Curious About Cowboys

PODCAST 248: CURIOUS ABOUT COWBOYS

RELEASE DATE: SUNDAY, JULY 2ND, 2023

D:  HOWDY, AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  ONE OF THE MANY THINGS THAT OLIVIA AND I LOVE LEARNING ABOUT IS AMERICAN HISTORY.  WHEN YOU LOOK BACK AT THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, SOME OF THE MOST INTRIGUING CHARACTERS YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT ARE COWBOYS.  THE LIFE OF A COWBOY IS OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD BECAUSE OF THE WAY THAT COWBOYS ARE DEPICTED IN MOVIES AND ON TV SHOWS.  WHAT IS A COWBOY, AND WHAT IS THE LIFE OF A COWBOY LIKE?  WHY WERE THEY SO IMPORTANT IN U.S. HISTORY?  LET’S LEARN ALL ABOUT THEM!

O:  DOUBLE-MAILBAG!

D:  DOUBLE-MAILBAG!

*VM FROM GRAYSON OF NORTH CAROLINA*

“HI!  MY NAME IS OLIVE.  I’M SEVEN YEARS OLD.  I LOVE YOUR PODCAST.  MY FAVORITE EPISODE IS CURIOUS ABOUT AXOLOTLS.  MY BROTHER’S FAVORITE EPISODE IS CURIOUS ABOUT BELLY BUTTONS.  I AM CURIOUS ABOUT COWBOYS.

- FROM OLIVE, WHO WAS KIND ENOUGH TO LEAVE A FIVE STAR REVIEW FOR THE PODCAST JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO.  

O:  WELL, YEE-HAW.  WE ARE SUPER EXCITED TO LEARN ALL ABOUT COWBOYS THIS WEEK FOR GRAYSON AND OLIVE.  

D:  JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO, WE FOUND A BULL RIDING COMPETITION ON TV, AND OLIVIA AND NOAH WERE MESMERIZED.  BULL RIDING IS A POPULAR SPORT IN THE UNITED STATES, WITH OVER 600 RODEOS SPREAD ACROSS THE COUNTRY.  OLIVIA AND NOAH LOVED WATCHING COWBOYS TRY TO STAY ON A BULL THAT IS TRYING IT’S HARDEST TO KNOCK THE COWBOY OFF IT’S BACK.

O:  THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS, HOW LONG DOES A COWBOY NEED TO STAY ON A BUCKING BULL TO SCORE POINTS IN A RODEO COMPETITION?

D:  WHILE YOU’RE THINKING OF THE ANSWER, LET’S LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF COWBOYS.

O:  EVEN THOUGH COWBOYS ARE OFTEN KNOWN FOR THEIR ROLE IN WESTWARD EXPANSION, THE HISTORY OF COWBOYS ACTUALLY DATES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE 1500s.

D:  IN THE 1500s, SPANISH COWBOYS, CALLED VAQUEROS, MOVED UP FROM MEXICO THROUGH PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES THAT ARE NOW ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, NEW MEXICO, AND TEXAS.  THEY BROUGHT THEIR CATTLE AND HORSES WITH THEM, AND THEY HAD MANY OF THE SAME SKILLS WE ASSOCIATE WITH COWBOYS, INCLUDING HERDING AND ROPING.  

O:  THE INFLUENCE OF THE VAQUEROS ALSO SPREAD SOUTH FROM MEXICO INTO SOUTH AMERICA.  TODAY, COWBOYS ARE STILL PRESENT IN SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES LIKE ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL.  IN FACT, BRAZILIAN COWBOYS ARE SOME OF THE BEST COMPETITORS IN MODERN DAY BULL RIDING COMPETITIONS, WINNING MANY BULL RIDING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS.  COWBOY CULTURE EVEN SPREAD AS FAR NORTH AS CANADA, WHERE SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS RODEOS, CALLED THE CALGARY STAMPEDE, IS STILL HELD EVERY YEAR.

