|Our Roots Website|skip to content|Nos Racines|Galileo Educational Network Association
History of Cowboy Culture

Storytelling

The story of the storytelling was "uncovered" by visiting and interviewing local ranchers and historians at the Bar U Ranch, reading stories, listening to the lyrics of cowboy music and talking about the powerful images in cowboy poetry. Scripts were written, rehearsed and then filmed at the Bar U Ranch, by grade 3 students at RDL School. Through their voices and stories, the culture of the daily life of the cowboy, the challenges of this life, and the drive and desire of the cowboy will be truly understood.


Storytelling by the campfire
 

Transcript:

"Cowboys always complain but I hope they don't complain today because we've fixed pots and we've sweated from all this steam and heat from the fire," complained the camp cook.

"Yah I hope they don't complain again today, it gets kind of annoying," whined the assistant camp cook.

"Yah we want to hear a good story."

"Oh boy it's been a hard day today. I have a huge scratch on my back after I got bucked off my horse. I hate that when that happens cause it hurts a lot, "moaned the aching cowboy.

"Oh you think that's bad we were at branding and this calf was bucking all day and I had to lasso her. That was the hardest day I had in weeks."

"I was branding all day and I got kicked in the chest by a calf."

"We had a calf born today but the mom didn't let it drink, He came up to her but she just lifted him up with her long horns and flipped him away."

"That's not what I saw! I saw that momma cow flip that baby just as far as the eye could see. She made 10 flips in the air that I could hardly believe my eyes."

"I could tell a better story than both of you. I saw that heifer wouldn't accept that baby so she picked it up and threw it half way across the farm. When I found it a big scruffy old wolf was getting ready to eat it. I had to chase off the wolf with my pitch fork and then I had to pick up the baby calf and bring it back to its mother. I tied its mother up just so the baby calf would drink."

"I can tell you a better story than all you guys. You guys do not know how to tell a story. The mom wouldn't accept the baby calf. I tried but when I tried that mom flipped that baby calf half way to the moon and rode for 50 miles trying to find that calf and when I found it, it was surrounded by 50 rattle snakes and I got a shot to scare them off with my shot gun."

 

[Our Roots]  -  [Nos Racines]
[canada's local histories online]  -  [les histoires locales du canada en ligne]