NATIONAL DAY OF THE COWBOY! Celebrate on Saturday, July 22, as we pay tribute to the iconic symbol of the American West.

Owen Wister is said to have created the first romantic cowboy in 1902 with his best-selling novel, The Virginian. The “Virginian” was later portrayed on the big screen by Gary Cooper (1929) and Joel McCrea (1946), and in the television series by James Drury (1962–1971).

In 1981, this dudine (a female dude) met her own “Virginian” and we became a cowboy-and-lady couple from the first date. I bought designer jeans and he bought a Western tux, and we enjoyed forty years in and out of each other’s world.

Pictured: Wrangler/writer Bill McGee in his element on Nevada’s famous Flying M E divorce ranch in 1947—the embodiment of the Marlboro Man before there was a Marlboro Man. (McGee Collection)