Cowboys Without Borders (2020)

[bunniefuu]

What does it mean to be a cowboy?

Oh man, it's my life.

I get to see things that
people never get to see.

We went on down to Coahuila, Mexico

and we got the horses
up early, it was dark.

I got on horseback.

We went all day long and got back at night,

but we rounded up some cows

and got 'em to the pens and marked 'em.

But that was in Mexico, in Coahuila,

sure it was, lotta fun.

Well the fun time was getting
'em in a crowd and roping.

I used to pride myself on roping.

And I did good and I did
bad, but I enjoyed it,

and that's the truth.

25,000 acres,

60 head of horses and 20 cowboys
and a trailer full of dogs.

Sometimes I wished I was born
100 years ago,

so I could've been a real cowboy.

It was a long time ago,

and there was nothing out here

but just plain old flat country,

except for one spring right down here.

Pecan Spring Ranch.

I'm Gaston Davis.

It was these types of stories

that sparked my fascination with cowboys.

For six generations the
ranch has been in my family.

From the sheep, queen of Texas

to the start of a new
industry with the Anglo goat.

My family has always played a role

in the agriculture industry.

For 130 years the ranch
has always been a place

where my family can come
back and work together

and keep the heartbeat of the ranch alive.

But the reality is that today,

most ranch operations
couldn't say the same.

There's so many opportunities
outside of rural America

that's pulling my generation
away, myself included.

But although I was born
into this ranching culture

and heritage, I'm just far enough moved

and I've not actually lived it myself.

I heard all these stories growing up

and watched all the westerns,
and over the course of time,

I had the image of the
cowboy built up so much

that it was practically a myth.

I mean, these stories were incredible,

but they were somebody else's

and I had no personal
experience to pull from.

And so I struggled with
what was my imagination

with the cowboy, and what
was a legitimate figure

and our history and
also in today's reality.

I found myself in the city most days

with these questions burning inside of me,

what is the truth of the cowboy?

Do these kind of stories still exist today?

Do cowboys still exist?

Was I born in the wrong generation

and too late to find out.

So after graduation, I
felt called to find answers

to these questions and to write
my own story along the way.

In order to best search for the answers

to my questions about cowboys,

I wanna know where I need to go,

and also where the cowboy came from.

My first stop is with highly
acclaimed author and historian

professor H.W Brands, at
the University of Texas.

Well, in the case of American history,

it's to the Mexican roots
of the cattle industry.

So cattle spread from Mexico
up North in the direction

of the United States
eventually reaching Texas,

and with the cattle came
the Mexican vaqueros,

and they eventually taught the Americans

that they encountered in
Texas, how to deal with cattle.

And it was really when
the Mexican cattle culture

and the Mexican cattle reached

what would become the United States,

so the American cowboy was born.

Once beef enters the American cuisine,

then all of a sudden Americans
learn about the cowboys.

So if somebody were looking
for the cowboy today,

you'd still go to Texas.

I mean, Texas is the home of the cowboys

and there's still cowboys in Texas.

I suppose you gotta go somewhere
else in the United States,

Montana would be a good place, Wyoming.

But some places sort of in Northern Plains

and where there's still lots
of cowboys, but personally,

I would like to see how cowboys
do their job, do their work,

how they're viewed in other
countries in the Americans.

Mexico would be an obvious one

because the Texas cowboy
originated from the Mexican cowboy

and in South America,

they have big cattle industry in Argentina,

so what cowboys look like there?

My time with professor
Brands gave me great insight

of where I need to go.

To begin the search for the cowboy,

I decided to go where it all began,

the genesis of the cowboy.

We're going to Mexico and
meeting my mother's cousin Charro

at the border in Del Rio.

This will be my first time

to visit my family ranch in Mexico.

Man, how you doing, man?
Oh, it's good to see you.

Nice to see you.

Yeah, but is there anything else

that we need right here in Del Rio?

Beer, now y'all want Mexican beer, right?

I want.

We'll get you some Mexican beer.

