I’m not near as old as many of my good friends, but I still grew up with heroes, with the likes of the Gene, Roy, and the Duke on the silver screen; Jimmy, Hank, Willie and many others on the vinyl; Louis Lamour and Zane Grey on the literary pages, along with the numerous unsung cowboys doin’ the every day work that cowboys do — ropin’ and ridin’, doctorin’, brandin’; all the things that require cowboys to work daylight to flashlight.
But there is another genre that has kept the Ol’ West spirit alive, the spirit of ol’ fashion hard work and just doin’ simply what is right — and that is the work of cartoonist Fred Harman, someone whose work we all know and admire. Continued...
Storyteller Fred Harman III, son of famed cowboy cartoonist Fred Harman and curator of the Fred Harman Art Museum in Pagosa Springs. Photo courtesy Bruce Andersen. |
“Dancin’ with the one that brought ya”, “Ridin’ for the Brand”, are just a couple of the ol’ cowboy sayings reflecting our loyalty to who we are and respect for those that have come before us.
As cowboys, we generally don’t have much which ain’t on our backs, in our pickups, or in our horse trailers, but what we do have is a legacy, a history which has changed the world. There’s hardly a place or people in the world that doesn’t love the Cowboy.
While our history and legend is romantic, the reality rarely is, but we keep on cowboyin’ because it’s in our blood, just as sure as the horse hair on our clothes, cow dung on our boots, and amazing sunsets in our eyes. We do it for the dream, the way of life, and to honor and be like our heroes that came before us. We are romantics at heart, and always will be.
The myth and legend of the cowboy will never die… as long as we don’t let it.
 This is the point of my long talk. We have a genuine treasure in Pagosa to genuinely boast about. A real hero. Fred Harman, father and son. Men rich in history, stories, and cowboy character, which is evident in their faces, voices and eyes, for all to see.
To preserve all of this, we’re making a call for a “roundup” on Monday nights to keep Fred Harman Museum and Park open for the next little cowpokes to enjoy.
Starting Monday, July 6, we will have the first of our weekly “roundups”, called “Cowboy Campfire”, at Fred Harman Park. The night of festivities will begin around 6’ish, which will include horseback ridin’, a cowboy shootout reenactment, cowboy poets and singing around a campfire, some good grub- a BBQ dinner, and just maybe one of those old cowboy short stories we saw on the silver screen when we grew up, courtesy of Fred Harman, Jr.’s personal archives.
So we personally invite ya’ll to come out… to step back in time… to be a kid again, at Fred Harman Park and Museum, to relive the Ol’ West, to have a taste of trail dust, good food, and good memories that will last a lifetime.
For Reservations, please contact San Juan Mountain & Golf Resort, 970-731-4653. |