I still have a lot of these items. Above is the small carved horse from the trip to Cheyenne Frontier Days, which I had forgotten about until I wrote this post.
I don’t remember my parents ever buying anything for themselves, but at Frontier Days they bought a big souvenir for us.
At the rodeo grounds, various vendors were set up near the parking lot, hoping to drum up some business from the tourists. One gentleman was selling reproductions of Charles M. Russell paintings of the Old West. He had an impressive display of nicely framed art that we admired as we passed by on our way in to the rodeo grounds.
The guy selling paintings was still there when we passed by on our way out, and my parents decided to let us kids pick one out. Much to their dismay, my siblings and I decided on this one (below) entitled, “A Tight Dally and A Loose Latigo.”
Looking back, I can see why my parents were disappointed with our choice. Instead of a scene of a cowpoke or Indian on horseback in a beautiful Western setting, we picked the one with the most action and mayhem, a jumble of cowboys, horses and cattle.
That print hung in the hallway outside my brothers’ and my bedroom in our house on Skyline Drive for years.
More than once, Mom remarked that she had wished we had picked one that was less chaotic. But “A Tight Dally and A Loose Latigo” was the one we wanted, and that’s the one they bought us.
His spoken word song “My Beautiful America” is a list of of all the things he loves about our country – including Cheyenne Frontier Days.
More than once, Mom remarked that she had wished we had picked one that was less chaotic. But “A Tight Dally and A Loose Latigo” was the one we wanted, and that’s the one they bought us.
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It’s worth noting that Country Music Hall of Fame member Charlie Daniels, who passed away on July 6, 2020, was the artist who performed the most times at Cheyenne Frontier Days over the years. From 1979 to 2018, he played there a record 11 times.His spoken word song “My Beautiful America” is a list of of all the things he loves about our country – including Cheyenne Frontier Days.
1 comment:
That carved horse is very cool Dan.I bet it was made by a local Cheyenne artist or craftsman back then....Maybe even a real Native American...Nowadays the souvenirs would all have that famous little silver "Made In China" decal stamped on it.Even at the Cheyenne Frontier Days of the present day
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