Okay, all right.

So we are right here on the Texas border.

People have live on both sides

of the border here all think
of ourselves as border people.

We don't think of ourselves as
being Americans or Mexicans,

we're just here on the border.

This is as too much as times,

we're neighbors and we've been neighbors

for hundreds of years, so
I think we'll be all right.

Windshield.

So we're in Coahuila right now,

and Texas used to be Coahuila.

Out here is just really different.

The reason it's different is
because it's not different.

This stayed the way it always has been.

Today's my first day with the Vaqueros.

We start with breakfast
and then it's off to work,

and I'll admit, I'm nervous,

if my cowboy heroes will accept me.

My cowboys we're having breakfast.

Our big market for our
steers is the United States.

So we ship all our steers there.

It's still roping, it's
branding, it's castrating,

it's doing everything the old way,

we don't do it any other way.

It's my dad did all of this,

that's where this all came
from, this didn't come from me.

I'm just currently the steward of it.

Don't put off for tomorrow
what's you can do today,

that was the way he lived his life.

And that's why he got so much done.

He was my brother.

He was always so sincere
and so honest, I loved him.

I looked up to him, I respected him.

I think he knew more
about the cattle business

than anyone I ever met.

We've been down there, oh,
my gosh, ever since 1948.

And we we're still down there in Mexico

and having a lot of fun
doing business with him.

I like a calendar.

That night one of the younger vaqueros

invited me to his home to met his family.

It's a privilege and it's humbling

to see the personal lives of
the vaqueros on the ranch.

I'm eager now to step back
into their working lives.

Each cowboy has several
horses that he rides.

They ride 'em for about two months,

a month or two months, it depends.

And then they'll switch 'em
out, release those horses

and bring in a whole new remuda

and then work those horses for a while.

We want a working horse,

but they're not just born working horses.

They start off as potrillos,
which are just wild coats,

and it's a process to get them

to where it's a working horse.

That process takes time and effort

and a lot of work from our cowboys.

Today the vaqueros will be breaking in

a few of theirs potrillos.

First, we must search for them.

All of the work we do on the ranch,

all with all the cattle
is all on horseback,

so we have to have horses.

I'm not really sure which horse
that we're gonna get today,

but we may get one that's either
never had a saddle on him,

and most likely that's the case.

And so we'll be getting someone on a horse

for the first time.

These horses they've
already brought in work,

those are the large, the older horses.

That's why when I say we
start 'em at around two

we're not riding him at that age.

No, we just start getting 'em in,

and getting 'em used to

we're just taking these out,

so we don't have too many
horses in here right now,

before we start really
working on breaking a horse.

Some of these boys will be the first time

they've ever been roped.

We're gonna get down to those in a minute.

It's not one of these horse whisper deals

that you see on TV, like from India

where the guy gets on his back

and rolls around on the ground with him,

this is kind of done the old way.

We're a gentle with him, but they're still,

it's breaking a horse.

This is the first time this
animal's ever been roped.

Light on your feet.

When the vaqueros called
me in to the corrals,

I not only saw this as an
opportunity to work with them,

but to prove myself.

Victor then began to show me the first step

of how they break their wild horses.

Then he handed me the rope and said,

", try it."

One more time.

Let her go.

But then you do that until
it gets used to being in here

and being on a halter, that's stage one,

stage two is what they're doing now.

There's some horses that
take it really quickly,

and they're very gentle
and some of them are not.

Look over here at my finger, on the right.

Let's watch this a little longer.

So the horse, if he could actually rear up,

'cause he's got his back leg lift up,

he can't rear up right now.

If he could rear up and all
he might rear over backwards,

hurt himself, he could run and
this way he doesn't get hurt,

he gets used to being touched.

So that's why they keep
hitting him with the saddle,

which of course doesn't hurt him at all,

but it makes a noise.

And he gets used to the sound

and he gets so he's not scared anymore.

So pretty soon they'll be
able to put a saddle on him.

