Articles

Culture Change and the American Cowboy

Author: James B. Smithson (University of Arizona)

Abstract

The modern American cowboy is an anachronism, or, in the words to a song by Kris Kristofferson, "a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction." On the rodeo circuit, you can find bull—riders from Brooklyn; on the range are ranchers riding herd on Honda motorcycles or surveying their spread from the cockpit of a Cessna. The striking thing about this blend of past and present is that it does not seem unusual at all, particularly to those who are doing it.

Keywords: Cowboy

How to Cite: Smithson, J. B. (1983) “Culture Change and the American Cowboy”, Arizona Anthropologist. 4(0).