Look at it this way, anyone on this forum was to walk into our apt., you might really wonder "why are they in Florida, let alone Jacksonville?". Why? A large pic of a full-rack Bull Elk I took in Yellowstone NP on a wall next to our tv. A wall of pics completely dedicated to Old West tv stars and rodeo with a replica of "How The West Was Won" 6-shooter on a display plaque. Sound like Florida yet?
No, it sound like my brother place. His decor is based on the Old West as well. It sounds like you would have enjoyed the smaller towns of Oklahoma or Texas. Now admittedly the larger cities seem to left their country roots behind them. When we bought this place, it was considered country. Now there is a city of Houston Limits sign just five miles from me.
We really like Rocky Mountain National Park and the Elk there. When we lived in Colorado, we drove to the highest paved point that a vehicle can go in North America. We were at something like 12,000 feet up and could see the tops of close by mountain peaks. No guardrails on the sides of the road either. Look down and all that could be seen was tree tops! One time a White-Tail Doe walked by our house and another time, a Full-Rack Whitetail Buck was walking across the parking lot of the local PD near ou house. We REALLY miss that stuff!! Colorado, Wyoming, N & S Dakota does get a winter, but if a person loves the area, and is retired
This is all fascinating stuff for us Brits....as a Kid I loved cowboys and westerns....(I know that wasn't real) ...but all these stories, about ranching, rodeo, stockmen , etc..all come to life in the 'wild west' ...or in some cases 5 miles outside of it...lol...sorry Ina.... ...is really fun and wonderful to read...!!
Oh I totally agree Cody. I do wish I still lived in an old country lifestyle, but those times are over around here. My last and only vacation was about two years ago. A young woman of 45 went with me as a companion, so I tried to choose places that would be interesting to both of us. I went to Colorado back in the '70's to help a friend, and I was just West of Denver for almost a month. So I made sure my vacation started and ended with several day in the Colorado Springs area. I even got to Pike's Peek. I've never seen better scenery anywhere, but then again my travel experiences have been few.
Actually, Florida is in the top 10 in cattle production. One of my uncles used to work on a ranch in south Florida among some of the most dedicated cowboys....the Seminoles. Ray, my uncle, even opened a saloon complete with swinging doors and a stand up bar. He often said that if you couldn't ride, rope, couldn't drink with both hands and didn't like to fight you weren't a real man and he didn't allow such a person in his saloon. He was a little uh....Ornery to say the least. Of course, that was years ago before Mickey got his little feet and ears plastered all over mid to south Florida.
I grew up on a farm, but Midwestern, not Western - John Deere caps and flannel shirts, rather than cowboy hats and boots. If we saw a black person driving by on the highway, it was worth mentioning. I grew up in a town of a couple of hundred (a dot on the map, actually) and, other than twelve years in Southern California, six months in Brownsville, Texas and a year or so in Fayetteville, North Carolina, I have avoided large cities. I used to get accused of coloring my hair because my beard was a different color than my hair, but have never actually done so. As for rodeos, we had the contract for covering a couple of PRCA Rodeos in Texas, and that was always fun, except for the bull riding. We nearly always had at least one injury during the bull riding events, and usually more than one.
Sort of funny, but there is a steak house here called Longhorn Steakhouse and I know what all the Western decor is. When I ask a waiter or waitress if they know, they haven't got a clue. Holly, if you was ever to go to Tomstone, Az. or parts of Wyoming, Montana or the Dakota's, you'd really see The West! Even parts of Texas and Oklahoma still have the "Old West" flavor to them.
Hi @Holly Saunders , I imagine our way of life is as foreign to you as your lifestyle and your country is to many of us. I spent much of my youth read about the English, Irish, and Scottish histories. Kings, queens, royalty, and peasants were like fairytale to my imagination. Our history wasn't quite like in the movies no more than your's was, but back in our bygone days, there were cowboys, indians, marshals, and outlaws a plenty. Most movie history is based on some actual facts.
Florida may be in the Top 10 for cattle production, but don't tell that to cattle ranchers in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakota's, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska or Kansas or even Northern California. I've been to Feed Lots and Stockyards in Oklahoma and Colorado where there were a lot of Cattle Buyers on Sales Day. Stock trailers and big livestock haulers hooked up to big rigs all over a parking lot.
True! Wyatt Earp was a real lawman. Billy The Kid was real as was Pat Garrett. Wild Bill Hickock and Buffalo Bill Cody were real as well. Then there was the great Indian Chiefs: Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph and Red Cloud of whom I have their pictures on my Western wall. Heck, I've got two interesting DVD documentaries: The Great Indian Nations and History Of The Winchester Rifle. My wife bought me a lever-action Winchester 30-30 years ago. Talking about some fire power!
I find it funny that right in the middle of this humongous city you can drive past a fenced in area containing cattle or even a small redeo arena. The smaller rodeos are gaining more and more popularity in Texas cities.
I would love to see the Old west, it's been an ambition of mine from since I was a child... maybe one day I'll get to see one or 2 of those places Cody..
Every body can't go to Cheyene or Sheridan, or Denver or OKC. But small arenas are everywhere in Texas, in western Oklahoma and through the western states. Maybe elsewhere in the Dakotas or Montana. Those that do are on that big time circuit, I guess.