Cowboys, Cowgirls, and the Old West in Cyberspace

Compiled by Dr. Richard W. Slatta, the Cowboy Professor
Updated January 8, 2017

Mount up for a horseback treasure hunt. We'll steer you in the right direction. Each address will take you to a place on the Internet with some information about cowboys and/or cowgirls (Caveat: Things change quickly on the Internet--some links may be deadends now.) Update information and suggested links greatly appreciated!

Empty Saddles

• See this master list of deceased cowboy/cowgirl poets, singers, and writers provided by the Western Folklife Center
• Gene Wilder, 1933-29 Aug 2016 ("Blazing Saddles," 1974)
• Glenn Ohrlin, 1926- 9 Feb 2015singer & poet
• 25 June 2014: Eli Wallach dies at 98; actor best known for two classic westerns, playing Mexican bandits in "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly."
• Herb Jeffries [aka Jeffrey], 25 May 2014, age 100, "The Bronze Buckaroo"
• 28 January 2014 Sue E. Wallis poet & writer
• Harry Carey, Jr. 27 Dec 2012, age 91, stunt man, character acter
• James Arness, 3 June 2011, age 88, actor Matt Dillon in "Gunsmoke"
• Elmer S. Kelton, 22 Aug 2009, age 83, writer
• Jack Palance, 10 Nov 2006, age 87, actor
• Glenn Ford, 30 Aug 2006, age 90, actor
• Dennis Weaver, 24 Feb 2006, age 81, actor
• Margaret Formby, 20 April 2003, age 73, founded the Cowgirl Hall of Fame

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• Interested in frontiers around the world? Check my Comparing Cowboys and Frontiers: A Working Bibliography
• For Teachers, here's a suggested classroom project: Give groups of students 5 or so online addresses per group. Have them report back on what they find and have them critique the sites. You might wish to have students use my online Internet critique form . What did they learn about cowboy history and culture?

1. Good General Sites on the Old West
2. Women in the West
3. Cattle and Horses
4. Western Museums, Associations, Art and Artists
5. Photography
6. Poetry, Humor
7. Dude/Guest Ranches
8. Music, Film, TV
9. Rodeo
10. First Peoples, African Americans, Vaqueros
11. Outlaws, Gunfighters, Lawmen
12. Books, Magazines, Writers
13. Other Ranges, Other Frontiers, Including Canada and Hawaii

Good General Links to the Old West

1. eCowboy.com Excellent gateway to all things cowboy
2. Cowboys & Cowgirls .....one of the best darn collections of Western Links on the Internet
3. GIDDI UP GO! Western Life Links
4. Brian Humek's Very Good Links to Old West Sites
5. "The West" (Burns/ Ives/ PBS) Photographs and documents on most aspects of Western history and culture. Not very good on cowboys per se.
6. Jim Janke's Old West: Excellent Links
7. American West: Lots of Links
8. Rich Slatta's Ranch and Frontier Life Links to a wide range of primary and secondary sources on western history.

   Women in the West

9. National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame Begun in the Texas Panhandle town of Hereford more than twenty years ago, the Cowgirl Hall of Fame is now in Fort Worth. It honors the lives of women, especially those associated with rodeo, wild west shows, and ranching, who exemplify the pioneer spirit of the American West.

Cattle and Horses

10. Conquistador: "The Horse Magazine for Horses of Spanish Ancestry"
11. What's Your Beef? National American Cattlemen's Beef Association
12. Equine Information
13. Horse Net Tips on horse health care, sales and more

Western Museums, Associations, Art and Artists

14. Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ
15. R. W. Norton Art Gallery, Shrevenport, LA
16. Amon Carter Museum, Ft. Worth, TX
17. Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY
18. Buffalo Bill Grave and Museum Golden, Colorado. Visit Cody at his final resting place.
19. Museum of North West Colorado "This is the result of the fifty-year effort of Bill Mackin to gather and preserve fine, old cowboy gear."
20. National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma, City, OK Another Great Western Musuem -- strong on history, ranching, rodeo
21. Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA Get back in the saddle again . . .
22. Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Happy Trails to You! Reminisce with Roy and Dale
23. Montana Historical Society With links to Society Administration, Museum, Library, Archives, Photo Archives, Montana The Magazine of Western History, MHS Press, Museum Store, Education, Montana Heritage Project, Preservation, Montana Heritage Commission
24. National Cowboy Symposium & Celebration sponsored by the American Cowboy Culture Association