D:  SO, THE UNITED STATES STARTED OUT AS THE 13 COLONIES, ALL ALONG THE EAST COAST, FROM MASSACHUSETTS ALL THE WAY DOWN TO GEORGIA.  THEN, IN THE 1800s, THE UNITED STATES EXPANDED WESTWARD, ALL THE WAY TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.  MANY PEOPLE THINK THAT COWBOYS MOVED WEST THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD OF WESTERN EXPANSION, WITH THE SETTLERS, BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT COWBOYS ALREADY EXISTED IN THE WEST, AS COWBOY CULTURE MOVED UP FROM MEXICO A FEW CENTURIES EARLIER.    

O:  A LOT CHANGED FOR COWBOYS DURING THE WESTWARD EXPANSION OF THE 1800s.  BEFORE WESTWARD EXPANSION, COWBOYS LIVED VERY SOLITARY LIVES, SPENDING MORE TIME WITH THEIR ANIMALS THAN WITH OTHER PEOPLE.  DURING THIS TIME, THE LIVES OF COWBOYS BECAME LESS ISOLATED, AND MANY COWBOYS STARTED FAMILIES WITH WIVES AND CHILDREN.  ALSO, THE SPREAD OF RAILROAD LINES ACROSS THE COUNTRY MADE THE LIFE OF A COWBOY MUCH EASIER.  PRIOR TO RAILROADS, COWBOYS NEEDED TO MOVE HERDS OF CATTLE ACROSS MULTIPLE STATES MANUALLY.  AS YOU CAN PROBABLY IMAGINE, THAT WOULD BE REALLY HARD.  WITH RAILROADS, COWBOYS ONLY NEEDED TO HERD THEIR CATTLE TO THE RAIL YARDS, TO BE MOVED BY TRAIN TO OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY TO BE SOLD.

D:  THE NAME USED FOR MOVING CATTLE FROM PLACE TO PLACE WAS A DRIVE, AND THE COWBOYS, AND COWGIRLS, THAT MOVED CATTLE WERE CALLED DROVERS.  BEFORE DRIVING THE CATTLE, THE CATTLE HAD TO BE BRANDED, SO THEY WOULD BE GIVEN A MARK THAT IDENTIFIES THEM.  THIS WOULD HELP PREVENT SITUATIONS WHERE COWBOYS MIGHT ARGUE ABOUT OWNERSHIP OF CATTLE.  CATTLE WAS ALSO EASIER TO COUNT AND SORT AFTER THEY WERE BRANDED.  

O:  COWBOYS WORKED REALLY HARD, OFTEN AS MANY AS 15 HOURS PER DAY.  THEY USUALLY WORKED FROM SUNRISE TO SUNSET.  THEY SOMETIMES NEEDED TO DEFEND THEIR CATTLE FROM PEOPLE WHO TRIED TO STEAL THEM.  INDIAN TRIBES OCCASIONALLY ATTEMPTED TO STEAL CATTLE, BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT HAPPY THAT THE CATTLE DRIVERS WERE MOVING THROUGH THEIR LAND.  

D:  ARE YOU WONDERING HOW COWBOYS WOULD DEFEND THEIR CATTLE?  IT MIGHT SURPRISE YOU THAT COWBOYS DIDN’T USE GUNS TO DEFEND THEMSELVES VERY OFTEN.  THEY TRIED TO FIND A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION TO MOST SITUATIONS.  IN FACT, MOST COWBOYS DIDN’T EVEN CARRY GUNS.  THEY USED COOPERATION AND NEGOTIATION TO SETTLE ARGUMENTS.  MANY WESTERN MOVIES DEPICT COWBOYS AS PEOPLE THAT WERE EAGER TO GET INTO A FIGHT AND USE THEIR GUNS.  THE TRUTH, HOWEVER, IS THAT EVEN THE MOST NOTORIOUS COWBOYS, LIKE BILLY THE KID, SPENT MORE TIME DOING CRIMES LIKE STEALING CATTLE, THAN VIOLENT CRIMES LIKE ROBBING BANKS OR HURTING PEOPLE.  

