WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? THEY ASK, AND I REPLY…
SHOULD’VE BEEN A COWBOY
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| Jerry & Sunup 1996 |
I've studied my family history for 40+ years and have had a modicum of success.
I am proud to claim a “fur trade and cowboy heritage.”
My family roots have, for the most part, been tied to the land.
My recent ancestors, the past twelve generations, came to North America from Scotland, England, Sweden and Denmark, Netherlands, Ireland, France, and Norway.
Among them there were Puritans, Quakers, Anglicans, Catholics, Huguenots, Baptists, Presbyterians, and a plethora of other Protestant sects.
Their occupations included farmers, ranchers, loggers, fur traders, teamsters, blacksmiths, saddle-makers, coachmen, horse-traders, canoemen, cavalrymen, soldiers, and builders.
During my 81+ years on planet earth I have been many things… a soldier, carpenter, home builder, canoeist, cowboy folk artist, horseman, movie historian, genealogist, fur trade historian, and a writer.
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| Brown Family 1950 |
One of my fondest childhood memories was a 1950 visit to the Lon and Olive Brown family, mom’s aunt and uncle in Montana. They literally lived in the woods several miles out of Kalispell, Montana. Uncle Lon described his home as a ‘stump ranch,’ where he made his living by farming, ranching, logging, hunting and fishing.
During that 1950 visit I learned to ride a horse, and I heard tales about Lewis and Clark’s Voyage of Discovery, stories about cowboys, Indians, and trappers in early Montana. I was hooked and wanted to learn everything possible about such a beautiful and alluring place as Montana. I’ve spent most of my life doing just that…
A few years back my eldest grandson had a college class project that required him to interview his granddad to ask about the changes seen in a lifetime.
Jerry 2024
I responded, in part, by taking my favorite family photos, and putting them in a slideshow that reflects my ancestry and the past 80+ years of my life…
Should've Been A Cowboy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLvqg0dvbzs&t=9s (4:31)
Memories of Rancho Deluxe --Jerry's Cowboy Folk Art
Jerry's 'Cowboy Chic Furniture' was marketed under the name of Lure of the Dim Trails between 1989 and 2002: https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2021/04/cowboy-chic-funiture-by-lure-of-dim.html
Jerry's books:
"Reel Cowboys of the Santa Susanas"
Published 2008, Echo Press
ISBN: 978-0-615-21499-3
AND
"Rendezvous at Boulder Pass - Hollywood's Fantasyland"
Published 2010, Echo Press
ISBN: 978-0-615-21522-8 (Out-of-print)
Video for his grandsons:
Jerry England, whose ancestry can be back-trailed for 12 generations across the mountains and prairies of North America, has been a soldier, craftsman, home builder, Old West antique dealer, cowboy folk artist, writer and above all a horseman for most of his 80 years on planet earth. This is his story...
Jerry's Cowboy Heritage (original slideshow for my grandson... 7:15)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n7fn9wtIh4&t=134s
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