Western Songs and the Myth of the Cowboy

"The component of danger was balanced by the appeal to adventure and freedom of movement..." [o]

Here I am, a kid of 10 or 11, riding my black and white Raleigh racer through the streets and alleyways of my Montreal neighbourhood. The bike is my horse, the handlebars my reins, the seat my saddle, the pedals my stirrups. On a given day I could be any one of the Western heroes I idolized: Gene Autry, Roy Rogers or, more often than not, the Lone Ranger. It was a testimony to the power of the cowboy narrative that a Jewish kid from Quebec could fully embrace and immerse himself in the world of the American cowboy. Hi-Yo, Silver, away!

 In 1954, the tobacco company Philip Morris initiated one of the most successful ad campaigns in history. It featured a rugged, handsome man with a cigarette in his hand or between his lips. The man was dressed as a cowboy — the cigarette, a Marlboro. The image of the Marlboro Man was a dominant fixture on television, billboards and magazines until 1999 — an extraordinary 45 years. Within two years of the campaign’s launch, Marlboro sales increased by 300%.

The myth of the cowboy emerged through the transformation of the job of a boy tending cattle into the heroic masculine figure.

One would be wrong, however, to credit the success of the campaign solely to the genius of the ad agency. Well before the campaign, the cowboy had become an iconic figure in popular culture, not only in North America, but internationally. In some ways, the Marlboro man was the culmination of decades of cowboy mythology promotion — radio and TV dramas, feature films, Wild West shows, comics and books, most notably The Virginian by Owen Wister (1902) and the dime store novels of Zane Grey, twenty-four novels from 1903-1921. The genesis of this mythology is discussed at length in three books, The American Cowboy: The Myth and the Reality (1955), The Cowboy Hero: His Image in American History and Culture (1979), and The Creation of the Cowboy Hero: Fiction, Film and Fact (2014). All three address how the myth of the cowboy emerged through the transformation of the job of a boy tending cattle into the heroic masculine figure familiar to us. Yet what they fail to develop is the role of Western songs in creating and perpetuating the myth.

The vastness of the open range as an idea . . . 'Marlboro country.'

THE COWBOY IMAGE EMERGES

In examining the major ingredients of the cowboy myth, a good place to start is with the Marlboro man: what are his values, what does he represent? Prior to the 1950s, Marlboro cigarettes were primarily marketed to women with the prime sales pitch being ‘mild taste,’ further enhanced by faux cork-paper wrapped filters. These features led to the view that Marlboro was a women’s cigarette, advertised with the slogan 'Mild as May', which encouraged men to turn to other brands. In response, the ad agency decided to connect the product with the cowboy’s image of the rugged individualism and masculinity required to venture into the unknown and often dangerous frontier of the ‘wild’ West where a man could be tested and found worthy. The component of danger was balanced by the appeal to adventure and freedom of movement, both inherent in the idea of the vastness of the open range — “Marlboro country.” 

The cowboy myth was imbued with a code of behaviour, not unlike the chivalry ideal of the medieval knights. The evolution of this code can be traced to the novels of Wister and Gray, but also to the writings of Sir Walter Scott in England in the early 1800s. Many of the popular movie and television cowboys of the 20th century — Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Tom Mix, Gene Autry, and others — developed their own code of conduct, aimed mainly at children. Gene Autry, known as the “singing cowboy”, presented his ‘Cowboy Code’ on his Melody Ranch radio show in 1947:

1. The cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.
2. He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.
3. He must always tell the truth.
4. He must be gentle with children, the elderly and animals.
5. He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
6. He must help people in distress.
7. He must be a good worker.
8. He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
9. He must respect women, parents, and his nation’s laws.
10. The cowboy is a patriot.

This type of ethical and behavioural code combined with the cowboy’s various heroic activities is the essence of the myth. Central to these activities is the image of a man on horseback crossing the open range to do battle against lawlessness — through fist fights, gun play, and various methods of outwitting the villain. (The cowboy hero wasn’t just physically talented, he was also clever.) The types of character traits needed to combat the dark forces in the Wild West are key elements that the western song celebrates.

In selecting the cowboy songs here I have used two criteria: the song’s popularity (i.e., honours and awards), and the singer’s reputation. I argue that these have a significant impact on the power of the song to affect the legitimacy and perseverance of the cowboy narrative.

The role of Western songs is largely ignored in historical accounts of the perpetuation of the cowboy myth. [o]

SETTING THE STAGE: SONGS OF THE OPEN RANGE

The image of the lone rider traversing the American frontier and revelling in the liberty and adventure it provides is featured in many songs, including ‘Tumbling Tumbleweeds’ (1934), ‘Carry Me Back to the Lone Prairie’ (1934), and ‘Back in the Saddle Again’ (1939). But two of the most impactful songs are ‘Home on the Range’ and ‘Don’t Fence Me In’.

In 1872, an ear, nose, and throat doctor from Iowa named Brewster M. Higley came to Kansas to claim land under the Homestead Act. Captivated by the beauty and magnificence of the Great Plains, he wrote a poem, ‘My Western Home.’ Its content echoed government and railway ads designed to attract people to settle the West, emphasizing the land’s abundance and wide open spaces. Higley's friend, violinist Daniel Kelley, set the poem to music and it was renamed ‘Home on the Range.’ The word 'range' here evokes the unknown, unlimited and undefined space where adventure awaits and anything is possible. The notion of the expansion of the US westward was reinforced by newspaper publisher Horace Greeley’s famous exhortation, "Go West, young man" — printed in the New York Tribune in 1865. It was a logical extension of Manifest Destiny, the idea that the United States had the right and obligation to expand its borders — an idea still very much alive today. Whether through cattle drives, or fighting Indigenous peoples and assortments of other 'villains', the cowboy became a salient actor in this process: he ‘tamed’ the Wild West to secure safe territory for settlers. 'Home on the Range,’ first published in Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads by John Lomax (1910) was officially adopted as the state song of Kansas in 1947 and is commonly regarded as the unofficial anthem of the American West.

