September 2018 10 True Cowboy Keepers ONE AND ALL The four individuals selected to receive the 2018 Cowboy Keeper Award© bestowed by the National Day of the Cowboy 501c3 and its Board, are; John Ware (Canada), Cindy Walker (Texas), John L. Sullivan (Arizona and Washington), and Bobby Kerr (Texas). These individuals represent a broad diversity of achievements, skills, backgrounds, talents, goals, dreams, and impacts. Yet, all of their diversity comes together in the love of cowboy and cowgirl culture, and in their avid devotion to the preservation of a heritage. John Ware (c. 1845-1905) John Ware was a remarkable figure in history who helped lay the foundation of the ranching industry in western Canada. Born into slavery (c 1845) near Georgetown, South Carolina, Ware worked his way up to being one of the most well-respected figures in frontier Alberta, thanks to his courage, good nature, physical strength and a penchant for hard work. Ware was an African-American cowboy, renowned for his ability to ride and train horses, and for his role in bringing the first cattle to Southern Alberta Canada, in 1882. His efforts helped create Alberta’s ranching industry, which thrives to this day. After the Civil War, John left the Carolinas for Texas, where he quickly learned the skills of a rancher and a cowboy. His great stature and dedication to hard work made him a natural and enabled him to get work driving cattle from Texas to Montana and on into the great plains that eventually became Alberta. Upon arriving in Calgary, he found work at the Bar U and Quorn Ranches, before starting his own ranch near the Red Deer River. By 1900, he and his wife, Mildred Lewis, had five children. They moved from the Calgary area to a place northeast of Duchess, Alberta. In 1902 their home was destroyed by a spring flood. He rebuilt on higher ground overlooking the stream now called Ware Creek. As with most folk heroes, there are varied tales about Ware. These are typically about his ability to eat, ride, shoot, and contribute to western culture. It is said that he was never tossed from a wild horse and that it was he who popularized steer wrestling, which went on to become a highlight of the Calgary Stampede. He also pioneered new agricultural techniques and was one of the first ranchers in the area to develop irrigation systems and was an early adopter of dipping cattle in a parasiticide to prevent mange. Ware is the subject of a biography, John Ware's Cow Country by J. W. Grant MacEwan, as well as the subject of a fictionalized account of his exploits in "High Rider," penned by Bill Gallaher. Several geographical features near the Wares' ranch are named in their honor, including “John Ware Ridge, Mount Ware, and Ware Creek.” Other namesakes include John Ware Junior High School in Calgary, the John Ware Building at Calgary's SAIT Polytechnic, and the John Ware 4-H Beef Club in Duchess, Alberta. In 1958 the modest log cabin that was the Ware home from 1900 to 1905, was relocated from its prairie setting to the Red Deer River Valley, in Dinosaur Provincial Park. The Ware cabin was restored and re-dedicated in 2002. Alberta musician, Diamond Joe White, released a song entitled "High Rider: The John Ware Story.” In 2006, a fragment of wood from the Ware cabin was contributed to Jowi Taylor’s Six String Nation project. The fragment serves as the top-most element on the pick-guard of the guitar at the heart of the project. Canada Post issued a commemorative stamp featuring John Ware, to celebrate Black History Month 2012. Ware and his remarkable achievements are also the subject of an upcoming National Film Board of Canada documentary by historian, Cheryl Foggo, John Ware: Reclaimed. Dramatic recreations are being shot on Ware's former ranch in southern Alberta, with African American rodeo champion, Fred Whitfield, in the title role. Singer-songwriter Corb Lund, along with others, will narrate about Ware’s life. None of John and Mildred's five children who lived to adulthood had descendants. However, relatives of Mildred Ware still reside in New Jersey and British Columbia. Despite being a master horseman, John Ware was killed in a fall when his horse tripped in a badger hole crushing its rider. His funeral was reported to be one of the largest held in those early days of Calgary. He is buried in Union Cemetery, overlooking the Calgary Stampede Rodeo Grounds. Ms. Cindy Walker (1918 – 2006) If you’re familiar with classic songs like, “Dusty Skies, Bubbles in My Beer, Hubbin’ It, When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again, Blue Canadian Rockies, Miss Molly, Sugar Moon, You Don’t Know Me, Dream Baby, In the Misty Moonlight, I Don’t Care, Distant Drums, or Cherokee Maiden,” then you know something of the incredible song catalog of the late and legendary Ms.Cindy Walker. Ms. Walker is an esteemed member of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (the first woman inducted) and the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame. Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys are known to have recorded 50 or more of Cindy’s songs. She had Top Ten hits spread over five decades. One wonders how many western movies were enriched with Ms. Walker’s music since her compositions were also cut by Gene Autry, Bing Crosby, Roy Rogers, Al Dexter, Slim Whitman, Eddy Arnold, and Asleep at the Wheel, just to name a few in the cowboy western genre. Other legendary artists such as Ray Charles, George Jones, Webb Pierce, Jim Reeves, Ricky Skaggs, Elvis, Dean Martin, and Roy Orbison, recorded at least one Cindy Walker song. In 2006, American music icon Willie Nelson released an entire album of her songs only. By Bethany Braley Executive Director & Publisher of National Day of the Cowboy continued on page 12 Ms. Cindy Walker John Ware