In the mid-14th century, Columbus's voyages to the open seas discovered the New World, which is today's North America. With the development of European capitalism, more and more resources were introduced to the American continent, and it was through this form that the earliest cattle herds on the American continent were extradited, and over time, especially from the middle of the 18th century, the herd increased.
Western North America has unique conditions for pastoralists. After the first industrial revolution, North America had trains to east and west. Especially with the invention of the refrigerated train carriage, beef can be transported over long distances to keep it fresh, and people's thirst for beef is also very strong at this time. Increasingly, pastoralists sought a larger consumer market, so young men were recruited to herd cattle from large ranches in Texas and the Southwestern states to the westernmost train terminal in the United States at the time, the train terminal in Abilene, Kansas, where processed and slaughtered beef was transported by train to various consumer markets.
Most of the men who participate in the recruitment are forced to accept this job because of the pressure of life. Therefore, they were mostly people at the bottom of society, including black slaves at that time, men from poor families, and so on. Along the way, the road is steep and arduous, and these cattle herders from all walks of life and all walks of life come together in their unique costumes to transport their cattle to their destinations, which is why they are also called "cowboys".
This is also the source of the "Western Cowboys", precisely because they are not afraid of hardship, and their resolute and courageous character and mental outlook are called "heroes on horseback".
The harsher the environment, the more determined the cowboys are. Cowboys will encounter all kinds of difficulties along the way, many of which are unpredictable. Sometimes in a sudden snowstorm, the cattle panic, running around, they need to concentrate, teamwork, control the cattle to a certain range, so as not to get lost; for example, some cattle are fierce, they need to give more attention, can not relax at any time, they know that once there is a mistake, it may lead to a big mistake, so they are extra careful along the way.
At the same time, there are too many cattle, which are easy to attract attacks by beasts of prey, poisonous snakes, and even Indians, so not only cattle are not only cattle along the way, they themselves may also die at any time. Behind these difficulties and obstacles, a group of people showed the character of wisdom, composure, calmness, perseverance and determination.
I have to mention that their teamwork ability, a large herd alone or a few people can not do, but also pay attention to the way and method. Therefore, the cowboys will carry out an internal personnel plan for each herd, and each person has a clear division of tasks. Of course, they will also be flexible according to the specific situation, each person will perform their own duties, in case of emergency, they will not hesitate to join the fight.
In the 18th century, the Western Americas were largely undeveloped, so cowboys carved out their own paths along the way. These roads facilitated the development of the West for the better, and in this sense, the Western Cowboys belonged to the vanguard of the development and cultural development of the Western Americas.
The best period for the development of the cowboy population in the West should be in the 1860s and 1890s, after which the cowboy population went into decline. Until the end of the nineteenth century, it was difficult to see cowboys.
Since the discovery of the North American continent, resources from all countries have taken root in North America, thanks to the advanced technology of the Industrial Revolution, the invention of refrigeration preservation technology has enabled fresh meat to be transported for a long time. In particular, between 1865 and 1895, the demand for beef in the market increased sharply, and the development of transportation on the one hand facilitated the timely and efficient transportation of fresh meat, on the other hand, the railway extended to most villages, so that the amount of fresh meat required was expanded.
After the Civil War, cattle herds pushed westward, Spanish cattle from southern Mexico were bred in large numbers, and by the late 19th century, Western Texas had become the most cattle-rearing state in the United States. So for greater economic gain, the herders wanted to drive large herds of cattle north to the Railroad in Kansas and sell them throughout the United States. So from the 1860s onwards, huge herds and huge market demand spawned batches of cowboys who drove cattle day and night, living a hard and happy cowboy life.
Since then, a large number of farmers have made a fortune, so more people have followed suit, and the animal husbandry industry has developed rapidly for a time. According to statistics, by the mid-1880s, forty percent of U.S. land was used for animal husbandry. However, the demand of the market is limited, a large number of fresh meat is sold to the market, and the supply is seriously greater than the demand. Immediately afterward, the Great Storm of 1886 destroyed millions of cattle, closed a large number of ranches, and especially the development of transportation at the end of the nineteenth century, which connected the western region to the railway. Low market demand, ranch closures and traffic developments have deprived cowboys of the conditions they need to survive, and they have since declined.
Cowboys have a unique image in American culture, including external and internal images. From the external image, lasso, denim, denim hat, denim, cowboy boots, revolver are their standard equipment. From the internal image, they are figures with heroic and mysterious colors. Whether it is an external image or an internal personality trait, we can read it in American culture. Cowboy culture is a typical representative of native American culture and plays a pivotal role in American history.
The image of the cowboy has been profoundly portrayed in the United States in literature, film and television. Literary works are all derived from life, and these works use real brushstrokes to let us understand the specific image of cowboys. Let's start with the external image of the cowboy! In the film and television drama, the cowboys are wearing jeans and leather jackets, will wear felt hats with high edges slightly upturned, and a pistol at the waist, giving people the overall feeling of being tough guys who have experienced wind and rain, free and mighty.
