Writings By Location| Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
So what about the cowboys? Well, the next morning we decided to take a ride by this hall of fame. I figured it couldn't take us that long: how many cowboys could be in there? Between the two of us, the only cowboys we could name were Will Rogers, John Wayne, The Lone Ranger, and Jack Palance and those other guys from City Slickers.
So we asked the kind lady at our hotel for directions. Just to give you a good idea of how booming a metropolis this town has become, she instructed us to go down Rex Allen Highway, turn right, then "go until you hit our traffic light". Yes, that's right folks, there's just one, and sure enough, it's where the Cowboy Hall of Fame is located, because of the huge crowds that are passing through at the rate of...oh,...three. (To the town's credit, Erin and I did stop at a tiny little espresso stand that not only made a really good latte, but even had soy milk. However, to reinforce my point, it was also an antique store and cat adoption clinic — two things I don't expect to see Starbucks branching out to anytime soon.)
To be precise, the actual name for the historic site we were visiting is the "Rex Allen Museum and Cowboy Hall of Fame". It's located a couple of blocks away from Rex Allen Highway, right next to the Historic Rex Allen Theater, and across the street from a giant bronze statue of Rex Allen. (We think this Rex Allen person seems to be an important cowboy figure of some sort, but we're not really sure.)
Unfortunately, the museum was not yet open, and much as we wanted to, we were not really prepared to stay in Willcox for another two hours waiting. But luckily, I was able to peer through the window to get a glimpse of the wonders and treasures that lay within. It was easy to form a good impression from this because, basically, the Rex Allen Museum is one room, with a big partition up to discourage freeloaders like myself. The walls outside that blocked-off area were lined with tapes of Rex Allen's movies, postcards with Rex Allen poses, movie clips, and publicity shots, old lunchboxes with Rex Allen, and even autographed Rex Allen memorabilia. There was no sign of any other cowboy figure, as far as I could tell, among the few-but-highly-marked-up items in this gift shop.
One person in the whole Hall Of Fame? That's it? Man, it must be hard to get inducted into this elite club.
Well, as we turned around to leave town via "their road", it began to look as though the search for cowboys was a wash. It could be simply because the "cowboys" you find today are all made out of wax, with the real ones having either been trampled, gunned down, or killed by gum cancer thirty years ago.
Sorry, Heather, I tried. But hey, there's always Texas! It may not have the smartest residents, but given everybody there wears a big hat, carries a gun, and chain-smokes (except occassionally in the one "no smoking" booth at the truck stop), I figure odds are good I'll find someone who might be worth considering. Provided, that is, I can keep from getting shot asking someone to put out their cigarette.
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