July 22nd, 2006, was designated as National Day of the Cowboy! To read the text of the bill that was passed take a look here.

People often ask, "Why did they have the National Day of the Cowboy on a Saturday and not on a Monday so we could all get a three-day weekend?"

Good question.

Reason being is that cows don't care what day it is. If the rest of us got a three-day weekend, the cowboy would still be working. So, it is in that spirit that if the cowboy has to work on the day honoring them it should be on a Saturday. Also, it should be on a Sunday because that is the day most cowboys would go to church. So, that is why it isn't on a Monday: there should be no special exceptions for the rest of us. I am just kidding...sort of.

History has been odd for the cowboy. Thanks to the singing silver-screen cowboys like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Rex Allen and others, the depiction of cowboys has been largely defined as heros that not only are examples of truth, honor and respect but cowboys we also attractive men and a talented musician and vocalist.

Of course, the myth and the truth has always blurred quite a but in the movies.

Being a cowboy was, and still is, just plain old hard work with a level of subtle and sophisticated knowledge that would baffle most with college degrees. The glamour we attribute to the cowboy life is often hindsight based on history or Hollywood.

That is, unless, you get to see a cowboy working first-hand. There is a reason why the cowboy has become one of the most enduring symbols of what is true about America. When you see cowboys working, it is then that this symbol takes on new strength, brilliance and meaning.

When you look around the world people may not wear our flag so much but they proudly will wear a cowboy hat. There's a good reason for that.