By Julian Kwasniewski, Catholic World Report, February 29, 2024
Julian Kwasniewski is a musician specializing in renaissance Lute and vocal music, an artist and graphic designer, as well as marketing consultant for several Catholic companies. His writings have appeared in National Catholic Register, Latin Mass Magazine, OnePeterFive, and New Liturgical Movement. You can find some of his artwork on Etsy.
I can see a real cowboy any day of the week if I like. I just have to walk a couple blocks to the Lander Bar, and I find a man with real cow dung on his boots sipping a local beer (perhaps it’s a pint of Atlantic City Gold). Wyoming, Texas, Montana. States like these are still home to men and women who live on the land, multi-generational ranchers, some on properties continuously cultivated since 18-something.
The cowboy spirit of John Wayne movies is still incarnate in these remote corners of America. But, for most, these men are a legend only. The majority of Americans will never meet a real cowboy and even if they did, probably wouldn’t learn much from these men famous for tough terseness. …