And then after a while,

they'll be able to throw
the saddle on him as well.

Once the horse realizes says
that he can't move that well,

then he won't buck, he
won't take off running

and he won't get hurt
until he gets used to,

after once he gets used to all of this.

'Cause right now he feels kind of helpless

because he can't get that back foot down.

He'll notice right now they're starting

to move his back foot some.

I'll start dealing with his back foot here

in a minute, and then
they'll let his foot down.

You wanna get in the middle of the thorax

'cause he's gonna start running.

This is the third time he's been ridden.

Once he's actually saddled
and they're riding him,

they'll come to a point very quickly

where they'll actually take him out.

He'll go out with the cowboys.

They won't rope off of them for a while,

but they'll start riding,
going out on the daily,

riding him daily.

Then they'll let him go after a while

and then bring him back in again

and it's a period over about six months,

he would go from when he was first roped,

to when they put a saddle on him,

about six months after
you start riding him,

then they're actually roping off of him,

and then he's pretty
much a complete animal.

You need a horse, right?

You have to have a horse, too
many draws, too many creeks,

too many clips.

Everything is done on the horse.

Like this process, I mean,
how far back does it go?

Oh, it's as far about a hundred years.

A hundred years.

Yeah, I mean several hundred years.

It's just the way it's
always been done so to speak.

There was something truly
special in doing a job

that had never changed.

I felt the connection,
not only with my heritage,

but with vaqueros.

Despite our differences and
the corrals, we were equals.

Returning home from Mexico.

I have a newfound appreciation
for where the legend began.

It's no coincidence that the cowboy emerges

in American national
conscience after the civil w*r.

Up until the civil w*r,

there was this diverging
sense of who we are.

So the Southerners, we hold slaves

and we're part of the sl*ve society.

Northerners, were opposed to sl*very

and we have this different model.

So what brings the country
together after the civil w*r?

And again, it was no accident

that the cowboy served very well

because Northerners and Southerners

could meet on the Western Plains

and they could be sort
of seen for what they are

instead of having to deal
with that baggage left

from the civil w*r.

Do you know how to deal with the cattle?

Can you brave the climate,
can you do all that stuff?

So in some ways the cowboy was this myth,

not so much of creation exactly,

but as of a reunification myth.

And so it pulls the
country together at a time

when the country most needs
to be pulled together.

Now that I know where the cowboy came from,

I wanted to know where the cowboy is going.

I really think there's something special

about the nostalgia of cowboy and ranching.

I mean, it's something that's a rich part

of the American heritage.

I don't wanna ever really
feel like we lose that,

I just think that we have a purpose,

we have an objective to
not just kind of fall

by the wayside.

I mean, we've got so many
tools at our fingertips

to help us do it better.

There will always be a place
and a time for the cowboy.

You need to have diversity, you
have to be ready for change.

And so we'll just continue
to evolve, I believe,

and continue to get better and better.

How you doing?

Good, how are you?

- I'm all right.
- Nice to see you,

nice to see you.
- Nice to see you.

What I thought was gonna
get an overview of who we are,

what we're doing, where we live down here,

we're in big sandy here,
but if I zoom way out,

this is the scope of the ranch here,

goes about 45 miles Southeast.

There's more of a big view of
it, there as it goes across.

My first morning on the IX Ranch,

I noticed an immediate
difference from Mexico.

The faster pace, the
machinery, and even the noises.

If I got here, that kind of
more of a way of working out

with like ATVs or with dirt bikes?

I mean, is that kind of something
you're seeing around here?

Yes, and here's why.

I grew up riding horses,

but I also I grew up riding
four-wheelers and dirt bikes

and those types of things and
were constantly learning new

and better ways to do things.

It's like, we were talking
about the motorcyclists

someone to see me out there
on that, they'd be like,

"Wow, that's not a cowboy."

And I'd be like, "You
haven't flipped a few pages

into the cover of the book yet."

