03/10/08 Paying Tribute

Paying Tribute. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. It is still a number of months away but a new national celebration is struggling for some much needed recognition. The National Day of the Cowboy is slated for July 26. Getting a day to pay tribute to the knight of the west has been a labor of love for Bethany Braley and grew out of another event. BRALEY: It was first thought of by Bill Bales at American Cowboy magazine and what made him think of it was there was actually a National Day of the Horse, he said there ought to be the National Day of the Cowboy. Braley was asked to head up the project and the first person to respond was Senator Craig Thomas of Wyoming where there is a obvious amount of cowboy history. Braley says it's important that we pay tribute to the cowboy. BRALEY: Cowboys and cowgirls played a very significant role in helping us establish the American West - you know the work that they did, the ethics that they had, the kind of lifestyles that they lived. Out of that came all the other things  you know it's part of the reason that they are so acknowledged the world over is because of their ethics and the contribution that they made. The cowboy has permeated every aspect of America's heritage from art and music to books, movies and television. BRALEY: You know I think all of that came about for a reason and the reason is what they did and continue to do and they way they live, you know stewards of the land and they choices that they make, those are all things that other people can aspire to and that's the reason I think they are so honored in so many different ways in our culture. Braley says there are lots of events all year long that are tributes to the National Day of the Cowboy and even celebrations outside the U.S. BRALEY: And one of the countries is England where last year a group of cowboys there, they call their ranch there the Western Trails Ranch and they're a group of people who pooled their money so they can lease land outside of London so they can be cowboys every single weekend. They go to their rand, they put on all their cowboy clothes, their Stetson's, their boots, they have horses out they and they practice roping. They just love to be cowboys. They come to America on their vacations and quite by accident I got to go there and meet them and all they wanted to talk about the National Day of the Cowboy and it's the American cowboy they love of course. Tomorrow, more on the National Day of the Cowboy and how you can get involved. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.