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109 4 A Society of Men Texas ranch life in the late nineteenth century was predominantly an all-male environment that was at the same time both appealing and out of step with modern society. Both cowboys and cattlemen were influenced by this context, but cattlemen looked outside the ranch for affirmation of their manhood, while cowboys looked mainly to each other. Cattlemen spent as much time in town as in the cow camps, and while sharing some of the same beliefs about honor and masculinity with their employees, they valued their interactions with “civilized” society much more. A good cattleman and leader was both physical and intellectual, aggressive and articulate, light-hearted but dedicated to the job, and just as comfortable in the cow camps as in the parlors in town. Ultimately, however, it was in the latter that most cattlemen found their primary social connections. Cowboys spent most of their time on the ranches with each other, and here, unconstrained by the “civilization” the cattlemen and townspeople seemed to prize, they created their own society. They developed strongly sentimental friendships, and were not ashamed to show emotion. In fact, they viewed displays of true friendship as part of a heroic character, an ideal which was perfectly in tune with standards of manly behavior in the pre-industrial era. As they cemented their friendships, the cowboys also cemented a masculine community among their peers in their outfit , prizing loyalty and camaraderie as well as solidarity against the “civilized ” world. Cowardice, false bravado, and a superior attitude earned instant scorn from one’s fellows and usually resulted in exclusion from the group. By maintaining a sense of equality within the outfit, the cowboys measured their masculine identity through their acceptance by the others. Indeed, the cow camp and bunkhouse were the only places where they did not have to answer to anyone except each other or pretend to be other than they were. Visitors to ranches frequently commented on the fun and camaraderie around the campfire, and, as we have seen, small 110 A Society of Men boys wanted nothing more than to stay with the men in the bunkhouse and listen to them. In a typical accolade, the San Antonio Light, reporting on “The Work Done By Cow Boys During the Branding Season,” told its readers that the cowboys were “pleasant companions, and a few hours of our life have been more agreeable than those spent in a cow boy’s saddle and cowboys’ camp.”1 But despite their general emphasis on equality, cowboys did create some social hierarchies. They strengthened their self-esteem through jokes about the “dudes” who could not meet their standards, however much wealth or social standing they might have off the ranch. By making fun of the dude, they could turn his alleged social superiority on its head, and increase their own status as men. Anglo cowboys also maintained a sense of self-worth through comparison with and denigration of the many black and Hispanic cowboys. Tied into both Anglo cowboys’ and cattlemen ’s ideals of masculinity was a racial ideology that placed white men, whatever their social status, as being superior to other ethnicities. Thus, the cowboys’ sense of masculinity was in part created in defense against social realities. But as society changed around them, cowboys came to seem more like adolescents than true men by middle-class standards. • • • Cattlemen held ideals of masculinity that distinguished between working -class ideas of manhood and “gentlemanly” behavior. Not all of the cattlemen cut a fine figure; the El Paso Herald described Richard King as “a small swarthy Irishman, with a limping gait” but nonetheless expressed admiration for his 500,000 horses and mules among his other livestock as well as his vast land holdings.2 Texas trail driver I. P. “Print” Olive never quite found social acceptance in Dodge City due to his somewhat rough past, despite the fact that he was the director of the West Kansas Stockman ’s Association.3 But many cattlemen were at pains to show how civilized and restrained they were, contrary to the rowdy reputation of the cowboys. The story that the San Antonio Evening Light reprinted from an Arkansas paper in 1883 was typical of these attempts. In “The Cowboy,” a man, upon seeing the name of a Texan on the hotel register, was very excited to meet the stereotypical cowboy, but instead found only a gentleman with good taste in clothing and cigars. The fictional William Dillon...

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