When it's 30 below, and I
gotta bring in some cattle,

I'm sorry, I'm not gonna
wear my cowboy boots

and sharps, and a cowboy hat
and go freeze my butt off

out there just so I look like a cowboy.

I'm gonna look like an Eskimo out there

and look probably like the
silliest thing you've ever seen,

barely getting around on a
horse, I gotta get the cow.

I mean, I have to take
care of this situation.

I don't always have to look it to be it,

everything that this
ranch does and generates

is from what it has here,

so I have to focus on efficiencies.

The fact is I have a big job to do out here

and we have a lot of land to cover

and a lot of things to do
and my time is valuable.

But you gotta train a horse,
you gotta feed a horse,

you gotta shoe a horse, less
and less of that being done.

The motorcycle for me,

it allows me to see a
lot of things in a day

that on a horseback or taking my pickup

would have a huge impact on the land.

I can cover so much with that bike

and see what I need to see
as the manager of this place,

and know what needs to be done.

I can easily go find if there's
missing cattle somewhere.

It's a part of toolbox of things

that I use to help me do my job better.

So yes, I wouldn't say
that it's like taking over

because we're never gonna
be where we don't work at,

you'll see, on Tuesday the
gators will be out there,

we'll use those,

but it'll be to drift stuff
to where we are with horses.

We're still doing the same thing.

What we're doing with the
resource hasn't changed so much.

I think there's a disconnect
anymore on urban American

and rural America.

To get that stake to their
plate takes a lot of work

all the way down the line.

But we do, we have a disconnect

between what's really going on

and what they think is going on.

I think cowboys still handle
cattle to the best welfare

they can for the animal,

and then for the people
they're raising the cattle for.

Monday, that's getting
another 300 some head

into the pasture, so there's 900 in there,

so on Tuesday we can sort 900.

Every year about this time
we get ready for sorting,

so we can start collecting
these smaller groups

into a large group so that
we can sort the steer pairs

and the half pairs and be ready

to start shipping the
steers and we need time.

I'm always thankful for being out here,

always kind of dreamed about going out West

and being a cowboy out there.

I knew that if I didn't try it,

then I'd always be regretting it.

So I didn't come out to change anything.

I came out to do what was a already there.

It's not all just about the
boots, the sharps, the horses,

it's about how you handle your cattle,

how you treat the cattle,

just how you care for them.

Off this reservoir

and then they're gonna go
a little bit back to that.

Well, as you're looking straight ahead,

look to your right and back there,

there's an grazing on the.

We decided to become responsible

for a living breathing thing.

And over right behind-

You have to just be capable.

I think is what it comes down
to is you have to be able

to do the job and it doesn't matter

what you look like doing it.

Well, I think that's really cool

that your ranch

is kind of the meeting the
two styles in the middle.

I'm hoping when you guys come away from it,

you see that there are still cowboys,

but that we're adapting, I guess.

We have to take care of what we've got,

and we're just using the
tools that we've got before us

to do that, we were using it all.

If you can't see shoes on horses
making sparks in the night

then you know you're not out there.

Do you have somebody that can go gather?

Yeah, go ahead.

They gonna have to go back, I can go down.

I got about up 50 cattle up here on.

And I got another.

Okay, let's split up.

Hey, so Rusty how many
have you sorted today?

719.

719, all right.

After we finished sorting
Richard went straight back

to his office to put all
the numbers into his books.

It's the hardest part of
the business to focus on.

I think there's a change,

and there has to be a change
as it gets harder and harder

to make money because
it's still a business.

You can't manage what you don't measure.

By measuring what we're doing,

we're able to make more
proactive management decisions

instead of being so dang
reactive to everything.

The cowboy will never go away,

there'll always be a need for
people to do the hard jobs

that no one else is willing to do.

Because of the passion that
we have for what we do,

we're always learning.

There will always be a place
and a time for the cowboy.

Coming home from Montana,

I learned that not all
cowboys look the same,

only their purpose does.

Gary in Montana is one of the
few people in my generation

that I've come across
pursuing the cowboy lifestyle.

