of “The West" or “the American Frontier"? Is it wide open spaces? A lone cowboy? John Wayne? Thanks to decades of western books and movies, the American West has become a place of mythological significance—a place where “Go West, young man" was advice for those seeking to find fortune and prove their bravery and independence. In other words, “going West" would show that you were a man who could live up to American values.

So where were the women?

Before anybody ever laid eyes on James Arness as Matt Dillon, the first episode of Gunsmoke moseyed out with a face so familiar to Westerns, he really needed no introduction. That didn't stop him from saying in that sober, serious way of his, "I'm John Wayne. You may have seen me before, or I hope so. I've been kicking around Hollywood a long time."

The introduction went on, but this was really all it took to get any Western fans to stay firmly planted in the saddle for the premiere, and out of all the fans in the audience...

When the Apaches were transferred from Alabama to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1896, Geronimo had been a prisoner of war for ten years. It was during this period that Goyathlay and his brand name really started to take off.

In May of 1904 Geronimo is invited to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition being held in St. Louis. He’s offered a dollar a day, but settles on $100 a month. He stays at the fair for six months.

Geronimo is accompanied everywhere by two armed soldiers...

The cowboy is the symbolic icon of American West culture and dates back more than two centuries. What we know as the traditional cowboy arose in the 19th century. They are also known as horse wranglers, cowpunchers, cowhands, and buckaroos, but the name "cowboy" was inspired from the original nickname, "cowpoke."

Today, being a real cowboy means living the ranching lifestyle, not just wearing their signature cowboy boots in the Old West. Cattle operations are the largest single segment of American agriculture. More than 1 million beef producers in the U.S. are responsible for more than 94 million head of beef cattle. And there is a vast amount of sheep, goats, and horses that are raised in rural America. With all of that livestock to manage, the cowboy way of life is still essential to American society.

While most of us only see the Hollywood version of cowboys depicted in old western movies, here are 15 regions in the US where cowboy culture is still alive and well.