July 24th is National Day of the Cowboy this year. Gold Canyon Arizona has been very involved in years past to bring the celebration to the area on the designated day, however this year, with the wisdom of past summers when this event has been celebrated during 110+ temp days, this year the actual celebration in the area has been deferred to Saturday, October 9th.
The deferring of the celebration is smart for many reasons — first the temps in July in the Gold Canyon Arizona area, as well as all of Arizona are intense. Outdoor activities of any sort might need a collection of Aid-cars on standby. Secondly, deferring the celebration until October is smart because in October there are many more visitors to the region. Summers in Arizona see many of the seasonal visitors and “snow-birds” gone to cooler locations. So in October, there will be many more folks able to enjoy the festivities of National Day of the Cowboy.
The history of this Western oriented holiday is that it began being sponsored in the U.S. Senate in 2005, 2006, and 2007, by Wyoming’s late U.S. Senator, Craig Thomas. The idea was that there be a day called National Day of the Cowboy to be set aside for Americans to celebrate the contribution of the Cowboy and Cowgirl to America’s culture and heritage. In 2008, the National Day of the Cowboy resolution was sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives (for the first time) by Arizona U.S. Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords and in the U.S. Senate by Senator Mike Enzi, WY. It passed in the Senate and the House, thus naming Saturday, July 26, 2008 as the 4th Annual National Day of the Cowboy.
On Friday, June 20, 2008, the National Day of the Cowboy resolution also passed in the Arizona State Legislature, making Arizona the first state to pass the resolution. Arizona Representative, Jennifer Burns, was asked to sponsor the resolution. She agreed but in thinking it over she ultimately decided she felt it would be more meaningful if it was sponsored by Senators Jake Flake and Jack Brown, the two remaining Cowboys in the Arizona legislature. Senators Flake and Brown both wanted to accept that honor, but sadly, Jake Flake passed away before he was able to introduce the resolution. However, subsequently it was introduced in his honor, by Jack Brown, and passed easily and concurrently in both the Arizona House and the Senate.
In the words of the President Bush, “We celebrate the Cowboy as a symbol of the grand history of the American West. The Cowboy’s love of the land and love of the country are examples for all Americans.”
The National Day of the Cowboy this year is Saturday, July 24th but it will be celebrated on the weekend of October 9th this year.
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