CODES OF THE WEST (Plural)

CODE OF THE WEST

Live courageously.

Take pride in your work.

Finish what they start.

Do what’s necessary.

Be tough but fair.

Keep promises.

Ride for the brand.

Talk less and say more.

Remember that some things aren’t for sale.

Know where to draw the line.

This is from a book called “Cowboy Ethics” originally published in 2005 and targeted at Wall Street Mismanagement.  The author was James Owen, a retired Wall Street Investor.  Wyoming adopted Owen’s “code” as its state code.   The vote was 34 to 15.  What that means is that only one-third of their legislators had their heads screwed on tight in such desperate economic times, such destructive environmental times, such inscrutable international commerce times.  I’ll go further.  Only one-third of their legislators were fit to raise cows.

Montana Blackfeet legislator Augare pointed out that “cowboys” weren’t always very nice to Indians.  Heck, “cowboys” weren’t even very nice to other cowboys.  Montana was a lynch law state when the cattlemen ran it.  Of course, “cattlemen” has a whole different ring to it than “cowBOYS.”    COW has different connotations than “cattle.”  On the other hand, plenty of Indians ARE cowboys.  It’s one helluva tough life to be a cowboy and Indians are tough.  

What James Owen is really talking about is the code the screenwriters invented in the Fifties for a whole series of movies and series for the new medium called “television.”   He’s talking about Marshall Dillon, Shane, and probably Ronald Reagan.  We were all devoted to those stories, which were mostly about an individual man of honor trying to find a decent path through chaotic frontier dilemmas.  These individual marshalls and virtuous gunslingers were impossible in their mythic appeal but those were simpler times and we paid close attention.  We were newly past a World War that had destroyed many men, though it made fortunes for others (which Wall Street investors would just as soon we didn’t think about too carefully).

Then there was a debunking time.  The children of the warriors, the baby boomers, were impatient with all that stuff about the past and wanted to build a new world, which mean they had to discredit the old world.  Easy enough.  “Deadwood” alone probably did the job.  Sit down to watch “Deadwood” and you’re probably looking at the legislature, the two-thirds who piously hope to vote for this code of behavior rather than solve some of the major problems they were elected to address.

Is this “living courageously?”  Is this “taking pride in your work?”  The whole list is good advice, but the idea is to DO it !! 

When we (Bob Scriver and crew, including me) created the statue of Bill Linderman for the Cowboy Hall of Fame, we learned a lot about him.  He WAS like those impossible television heroes in that he was tremendously strong and brave.  He died in the runway crash of an airliner, escaping once and plunging back in to save others who were screaming for help.  His arms and shoulders were massive -- not because of punching cows but because of digging out coal and hoeing sugar beets.  In a place like Montana, you do what you have to and if there are side benefits like muscle development, you use ‘em.  Like for rodeo.  Rodeo cowboys ride bulls, not cows.  For you greenhorns from back East, Linderman was an all-around best rodeo cowboy for years.

Those were the times when the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association was forming to try to create some standards for scoring, some monitoring of prize awards, and a little help for riders who were hurt.  Etc.  But there was another aspect to it.  Cowboys as a class were just range rats in those days, hoping to rake  in enough prize money to start a ranch -- or get through a winter of unemployment.  They were in survival mode.  The innovation Linderman and others insisted on had to do with “professional.”  

That meant cleaning up your act.  No more binge drinking -- you got that, legislators?  Respect for women.  Pay your bills.  Wear a clean shirt.  Take care of your buddies.  There was a new wave of movies to explain “Junior Bonner” and why you should “Cowboy Up.”  

Owen’s website is at  http://www.cowboyethics.org/index.php.  He has to call it “ethics” because Ernie Morris at  http://www.elvaquero.com/The_Cowboy_Code.htm  has posted the “ten-code lists” of Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Wild Bill Hickock (the actor), the Lone Ranger, the Texas Rangers (the actors) as well as “An Old Cowboy’s Advice,” which I suspect he wrote.  Ernie is an artist, a rawhide braider, and a true cowboy in the sense of raising cows.

Owen turns out to be  a rich guy.  This is from his website:  “Jim’s Wall Street career spanned 40 years, including 15 years as a partner with NWQ Investment Management Company in Los Angeles. He is co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA). Profiled in the Wall Street Journal as a leading Wall Street “rainmaker,” Jim has also been a prolific speaker and author on investment topics. His book credits include The Prudent Investor (McGraw-Hill, 1990) and The Prudent Investor’s Guide to Hedge Funds (John Wiley & Sons, 2000).

“In 2004, dismayed by the rash of corporate scandals and growing societal discord, Jim launched a second career as a social entrepreneur focused on ways to strengthen the foundation of shared values in American society. Inspired by his lifelong interest in Western history and lore, Jim coined the
phrase “cowboy ethics” and wrote his book distilling the Code of the West into “Ten Principles to Live By.” To date nearly 100,000 copies of the book have been sold.

“A summa cum laude graduate of Regis University, Jim is also a past President of the Board of  Trustees of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.”  

Personally, I find Ernie’s advice a good deal more pithy.  (The Arab version is “Trust God and Tie your Camel Securely.”)  This is the one I'd like to see the Montana legislature adopt.

An Old Cowboy's Advice

* Keep your fences horse-high, pig-tight & bull-strong.
* Keep skunks & bankers & lawyers at a distance.
* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies.  It messes up their heads.
* Don't corner something that would normally run from you.
* It doesn't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.
* Every path has a few puddles.
* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.
* Most of the stuff people worry about is never gonna happen anyway.
* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.
* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

* Sometimes you get, & sometimes you get got.
* Don't fix it if it ain't broke.
* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, & a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
* Live simply.  Love generously.  Care deeply.  Speak kindly.