From the day the very first pilgrims set foot on this land, it has been a land of people that looked to the West for their dreams. Even when the Pacific halted the Westward movement, Americans still looked to the West as a place where dreams become reality.
Although the cowtowns have died, the cowboys have not. They usually may be found behind the wheel of a new Ford pickup truck instead of in the saddle, and toting six packs of Lone Star instead of six guns, but trust me, the men of the West still exist. It is very apparent even to those who have never set foot off the concrete slabs of our great cities, that virtually everything from fashion to music, to fantasy, bear the unmistakable brand of the West.
Our cities try to capture the spirit of the West in one last attempt to hold on to the Western heritage and traditional values left us by the men of the West. Our children and wives wear blue denims, not necessarily conforming to the specifications of Levi Strauss, but definitely a sophisticated replica of the old West denims. Hats, hats of every kind with feathers, hat pins, snake skins, and all again patterned from the likes of the hats of the Western man.
Music is Western, theaters are Western, decor is in Western tradition. Why Western you say? Could it possibly be because of the desire of the people in this land to get away from the hurry and scurry that complicates our lives so much? Do we long for the simplistics of that era gone by? Are we tired of taxes, high electric bills, gas bills, mortgages, car payments, high grocery bills, and all the other things that seem to make our lives difficult? Or, is that great Western heritage so dominant in our lives that we can't avoid it even if we wanted to?
Western is and Western will always be, I believe!
© jlb 1997
[ G. Harvey ]
[ Robert Summers ]
[ Chuck DeHaan ]
Since 7 April 2001
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Last Revision 8 April 2001
