On “The World Needs More Cowboys” University of Wyoming slogan controversy…

I’m a fourth generation Natrona County Pioneer. My son represents the fifth generation of our paternal line in Natrona County. My paternal grandfather’s grandmother’s family settled around Casper in the 1870s, starting the first non-native settlement called Freeland Camp on what is today the Garrett Ranch. While they were ranchers, my paternal great grandfather’s family trade was carpentry, one that died with my father whose absence meant it wasn’t passed onto me although I find I’m still pretty handy. I grew up in Casper. But I never quite understood the inescapable cowboy mystique I first encountered in the annual Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo I had to don a cowboy hat and boots once a year to attend as a child, along with the attending parade (which regrettably has become more of a commercial than a community event over the years now seemingly from start to finish realtors in sticker wrapped cars), like a special version of Halloween peculiar to us in the West. <a href="https://josh-a-thompson.medium.com/on-the-world-needs-more-cowboys-university-of-wyoming-slogan-controversy-1a4921ab54fa">Website</a>