National Day of the Cowboy

Wait, cowboys still exist?

On a recent trip to Washington, D.C., I heard that question a lot. It surprised me a bit. I thought the average, college-educated American understood where their food comes from. Grocery stores and restaurants wouldn’t have beef without cowboys. It reminded me of a verse in the Western tune “The Rancher Feeds Us All”:

Oh their work is never done,

From dawn till settin’ sun,

The rancher is the man that feeds us all.

While Big Ag jumps and shouts,

Get big or get out,

We need to take a stand before they get it all.

(Hear Don Edwards perform it.)

It made me realize that people need a certain cultural frame of reference in order to understand my project “Comrade Cowboys.”

So, I’m launching an awareness campaign. It’s a photographic countdown to the National Day of the Cowboy, July 25.

Every day I’ll post a new photo on Instagram, showing living cowboys in the American West. They are my favorite shots taken over 10 years as a contribute to Western Horseman magazine.

Follow along on Instagram and Facebook.

Better yet, spread the word and tell your friends to follow along. You’ll enjoy a photographic journey through the American West, and maybe even learn a something about the ranchers and cowboys who feed us all.

I’m setting the challenge of 2,015 people following the project by the time the clock strikes 11:59 p.m., on July 25. Wouldn’t that be a great way to hone National Day of the Cowboy?