DON'T FENCE ME IN

‘Don't Fence Me In’ was written in 1934 by Cole Porter (with help on the lyrics from Robert Fletcher) for the musical stage production, Adios Argentina. Like ‘Home on the Range’ it expresses a yearning for an unfettered existence possible in vast, open terrain:

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above,

Don't fence me in,

Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,

Don't fence me in,

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle

Underneath the western skies.

The song was recorded by many artists, including Kate Smith, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra, whose version in 1944 became the number one song in the country. I believe the most entertaining version, however, is that of Roy Rogers, the 'King of the Cowboys' (though like Gene Autry, he was never a working cowboy). Here he is performing it with his horse Trigger in the film Hollywood Canteen, also in 1944:

THE COWBOY AS GUNSLINGER
 
The cowboy’s important props were his horse, outfit and guns (commonly one or two Colt .45 six-shooters hanging in hip-high holsters). As pointed out by historians, gunfights in the West were very rare events. Of course this did not stop movie makers, novelists, and songwriters from resolving plot conflicts with dramatic gun play.

High Noon is a famous 1952 film starring Gary Cooper as a town’s sheriff abandoned by its citizens and forced to face a band of killers on his own. His honour and sense of duty demand that he persevere and emerge victorious in one of the best known and most suspenseful gunfights in the history of cinema. The gunfight is also widely viewed as a metaphor for resistance to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which was at its apex that year. Indeed, the film’s screenwriter, Carl Foreman, was summoned before the committee and ultimately blacklisted. John Wayne was offered the lead role in the film but turned it down due to the implicit criticism of HUAC, which Wayne strongly supported. The movie won four academy awards, for acting, editing, musical score and song. The music and theme song were the result of the collaboration of celebrated composer Dimitri Tiomkin and lyricist Ned Washington, and became an instant classic. Its popularity continues to this day and contributes to the persistence of the cowboy narrative. The song is sung by the consummate singer of Western songs, Frankie Laine.

 
THE COWBOY AS WESTERN KNIGHT
 
An integral part of the cowboy image is chivalry. This is manifested in guidelines for ethical living, his attitude towards women, and coming to the aid of those in distress. As discussed earlier, this is reflected in the codes espoused by many popular silver screen and television cowboys.

‘The Ballad of Paladin’ is the theme song for Have Gun Will Travel, a highly successful American Western television program on the air from 1957 to 1963. The song is sung by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Duane Eddy. Set in post-civil war US, the series features Paladin, a high-priced gunslinger for hire who charges nothing for those who lack the means to pay. The name comes from the Paladins, a renowned band of knights of Charlemagne’s court in the 8th century known for the classic virtues of chivalry — the French counterparts of the round table knights in the Arthurian legend. This Paladin is a more contemporary version of his namesakes, distinctive as the epitome of a Renaissance man: wine connoisseur, opera lover, pianist and polyglot.

Have gun will travel, reads the card of a man.

A knight without armour in a savage land

His fast for gun hire heeds the calling wind

A soldier of fortune is a man called Paladin

Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?

Paladin, Paladin, far, far from home.

He travels on to wherever he must

A chess knight of silver is his badge of trust

There are campfire legends that the Blade's men sing

Of the man with the gun, of the man called Paladin

Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?

Paladin, Paladin, far, far from home

Far from home, far from home . . .
 

(The “Blade’s men” refers to Paladin’s nemesis: a group of violent hoodlums working for Blade – a nefarious thug.)

Despite his glorification in film and other media, the cowboy is certainly not perfect. For example, his role in subduing native peoples during the westward expansion is at odds with the chivalry dimension of the mythology. Yet, among the wide variety of contemporary heroes, from Superman to X-Men, the cowboy remains securely embedded, even today, an ever recognizable and enduring figure in American popular culture. ō

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The American Cowboy: The Myth and the Reality, Frantz, Joe B. and Julian Ernest Choate, Jr. University of Oklahoma Press: 1955.

The Cowboy Hero: His Image in American History and Culture. William W. Savage. University of Oklahoma Press: 1979.

The Creation of the Cowboy Hero: Fiction, Film and Fact. Jeremy Agnew. McFarland and Co., 2014.

Essays on Chivalry, Romance and the Drama. Sir Walter Scott. 1818.

OTHER ARTICLES by Stephen Richer on the history of protest music:

• Ten Songs that Made a Difference

• The Protest Legacy of African American Spirituals, Part 1

• The Protest Legacy of African American Spirituals, Part 2

• Ten Canadian Songs That Made A Difference

STEPHEN RICHER is a Professor Emeritus at Carleton University where he was head of the Sociology and Anthropology Department. He has been a folk and protest singer since his teens. He teaches courses occasionally on the history of protest music at Carleton’s Institute for Lifelong Learning Program. Stephen's lecture on the life and influence of Pete Seeger can be seen here. He lives in Ottawa.