Cowboy Poetry

In Elko, NV

The past couple of days, we have been at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. If you haven’t heard of it, you need to put this on your bucket list. Elko is easy to get to, just off I-80.

People come from all over the country. There is a long tradition of “cowboy poetry”. As one poet said, there is a lot of free time on the range. It keeps their mind occupied. Every day and night, there is poetry being recited, music being played, and people learning old Western crafts.

There are custom bootmakers here. Custom hatmakers, beaders, ropers, and leather crafters. It’s something!

It’s put on by the Western Folklife Museum here in Elko, and I hope you will agree with me that the spirit of the Old West is something we need to preserve and nurture in America.

I love cowboys. Always have. The cowboy is an American icon. It’s not his chaps or his guns or his hats. It’s his spirit. The spirit of rugged independence.

America needs to get back in touch with its rugged independence all across the country. We need to celebrate it. Are entrepreneurs who are building companies any different in spirit than our cowboys who built the West? I don’t think so. Both need to be lifted, and not torn down or taxed to death, so they don’t exist.

The first night, we heard four poets do their things. All the poems were great. They intersperse some humor in them sometimes. I do think you can read cowboy poetry, like you can Robert Frost. Somehow, it is better when it is performed or sung.

This one brought a tear to my eye.

There are poets who are gone who are legendary, and the newer poets talk about them to keep their memories alive.

Elko is a pretty little town, and the Ruby Mountains are spectacular. Historically, there have been a lot of Basque people here. I also learned how great Nevada lamb was. Yum! They have been outmarketed by New Zealand and Colorado, but that can change! I had a lamb shank the other night, and it was fantastic.

We have met a lot of very nice people here. They want the same thing you and I want. They want the craziness to stop and the government to do its job and put an end to it. They want low taxes and regulations. They work very hard building their businesses, and they don’t want government in the way.

They are worried that we are forgetting how much this part of the country contributes to America.

I won’t forget. They contribute more than tax dollars that can be added up on the financial statement. They do more than their share. In some cases, they have been shoved aside or taken advantage of by crafty politicians. They didn’t complain. They just took it and kept building their lives. That day has ended, and I agree with them.

A lot of people might descend on Elko and see it as just another small rural town. I don’t. I see potential, and I met people trying to scratch out their American dream.

They perpetuate the American spirit. They perpetuate that rugged individualism that we all need to rediscover everywhere. Yes, they channel their inner cowboy every day, and we all should never take that for granted. We ought to give them a “Thank you”.