O:  BECAUSE COWBOYS WORKED SO HARD, THEY NEEDED TO WEAR CLOTHES TO PROTECT THEM DURING THEIR HARD WORK.  A COWBOY HAT WAS WORN TO PROTECT COWBOYS FROM THE SUN.  THE SHAPE AND SIZE OF A COWBOY HAT WAS INFLUENCED BY THE CAVALRY HATS OF U.S. AND CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS, AS WELL AS BY THE MEXICAN SOMBRERO.

D:  BANDANAS WERE USED TO KEEP DUST AND OTHER THINGS OUT OF THE MOUTH AND NOSE.  

O:  COWBOY BOOTS HAD HIGH TOPS, TO HELP PROTECT THE LOWER LEGS, AS WELL AS POINTED TOES, TO HELP GUIDE THE FOOT THROUGH THE STIRRUP.  THEY ALSO USE SPURS, WHICH ARE METAL PIECES FOUND ON THE HEELS OF COWBOY BOOTS, THAT WERE USED TO HELP COMMUNICATE WITH THE HORSE.  

D:  JEANS, OR OTHER STURDY PANTS, WERE WORN TO PROTECT THE LEGS FROM HAZARDS, LIKE THE CACTUS OR OTHER HARSH DESERT PLANTS.  

O:  CHAPS, WHICH ARE LEG COVERINGS MADE FROM LEATHER, GAVE A COWBOY EVEN MORE LEG PROTECTION.  

D:  COWBOYS ALSO HAD TOOLS THAT THEY USED FROM TIME TO TIME.  THOSE TOOLS INCLUDED A LARIAT, WHICH IS SOMETIMES CALLED A LASSO.  A LARIAT IS A STIFF ROPE WITH A LOOP ON ONE END THAT WAS USED TO CATCH ANIMALS.  COWBOYS SOMETIMES HAD RIFLES TO PROTECT THEIR LIVESTOCK FROM WILD ANIMALS THAT MIGHT TRY TO ATTACK.  COWBOYS SOMETIMES EVEN HAD A COW DOG, THAT HELPED THEM LOCATE AND CONTROL THEIR LIVESTOCK.    

O:  COWBOY LIFE WASN’T GLAMOROUS.  COWBOYS GOT PAID VERY LITTLE, USUALLY SOMEWHERE BETWEEN $25 AND $40 PER WEEK, WHICH WAS VERY LITTLE, EVEN BACK IN THE 1800s.  

D:  ALSO, BACK IN THE 1800s, WHEN COWBOY CULTURE WAS AT ITS PEAK, MANY OTHER PEOPLE CONSIDERED COWBOYS TO BE DIRTY AND SUSPICIOUS.  THAT’S BECAUSE COWBOYS OFTEN LACKED A BASIC EDUCATION AND MANY WERE ILLITERATE, SO THEY COULDN’T READ OR WRITE.  THEY WERE DIRTY, USUALLY GOING MANY DAYS BETWEEN SHOWERS DESPITE ALL OF THE PHYSICAL LABOR THEY DID, AND MANY COWBOYS CARRIED DISEASE DUE TO THE UNSANITARY CONDITIONS THEY LIVED IN.  IT WASN’T UNTIL THE EARLY 1900s THAT BOOK WRITERS AND HOLLYWOOD BEGAN TO CHANGE THE IMAGE OF COWBOYS, TURNING THEM INTO FOLK HEROES.  

O:  COWBOYS OF TODAY DRESS THE SAME WAY AS COWBOYS DRESSED HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO, WITH JEANS, BANDANAS, CHAPS, AND OF COURSE, A COWBOY HAT.  

D:  THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE COWBOY OF TODAY, AND THE COWBOY OF HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO, IS HOW THEIR JOB IS PERFORMED.  COWBOYS TODAY DON’T NEED TO GO ON CATTLE DRIVES.  IN FACT, CATTLE DRIVES WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE IN MANY PARTS OF THE COUNTRY, BECAUSE THE VAST WILDERNESS HAS BEEN REPLACED BY HOUSES AND DEVELOPED COMMUNITIES. 

