Each July, the fourth Saturday, we celebrate the National Day of the American Cowboy, where cowboys and cowgirls from across the United States are honored for their contributions to promoting and preserving the cowboy way of life.
With the National Day of the Cowboy around the corner (24th July), we want you to celebrate by embracing your inner cowboy. That's why we'll give you some recommendations of movies, books, tours, and more that you can watch, read or see from home to be part of the festivities:
1.- Watch a western movie
What better way to spend time than watching great movies? And especially if they're Western, full of action and mystery. See our top 3 picks for this weekend's celebration:
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Genre: Western
What is it about? A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
One of the best western classics. With a lot of action and adventure, it gets better and better every minute. Extraordinary actors, themes, and performance. A must-watch.
True Grit
Genre: Drama, Western, Adventures
What is it about: Jeff Bridges saddles up as a hard-drinking, irascible, one-eyed U.S. Marshal to track down who murdered a girl’s father.
A melancholy, atmospheric Western with a 14-year-old girl at the center of it. Beautifully photographed and worthy of success.
Django Unchained
Genre: Drama, Western
What is it about With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
Directed by the incomparable Quentin Tarantino, Django is a great film with a crazy extravagant style that defies the laws of film to create a masterpiece. A movie you should watch at least once in your life.
2.- Enjoy a western novel
If you're more a reader, then this day is the perfect opportunity to start a new lecture and immerse your imagination in the craziest cowboy adventures. See our top 3 books for this date and find here your next to-be-read:
Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America's First Frontier
A national New York Times Best Seller.
What is it about? It is the mid-eighteenth century, and in the 13 colonies founded by Great Britain, anxious colonists desperate to conquer and settle North America’s “First Frontier” beyond the Appalachian Mountains commence a series of bloody battles. These violent conflicts are waged against the Native American tribes whose lands they covet, the French, and finally the mother country itself in an American Revolution destined to reverberate around the world.
This is the setting of; Blood and Treasure, and the guide to this epic narrative is America’s first and arguably greatest pathfinder, Daniel Boone. Now, thanks to painstaking research by two award-winning authors, the story of the brutal birth of the United States is told through the eyes of both the ordinary and larger-than-life men and women, white and red, who witnessed it.
It is undoubtedly an interesting nonfiction book that reads almost like fiction. It has a median score of 4.18/5 stars on good reads, stated to be an extremely well-written history and biography. If you are willing to read more about the past and amaze yourself with some amazing adventures, this is the book for you.
War on the Border – Villa, Pershing, the Texas Rangers, and an American Invasion
What is it about? A dramatic account of the “Punitive Expedition” of 1916 that brought Pancho Villa and Gen. John J. Pershing into conflict, and whose reverberations continue in the Southwestern US to this day.
A tightly focused history of the relations between the U.S. and Mexico in the early 20th century. With glimpses of violence, romance, drama, suspense, craziness, and history, this book surely has a riveting and supremely entertaining narrative. You’ll be so engaged you won’t stop reading until the end.
Till My Last Breath (Desert Hills Trilogy Book 1)
What is it about? Emily Sweeney, MD, is a vibrant young trauma physician at a major Seattle medical center who is tragically taken from the comfort of her 21st Century life. Suddenly, dropped into the 1880s unforgiving frontier, she is determined to survive, or die all over again. Using her knowledge and skills as a physician, Emily struggles to save a stranger in the desert hills of the Arizona Territory. In the end, can she return to her previous life and leave behind the man she's come to love?
Caleb Young, a once-prominent Boston attorney in 1880, is haunted by his past filled with lies and deception. Hoping to outrun his demons, he willingly leaves his privileged life behind. Heading straight into unforeseen trouble, he is shot for revenge and left to die in the desert hills. Now, dependent on a beautiful woman who appears out of nowhere using her hands and heart to save him, will he finally have a reason to live?
Two lives forged out of truth and trust, can their love survive, or will it take its last breath?
If you crave Western romance and revenge stories, this is the ideal option for you. It employs a time travel element that sets it apart from usual Western-themed novels. It's a compelling story that keeps the reader engaged right down to the last page. A must-read you should add next to your list.
3.- Watch online rodeos
Sometimes, it's difficult to attend in person to Rodeos, whether they're not in our city or they don't fit with our budget or time. But you don't have to worry about that! You can find tons of videos on YouTube of previous years' Rodeos, it's just a matter of making the right search and you'll find full videos with all the details. Here we leave you a full show of 2018:
FULL SHOW: WCRA Showdown Rodeo at Helldorado | 2018
4.- Visit a museum
With technology on its rise, now it’s possible to take virtual tours of so many museums! As it’s National Cowboy day, we leave you some recommendations of amazing Western museums that offer virtual galleries:
The Booth Museum
The world’s largest permanent exhibition space for Western art is in Cartersville, Georgia at the Booth Western Art Museum. And the best: it has virtual tours of permanent collections!
Enjoy a free, cultural time by clicking on this link where you’ll see all the available galleries and videos, and even have the opportunity to go to the 3D gallery and pretend you’re actually there! Really, an opportunity you can’t miss. You’ll learn a lot and have a great time. By clicking on the videos you'll see on the page, you can take a virtual tour of many of the permanent collection galleries.
5.- And lastly… Don’t forget to dress in your Cowboy Best!
It doesn’t matter what your style is. Put on your favorite Western clothing items to honor American heritage. What is more iconic than a cowboy hat and a pair of cowboy boots?
And that's all for today's Western recommendations! We hope you liked them, and if you get to enjoy at least one of the activities we suggest to you here, don't forget to tell us what you think! Your opinion is important to us. Do you have any other recommendations? We would also love to hear them.
