Cowboys & Cowgirls

This is the true, sweat-and-dirt tale of the feisty cowboy-child who became the most famous black rodeo performer who ever lived.

Set in the vast Wyoming Territory, The Virginian depicts the loneliness and challenge of an unknown land where the whistle of a freight train sounds across great miles of silence, where easy camaraderie - and sudden violence - are found around the campfire, and where the rough honesty of "frontier justice" is just beginning to impose a sense of society on an unruly populace. For Wister, the West represented a territory of adventure that tests the worth of a man. His hero, as John Seelye writes in his Introduction, has his roots in the historical romances of Sir Walter Scott and James Fenimore Cooper; he is a man who lives by the classic code of chivalry, ruled by quiet courage and deeply felt honor.

Drawing on real-life cowboy tales, G.A. Henty transports young readers back to the early days of America's frontier with a narrative that's as exciting as it is educational. In this "fiercely accurate" adventure, young Hugh Tunstall travels from England to the American West where he experiences firsthand the lawlessness of the Far West. Hugh finds work on a cattle ranch, encounters hostile Indians, and chases kidnappers. The absorbing narrative also offers authentic accounts of mining camps, lumberjacking, cattle ranching and rapping, with some riveting gunfights, wildfires, horse races, roundups and daring rescues! Recommended for all ages.

A master of narrative momentum and suspense, Zane Grey sweeps readers into his stories and makes them feel that things are out of control, that boundaries are being burst. 

In Riders of the Purple Sage, the most famous novel of the American West, Grey creates a hero of epic proportions, a villain of legendary evil and a world in which the landscape is rendered with such force that it seems to express thoughts and feelings, to become a character in its own right. Indeed, Riders of the Purple Sage derives much of its depth and power from passions whose forbidden and overwhelming nature cannot be expressed by human beings and are therefore embodied in the natural world. In his depiction of the relationship between Lassiter, the hero, and Jane Withersteen, Grey breaks other literary barriers: Jane, modelled on the heroines of the nineteenth-century novel, must come to terms with the values expressed by Lassiter - the harsh, "masculine" values of the twentieth century. Their struggles together represent the tumultuous changes society itself was confronting.

The story of a 6th generation Texan, Gaston Davis, who comes from a ranching background as he explores ranches from Montana to Argentina, and everywhere in between. Gaston works alongside American Cowboys from North to Central to South America. The focus of this documentary is on cattle operations in these countries, but the core of the story is for audiences to see that even though they are thousands of miles apart and separated by decades of advancement and technology, the heart of the American Cowboy remains the same, they will forever serve the people on their respective frontiers. 

Run Time:  84 minutes
Genre: Documentary, Western

Director: Gaston Davis
Producer: Gaston Davis
Cast: Gaston Davis, Charro Reed, Richard Roth

For the rebel in every girl's heart, this series presents the achievements of extraordinary, relevant, and inspiring women throughout history. Through quotes, narratives, photographs, illustrations, and fact-filled side-bars, each book tells the story of twelve bold and courageous women.

The Wild West and the rodeo are not the only places where the cowgirl spirit can be found. From the sharpshooting Annie Oakley to the legendary Calamity Jane, these female cowgirls came from all walks of life, but share an irrepressible spirit and dedication to pushing the boundaries. Featured cowgirls include Georgie Sicking (cowboy poet), Charley Parkhurst (stagecoach driver), Tillie Baldwin (rodeo cowgirl), Tad Lucas (rodeo's First Lady), Lucille Mulhall (steer roper), Charmayne James (barrel racer), Lillian Riggs (rancher), Sally Skull (horse trader), Johanna July (horse tamer), and Mary Fields (pioneer and mail driver).