Cowboys can conquer the hearts of the masses with their ability to respond to change, and they can use limited resources to maximize deterrence. Their costumes are the most tightly fitted, such as the common lasso has a powerful effect on them. They consign things with lassos, drag and rescue cattle to subdue crazy animals, etc. For example, jeans, cowboy hats, cowboy boots, etc. do not simply exist as clothing, they also have the ability to cope with the natural environment and help cowboys live, such as cowboy hats can be used to resist storms, receive water and drink.
Denim costumes are unique designs, in that era, denim clothing gave them the guarantee of safety and life along the way, in today's society, this kind of ingenious design is also pursued. In fact, there is a certain difference between cowboys in film and television dramas and real cowboys. The cowboys in reality are full of wind and frost, life is not too constrained, their lives are more messy, their bodies are always covered with wind and dust, and their eyes are not as clear and bright as those of actors.
Film and television dramas portray the potential character of cowboys more clearly, and are not far from the cowboys in reality. They are all heroes, with the spirit of adventure and exploration, can handle large and small emergencies on the fly, pay attention to teamwork and cooperation spirit, calm, composed, do not drag mud and water, seem to have the ability to gallop, people are daunting.
The most profound portrayal of the cowboy image belongs to the Romantic writers who emerged at the end of the 19th century, who showed various characters in different situations for the cowboys they wrote. The earliest novel depicting the cowboy image was Owen. West's masterpiece The Virginian. The novel is seen as the starting point of the cowboy novel in the history of American literature and is hailed as the first true Western novel.
Since then, the writers have had a basic prototype of the image of the cowboy, and they have tried to expound and depict the life and spiritual outlook of the cowboy through the stories of various profiles. All in all, it revolves around cowboy boldness, fortitude, wisdom, and indomitable enterprising spirit, which forms the core content of American cowboy culture.
It can be said that cowboy culture is a label of the times, from the 20th century, cowboy culture has not simply stayed in film and television production, with the development of economic globalization, the connection between people continues to deepen, and the development of natural culture is also an indispensable part. The local culture of the United States to the world means that the cowboy culture will influence more people on a larger scale, and in this process, the cowboy culture has been inherited and developed, and a unique cowboy spirit, cowboy music, cowboy dance, cowboy costumes and so on have emerged.
Around the world, people who have learned about cowboy culture will definitely comment on this, and people will mention the inner content of cowboy culture in their daily lives. Through film and television works, people talk and laugh, experience the life of cowboys, give more people the inspiration of life, and give people a shock of the soul from the aspects of dealing with the world, which is also the concrete embodiment of the cowboy spirit in cowboy culture in contemporary life.
In addition to the enlightenment of the people's hearts, cowboy culture has also affected people's food, clothing, housing and transportation, especially in the field of clothing, denim clothing occupies half of the clothing. It may be an exaggeration to say this, but it is undeniable that almost everyone in life has denim clothing. As a new product, denim clothing is loved by the public. Costume designers design various types of denim clothing from different angles and in different ways.
It is worth mentioning that every design can cause a boom. With the development of denim clothing, denim has also developed into other fields, such as denim bags and denim pendants. Not only that, the dress of the Western denim living alone is also loved by some groups, such as felt hats have become the choice of some people to pursue fashion and novelty. Nowadays, denim has also become a new industry, growing steadily around the world.
Cowboy music is also a very unique style, this kind of music is warm, the dance is bold, the steps are lively and wandering, and it echoes the cowboy crowd and the image. As an emerging culture in the field of music, it is also loved by some people. The development of cowboy music is also another major feat in the development of American country music, it has the brand of the times, and the emergence of cowboy music has added color to the world's music culture.
Cowboy dance, also known as the Czech dance, its prototype is tap dance, which was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s. In the war years, people's emotions have been suppressed for a long time and cannot be released, and the cowboy dance is characterized by agile dance steps, jumping, relaxed, enthusiastic and cheerful dance, which will give people a relaxed and pleasant feeling. It can be used for people in war to release emotions.
Therefore, during World War II, cowboy dance was widely publicized. Cowboy dance is also the essence of American culture, and to this day, cowboy dance will often appear in the public eye and appear on large performance stages.
Cowboy culture is deeply rooted in American soil and gradually spreading around the world, affecting every aspect of our lives. The end of the cowboy era led to the establishment of the cowboy spirit in the west, and a large number of popular novels and masterpieces were derived.
With the development of globalization, the cowboy culture rooted in American culture has been known to the world through literature, film and television works, and the cowboy image has gradually penetrated the hearts of the people. In the process of cultural exchange and inheritance, different forms of denim costumes, cowboy dances and cowboy music in the style of solitude have been derived.
Nowadays, the unique clothing, language, songs, entertainment methods, etc. of cowboys have been interpreted by the world and have become the symbols of cowboy culture, and the culture of the world has also added color. Who would have thought that the unique culture created by the underclass in the nineteenth century would become more brilliant after generations of praise, and evolved into a unique landscape in world culture.