THE DIARY OF AN AMERICAN COWBOY

THE DIARY OF AN
 AMERICAN COWBOY

The BARNES REVIEW politically incorrect 
history magazine Jan/Feb 2020 edition
is now available from
www.barnesreview.org 

The Cover

The Table of Contents

THE DIARY OF AN AMERICAN COWBOY,
 originally written over a year ago, was held up for publication due to the subject matter being suitable for a "theme edition" on the Old West.  This magazine covers some thoroughly interesting studies of  Buffalo Bill Cody, Jesse James and family, Lottie Moon, and of course, our articles on the Cowboy as he really was, not as how Holly-weird likes to portray him. The other article shows how frontier justice came to pass in the mining camps when road agents and a crooked sheriff ran the show (Vigilantes of Old Montana). Enjoy all these well-written Barnes Review stories by internationally famous writers, and learn about the Old West without the hype!

 The above article THE DIARY OF AN AMERICAN COWBOY was based on The Log of a Cowboy, a Narrative of the Old Trail Days as written by Andy Adams and published in 1903. There were a number of black and white sketches or photographs in the book. Some were reproduced in the article, the rest are featured here!

The Front Cover of Andy Adams' book

Heat and Thirst

The Stampede 

Meeting the Indians

Celebrating in Dodge City 

Swimming the Platte River

Swapping Lies and Tall Tales 

around the Campfire!

The original article submitted for publication had many quotes and funny stories from Adams' book that were edited out of the published article. For those who would like to read the rest of the material, here it is! 

The above song was actually composed by students with the help of their teacher. It just goes to show the degree to which cowboy stories are a part of the American cultural experience! The song was included as part of a fifth grade music textbook published by the State of California in 1950.

It's interesting that the books were about to be thrown away by the school in favor of new ones and I rescued this one from planned destruction!  The book contained The Marines Hymn, America the Beautiful, Dixie and a host of folk songs from the US and around the world. Except in archival libraries like mine, the book does not exist.

One other note: When I quoted the words of the "Portuguese Hymn," my curiosity got a hold of me and I decided to do some research. First the words of the song were familiar, but I could not place it nor the tune. A search only added to the confusion. So here is the explanation:

Tommy Moore Titles the song “The Portuguese Hymn.” However, that’s misleading and confusing. Here’s why: the term “Portuguese Hymn” can be applied to “Adeste Fideles,” or “Oh Come all ye Faithful.” The words, of course, do not match. The “Portuguese Hymn” is likewise “A Portuguesa” which is the National Anthem of Portugal. But the words to “A Portuguesa” were written after the time of Tommy Moore’s herd drive. So the song could not be from that source. There are many versions of what has been called the “Portuguese Hymn,” one of which is attributed to the music king, King John IV of Portugal. The words quoted in this article do not match any of those songs, either. Instead, they are really from what is popularly known as “How Firm a Foundation.” In Portuguese, it is titled “Que Firme Alicerce,” so in this way, Tommy Moore’s reference to Portugal makes sense after all! This old gospel song is found in many hymnals of Christian music, and according to our research, the songs’ author is apparently unknown. 

So ends this narrative of the American Cowboy! There is an amazing amount of material on the subject in the public domain. It makes for incredible reading as well as appreciation for just what these men did and the courage they had!


        Composed and edited by the Blogger

            Harald Hesstvedt Scharnhorst 


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