American Cowboys

While there have always been cowboys of color, perhaps none were more famous in their day nor more highly regarded than Jackson Sundown (Nez Perce Indian) and George Fletcher (African-American). In the early 20th century, the town of Pendleton, Oregon began hosting an annual Round Up to showcase cowboy talents, with Sundown and Fletcher participating in the second Round Up in 1911 in competition against each other and a white man named John Spain for the World Saddle Bronc Championship (Spain won, though exciting archival film footage shows that he didn't deserve the title). When Sundown last competed in 1916, at the unbelievable age of 53, his magnificent ride was a winner. Even though this wonderful film won the Best Documentary award at the prestigious New York International Film & Video Festival last year, I must comment on William Hurt's atrociously bad narration. With silent film footage and stills making up a large part of the content, Hurt's monotonous commentary gets in the way of the story, rather than enhancing it. Still, this is recommended for most public libraries, and would be especially good for school and university libraries in the West. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Reagan)