It seems like most
millennials desire to know

where their food comes from,

but few desire to actually
be a part of the process.

So what is it?

What keeps young people coming back

to a seemingly fading way of life.

I'm excited to explore this
idea a further on my next stop.

In reality, there are a
lot of things people can do

to make a lot more money,

but it is a passion that our family has,

and it's something that through
the generations our family

has worked to not only keep
the ranch in the family,

but also the family in the ranch.

Growing up every time
I would leave for school,

my dad would always say the same thing.

He would always say,
"Son, be a leader today."

We don't want to create
pressure for our boys.

We want them to do what
they feel called to do.

Wildlife was kind of where
he had focused his attention

and felt like that was
what he wanted to do,

he wanted to play college sports,

he lived that dream and that
was an awesome experience.

After going to college and
making a new group of friends

and seeing that I really
wasn't quite like those people.

We have such different backgrounds,

but the background that I
have, I would never take back.

I remember two years ago,

Tucker went with me to the
Florida Cattlemen's Convention.

Each of those five ranches
in Florida that we visited,

guess what the question was,

Tucker, I guess you're
headed back to the ranch.

And at each of those stops, he
stumbled with that question.

He didn't really know
where he was headed next,

or what he was gonna do.

That night he and I sat down for supper,

and I said, "Tuck, I want you
to go and pursue your dreams

and pursue your calling.

Wherever it is, go where
you feel called to go.

And if that's at the
ranch, the door's open."

And that just seemed like there
was this huge weight lifted

off of his shoulders.

And I learned that the
more I was away from home,

the more that I just was drawn back,

and connected to the land that was here.

I was tied back home.

And I do believe that's
where we find true joy.

Is when we live within our calling.

From creation forward, there
have always been people

that have accepted the
call to be caretakers

of his creation.

And so I see that as a
continual, for a period of time,

this is what man will do.

- Oh, I'm I
- Okay, so this is my brother-

Hey, what's up?

Yeah, okay, cool,

good to meet you, man.

I think that is a continual calling

of what man is called to do.

We're just in the process of kind of,

we're sorting a lot of different ways.

So yesterday and today,
two big days for us.

Weaning, we're sorting cows,
one, two, three, four, five,

different ways, depending
on which pasture they go to.

A lot of record keeping here,

we're different being a seed stock herd

we're raising breeding cattle, right?

Individual animal management
is very important.

Instead of this pasture being a unit

and that pasture being unit,

every single animal is a unit.

And so with that we keep inventory

of where every single animal goes.

I mean, we've got spreadsheets
this long showing every move

that every cow has made on this ranch.

Right down here at the far two pins,

we've got an individual feed
efficiency testing center.

I mean, as you look at our global society,

we've got a lot more mouths
to feed, not anymore land.

So the best way I know to feed these people

is to be more efficient
in producing the food

with the given resources that we ask.

So on this side of town,

a lot of my family lives here
in really close proximity.

My wife and I just bought this house

and we'll be moving into it here soon.

And then just down the street is the house

where my grandfather was
raised and where he lives now.

Going to eat?

I slept 12 hours last night.

We don't know exactly where we've been.

We've been South of town,
past the South Brown Ranch

went West, turned North, came out by.

We've been 50 miles.

Well, we've been, Rob do
you have a hat or a cap?

No, thank you.

Okay.

Anyway, y'all come on in.

It started in about 1903,

in the early times in the cattle industry.

And a lot of it was just new and different.

Changes happened, in a lot of ways

but in a lot of ways it was the same.

The cattle, the horses,

things that made a lot of difference.

And as it changed we changed with it.

We'd do a lot of things horseback.

And then today you're in a pickup,

but I still love it and take care of it.

We had a lot of fun, a
lot of hard work to it.

We're just part of it,
and part of the family

and another generation's coming on,

and it means a lot to us.

Has it been fun watching dad?

It's a real neat deal to help one another,

like I said, it doesn't just happen.