    Photography

25. Historic E. E. Smith photographs from the early 20th century Amon Carter Museum, Ft. Worth, TX
26. Western Images from the National Archives
27. Buckaroos in Paradise: Ranching Culture in Northern Nevada, 1945-1982 American Memory Project of the Library of Congress
28. National Archives Home Page Roam the Nation's Past
29. Adam Jahiel's superb black-and-white photographs, including"The Last Cowboy"
30. The Cowboy Photography Of Brian Humek Enjoy Brian's photos and check his extensive links to other cowboy sites

    Poetry, Humor

31. Master List of Cowboy Poetry Festivals and Songfests provided by the Western Folklife Center
32. Cowboy Poetry at the Bar-D Ranch
33. Cowboy Poetry Gathering Western Folklife Center, Elko, Nevada, host to the Elko Cowboy Poetry Gatherings and other events
34. The Wyoming Companion Presents... A Cowboy Poetry Gathering

    Locating Dude/Guest Ranches

    Find a dude ranch for that special vacation.
35. Duderanch.com
36. Dude Ranches.com
37. Dude Ranchers' Assocation
38. Gene Kilgore's Ranch Web.com
39. GORP Travel Links to Dude Ranches
40. Guest Ranches of North Ameridca
41. USA Tourist.com Links to Dude Ranches

    Music, Film, TV

42. Historical American Sheet Music database
43. Sons of the San Joaquin
44. Michael Martin Murphey and WestFest
45. Roughstock's History of Country & Western Music
46. Yes, Saddle Pals, it's Riders in the Sky! Visit with Ranger Doug, Too Slim, and Woody Paul
47. Home of the Silver Screen Cowboys Movie Heroes, Singing Cowboys and Other Cowpals, "Featuring Silver screen Cowboys of the 30's, 40's and the fifties.

    Let's Rodeo

48. Professional Bull Riders
49. Cheyenne (Wyoming) Frontier Days
50. Forth Worth, Texas "Fort Worth's Cowtown Coliseum that has rodeos on most Friday and Saturday nights year-round" Don't miss the Stockyards National Historical District
51. Friends of Rodeo

    First Peoples, African Amerians, Vaqueros

52. Edward S. Curtis's "The North American Indian: Photographic Images"
53. Native Web Home Page
54. Black Past Wide-ranging, authoritative information on African-American History
55. Vaquero Artist - Ernest Morris: El Vaquero.com

    Outlaws, Gunfighters, Lawmen

56. Digging Up Butch and Sundance by Daniel Buck & Anne Meadows [World's experts on the elusive Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid--especially on the many, many myths about their lives.]
57. The Gunfighter Zone "dedicated to bringing together information on western shooting and performance organizations, along with quality items from some of the leading western shooting vendors to help you enjoy the performance arts of the Old West."
58. Ghost Riders (Re-enactors) ". . . a nonprofit Living History / stunt company composed of reenactors with ongoing experience in Civil War and Old West reenacting."
59. Oklahombres Online: Lawmen and Outlaw History "dedicated to the careful, correct research and preservation of lawman and outlaw history."

    Books, Magazines, Writers

60. OldWestNewWest.Com ". . . not just the spirit of the Old West, but how the New West celebrates our Western heritage through festivals, food, art, song and storytelling."
61. Charles Fletcher Lummis (1859-1928) writer, editor of Out West magazine, photographer, "American Character"
62. Western Reference Books " devoted to newspaper press coverage of events in American history. It includes an extensive, searchable, reference library with the catagories Civil War, Baseball, Engravings, Journalism Hoaxes, Old West including Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and more.
63. Birds Nest Books: Out-of-Print Books, including Westerns "Birds Nest Books is located in Missoula Montana. . . . used, rare, and out-of-print books in the area of Montana History and Montana Authors. . . . over 50,000 titles in stock in 50 different subject areas"
64. Tom Knowles' Wild West book series-- good books/ good links "Home on the Internet Range for the Rough Writers of the Purple Page, where the future meets the past in a collision of myth and legend."

    Other Ranges, Other Frontiers, including Canada and Hawaii

65. Glenbow Museum Calgary, Alberta, Canada's wonderful western cultural center: museum, art gallery, library, archives. Check it out online, then ride, ride, ride for Calgary and enjoy the real thing! Park."
66. Williams Lake Stampede, British Columbia, late June-early July, 1-800-71-RODEO
67. BC Cowboy Heritage Society , Kamloops, British Columbia, Williams Lake, British Columbia
68. Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin Ride the ranges of western Canada
69. Ranching and Paniolo Life in Hawaii Ride across the Pacific Ocean and learn about the fascinating paniolo -- Hawaii's working cowhand and rodeo rider. Trained by vaqueros from Spanish California during the 1830s, the paniolo is one of America's most interesting but least known cowboys.
70. Pre-Cowboys: Mountain Men & Fur Trade Explore the excitement of an earlier western frontier.

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