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The origin of cowboy that
one theme of original oil painting
The culture of the western United States,
which many consider the epitome of
American-ness, is in origin a synthesis of
Anglo and Hispanic cultures which was
created in Texas in the days of the Texas
Republic and spread with the trail herds to
what is now the western United States (and
Canada). Major elements of the clothing,
food, language and most importantly the
cultural values and attitudes derive from
Mexican as well as Southern American
sources. There were many sources for the
population of the western North America but
these disparate peoples assimilated the
Anglo-Hispanic culture of Texas. Although
this culture is perceived as American by the
rest of the United States it is a cousin
culture rather than a sibling culture and it
is just as much a cousin culture for
Mexicans as it is for Americans of the
eastern and midwestern Unitied States. The
ties of the Texan culture to the culture of
the southern United States, particularly
that of the Scot-Irish of the southern
Appalachians, are closer than those to the
rest of the United States. |