It's taken a few generations, haven't it?

Yeah, and more to come.

And more to come.

And so when people get tied to something

that always brings you back
to something you wanna help,

you wanna be a part of that.

You've been noticing
like a generational gap?

Yeah, there's been a
generation gap of people

that didn't necessarily come
back, that were born here

but didn't come back and we've seen that

in our school numbers dropping
in the past three years.

Now, my generation and the millennials,

I guess you'd say are,

are starting to come back and
be a part of the community,

which has been fun to watch.

Of my age group I'm one
of the first to come back,

but we're trying to make it

to where there's not
another generational gap.

Gotcha.

We wanna make it better,
whatever way we can.

What a group of people have
been doing for a short time now

in Throck Morton is really
trying to revive the school.

And because if the school
falls, the town falls,

we've seen it happen in a
lot of rural communities.

Nelson you throughout
all of our conversations

about Throck Morton School District

you've talked a lot about,

what are our expectations for our children?

And I'd love to hear
from the newest resident,

and homeowner of Throck Morton,
Texas of his expectations

of why he moved back to Throck Morton.

If he can do that in 30 seconds.

It took you more than 30
seconds to ask the question.

My expectation is a place to be typed.

Whenever I graduated high school,

I didn't have the intention on coming back.

I've lived here my whole life
but this has been different

'cause I'm moving in with a new life.

I can be a part of a
lot of different things

in the community that I couldn't
whenever I was in school.

I've definitely seen how
everyone loves each other here.

If you don't move back,
the town's not gonna be here.

I wanna come back to the ranch

and I want the town to be here.

We are coming in at a really good time.

And that we needed Throck Morton

and Throck Morton needed us.

The impact the Browns had on Throck Morton

was easy to see

just how they cared and
loved for those around them.

But their influence was not
limited to only Throck Morton.

In my last days there,

they began preparations
for a ranch rodeo coming up

that their family had a large presence in.

This would be the 37th
annual, Texas ranch round up

in Wichita Falls.

And my dad gathered up
three or four ranches.

Wouldn't it be neat if we could find a way

for our ranch cowboys to get back

to what we do on a daily
basis at the ranch.

He had the kind of the
vision of being different

than regular rodeos.

Going to a ranch rodeo and seeing the more

kind of the way rodeo really started

was what we've returned
back to with ranch rodeo,

where the men on our ranches can compete

and you do it with a team
and you do it with guys

that you're with and
work with all the time.

And so my dad helped
start this, which is now,

I mean, ranch rodeo is across
the nation and people love it

because it's their hometown team

that they come to cheer for.

So team meeting here for ranch
rodeo, big weekend ahead,

excited about it.

You know all the plans made,

what needs to be done here and there

and kind of coordinate that
and come up with a game plan.

So would you kick
us off with a prayer please.

Lord, thank for this day,

thank you for the rain
that you sent our way.

Lord, thank you for allowing
us to do what we love to do.

Lord, please keep head
protection over all the cowboys

and livestock this weekend,

shine your life, in
Jesus name I pray, amen.

Everybody that's there I would love for you

to go cheer on Tucker Carley,

their talent competitions at one.

Okay.

Do you know what you're gonna do?

Nope.

We talked about it last
night and we were like,

"Well, we're not wanna
figure something out."

We'll see if Tim McGrew faith he'll do it.

Oh, maybe Jason.

Y'all wanna win this thing?

Absolutely.

We won this event in
1984, 1992 and in 2006.

I Love it will be great.

One, two, three.

It's time, proud and time
to win this baby again.

Okay, let's do it.

So every year, a saddles
awarded to the top cowboy

at the ranch rodeo and in
1992, Donald Brown won it.

And so Atlanta has been training

to hopefully win it this year.

This show, my goal is to go in there

and be slow and smooth
and let him be correct,

more laid back and ready to go.

Golan is very talented
and he's great with a horse,

he's great with the rope,
he understands cattle.

Now he's a very talented cowboy.