O:  TODAY’S COWBOYS ALSO RELY ON TECHNOLOGY TO DO THEIR JOBS.  COMPUTERS HELP COWBOYS KEEP TRACK OF THEIR CATTLE, AND THEY EVEN MEASURE THE WEIGHT OF THE CATTLE AND HELP TRACK THE FEEDING OF THE CATTLE.  

D:  YOU CAN GET A TASTE OF COWBOY CULTURE BY VISITING A RODEO.  IF YOU DON’T LIVE CLOSE TO A RODEO, THERE ARE TRAVELING RODEO SHOWS THAT MIGHT POP UP IN A TOWN BY YOU. 

O:  RODEOS WERE CREATED TO TEST DIFFERENT SKILLS OF COWBOYS, INCLUDING RIDING AND ROPING.  THE FIRST RODEO WAS HELD IN THE TOWN OF DEER TRAIL, COLORADO, ALL THE WAY BACK IN THE YEAR 1869.  

D:  RODEOS TEST A WIDE VARIETY OF SKILLS.  THOSE SKILLS INCLUDE CALF ROPING.  DURING THIS EVENT, A HORSE RIDER TRIES TO CATCH A CALF BY THROWING THE LOOP OF A LARIAT AROUND ITS NECK, JUMPING OFF THE HORSE, RUNNING TO THE CALF, AND CATCHING THE CALF BY TYING THREE OF ITS LEGS TOGETHER.  

O:  THERE IS ALSO STEER WRESTLING, WHERE A RIDER ON A HORSE, DROPS FROM THE HORSE TO A STEER, WHICH IS AN OX, GRABS THE STEER BY THE HORNS, AND TRIES TO WRESTLE IT TO THE GROUND. 

D:  THE MOST POPULAR RODEO EVENT IS BULL RIDING, WHERE A COWBOY OR COWGIRL TRIES TO RIDE A BULL FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, WHILE THE BULL IS JUMPING AROUND LIKE CRAZY, TRYING TO KNOCK THE RIDER OFF.  OLIVIA, HOW LONG DOES A RIDER NEED TO STAY ON THE BULL TO SCORE ANY POINTS IN A BULL RIDING COMPETITION?

O:  THE RIDER NEEDS TO STAY ON THE BULL FOR AT LEAST EIGHT SECONDS WHILE USING ONLY ONE HAND TO HOLD ON.  THAT MIGHT NOT SOUND LIKE A LONG TIME AT ALL, BUT IT IS A VERY CRAZY, VERY INTENSE, AND VERY DANGEROUS EIGHT SECONDS.  

D:  WHEN I WATCH THE BULL RIDING COMPETITIONS ON TV, THE EIGHT SECONDS ARE INTENSE FOR ME, SO I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW SCARY THEY MUST BE FOR THE ACTUAL BULL RIDER.  WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.

O:  248 - COWBOYS.

D:  GREAT JOB OLIVIA, AND GREAT JOB GRAYSON AND OLIVE, FOR THE GUN TOTIN, BULL RIDIN, CHAP WEARIN EPISODE TOPIC SUGGESTION.  BEFORE WE SAY GOODBYE, WE WANT TO THANK A SPECIAL LISTENER.

O:  THANK YOU TO OUR NEWEST PATREON SUPPORTER, GRAHAM H.

D:  A BIG THANKS TO GRAHAM FOR THE SUPPORT.  WE CAN’T KEEP THIS THING GOING WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF AMAZING LISTENERS LIKE YOU.

O:  WE ALSO WANT TO THANK USERNAME KRACOPP FOR THE 5 STAR REVIEW.

D:  IT SAYS “I LOVE THIS PODCAST AND IT IS AMAZING”.  THANK YOU.  THAT IS SHORT, BUT VERY VERY SWEET.  JOIN US NEXT WEEK WHEN WE WILL GET CURIOUS ABOUT FIREWORKS FOR LISTENERS IN ILLINOIS, CALIFORNIA, AND IDAHO.  AS ALWAYS, THANK Y’ALL FOR LISTENING AND GETTING CURIOUS WITH US.