I think that this saddle will
be a really big award for him

that he's always wanted.

I'm confident Golan is
gonna win that saddle.

Hello Texas, Wichita
Falls, how are you tonight

on the side of the rail?

Well, we thank you, this is the original,

the granddaddy of them all,

37 consecutive years, the
Ranch Roundup right here.

I'm Charlie Flock from Grandview, Texas

along with my partner in crime,

James from La Cruz de in Mexico.

And the intention of the event

was to bring the ranch
cowboys off the ranch,

bring 'em to town and have
good friendly competition

in the events that mirror
what we do on the ranch

on a regular basis.

Now, wild cow milking every now and then

you gotta catch a cow in the pasture.

Yeah.

Don't spill that milk.

And brand new calves and
doctoring one when he gets sick

and being able to rope
and do it in the pasture,

those are all real life situations.

Paning cattle out of,
taking 'em outta the herd

and putting 'em into a pen.

Riding we still break horses today

and we need to ride one that can buck.

The camaraderie has been
amazing among the teams

for 37 years, since this event began.

Those multi-day
tournaments you don't win it

in the first day, you can only lose it.

They're in striking distance

to do some good tonight, it's fun.

In all these places, it just
drive out in the country

and you're gonna find
the same basic culture

that you find in Throck Morton, Texas,

is alive in South Saga City
in Japan, it is in Australia

and all the way to wherever you go,

all you have to do is drive
out in the country and find it.

It's not very far away.

And if people in the
outside world could see

that that's what's out here
maybe it restores some of that,

you're feeling about
mankind, still out there,

there are those kind of people.

In my time with the Brown family,

I have not only felt their love

and seeing how it impacts their community,

but I also see them as a beacon of hope

for the future of the cowboy.

As Americans found themselves

more and more living in cities

and working for other people,

and being at the mercy of
forces beyond their control.

The idea that at one time
there was this figure

who was in control of his own destiny.

This becomes even more powerful,

the farther it is from everyday reality.

Nations sort of live on their myths.

The stories they tell
themselves about themselves.

I feel myself closer
to a better understanding

of the cowboy.

But Kelly's words ringing
my ear as I return home.

Is it true?

No matter where I go,

will I find the same
culture, the same passion,

the same spirit.

Let's find out.

We've heard the legend of the Gaucho.

Now it's time to go and see the real thing.

We were invited to go to
Miguel's Estancia in Patagonia,

just outside of San Martin, De Los Andes.

Once we finished
working cattle that morning,

we stopped by a creek,
unsettled, watered our horses

and started a fire.

And because of the coolness of the weather,

they even packed lunch
in their saddle bags.

Before I arrived in Argentina,

I heard that Miguel had written the book

about the forming of
his ranch in Patagonia.

So when I asked him about it,

he was thrilled to show me, pioneer.

Well, as it turns out, Kelly was right.

It doesn't matter where you go,

but if you venture into the country,

you will find people that
share commonality of servitude.

From the animals in the pasture,
to the food on our plates.

And if you take the time
to get to know them,

what's earned is a better
understanding and appreciation

for what they do for us,
thankless day in and day out.

Returning home from Argentina,

I bring Miguel's story home with me,

and I'm reminded of just
how powerful a story can be.

Second place cattle.

When you tell this
story, you automatically,

I think help ensure that there is a future.

As much myth as it is history,
myths are very powerful.

Although the moment of the
cowboy in history is brief.

The moment of the cowboy in
American memory goes on and on.

All established one place
where we could all relate to.

And we could all come back to.

One place where we all came from,

very important place.

Is not the cowboys.

Returning home It's an
honor to share the stories

of my journey, stories of family,

of courage,

of change,

and of unity.

And I can now put to rest the questions

that once b*rned inside me.

The truth of the cowboy is simple,

it's our histories that make us different,

but our future that brings us together,

toward a common purpose,

feeding the world, one plate at a time.

Amen.

And we all have a call to answer to.

Seek and you will find,

knock and the door will be opened to you.