ARTS The Cowboy Way The deliberate nature of Mick Vernon's movements and speech indicate a life spent in the saddle under the open sky. In fact, Mick is a career Seaside peace officer. But he is dedicating his life to preserving the Cowboy Way. November 2007

Mick Vernon

For the past 100 years, or so, many of us have been drawn to the myth of the American Cowboy. We love the image of a John Wayne-type figure with a self-assured set to his shoulders and a gleam in his eye riding into danger, with no doubt that he will be a match for whatever difficulty he faces.

The cowboy ideal is to be tough with bad guys and gentle with women and children; a dangerous enemy but a good friend - honest, capable, and taciturn.

What young kid, at one time or another, didn't want to be a cowboy? Some of us never outgrew it because we're attracted to the possibility of living above the insecurities and misgivings that haunt most of us.

As opposed to our complicated technical society, I think we're drawn to the simplicity of the Cowboy Way. We find that the cowboy code attractively reduces the good life to a set of values including honesty, courage, living by our own strength and wits, the necessity for fair play, the importance of respecting another person's property, the essential requirement of showing honor and chivalrous respect for any lady, and - above all else, perhaps - strength of character.

The ideal cowboy insulates himself from the temptation of trying to conform to other people's expectations. "He ain't wrong, he's just different" the song says. He won't "do things to make you think he's right."

The cowboy society values competition. Greenhorns must prove themselves worthy of being accepted into the group. It also values the virtue of being a good neighbor. If your neighbor is having a difficult time, you go to help. There is no question, no hesitation, because you know there may come a time when you'll be in need.

Cowboys tend to be spiritual rather than religious, and emotional rather than rational. They value integrity above all else. A cowboy will fulfill obligations without need of a contract. A handshake and his word are his contract. He tries to be worthy of his comrades' highest praise, which is, "He'd do to ride the river with."

Mick Vernon, Cowboy Poet
For the past 23 years I've been an officer with the Seaside Police Department. But my avocation is that of Cowboy Poet. I'm continually drawn to a culture in which these values can thrive.

I became part of an organized effort to preserve the Cowboy Way of Life when I joined the Board of Directors for the first Monterey Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival in 1999.

The Monterey Cowboy Festival is just one of a number of similar events that Gary Brown, then the Monterey Police Chief, helped start in Visalia, Rogue River, and Santa Clarita.

Gary wanted to start a similar festival here to celebrate Monterey's part in the history of the American Cowboy, so he gathered a small group of people with the required technical, equestrian, and business skills, and by mid-1998 they had put together the framework for the first Monterey Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival.

I joined the organization two months before that first festival. Because of my law enforcement background, I started out in charge of security, and was immediately cast as the festival's unofficial troubleshooter.

I became the Festival Vice President for two years, the President for four years, and added Executive Director to my title three years ago. This year I've stepped down from those roles, but continue as the Artistic Director, which means I put together the shows, select the entertainers, and manage their contracts.

No matter who's running the event at the top, putting on the Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival is truly a group effort. We have a functioning board and have created a culture of working positively together to accomplish our goals.

At our festival, performers tell tales of all kinds - from stories so woeful they make us laugh to others so funny they make us cry. Plus artisans are present displaying artwork, clothes, gear, and tack for both the working cowboy and collector.

We worship at Cowboy Church on Sunday morning and literally pass the hat for the offering, all of which goes to the Salvation Army that has been our charitable partner since the beginning. Cowboy Church features many festival performers and the service becomes a moving nondenominational expression of our love for God and for His creation.

I just wanted to tell you today, Lord ... . Well, kinda tell ya' friend to friend ... . That I'm mighty glad that you're my Boss. Well, I reckon that's all. Amen. Something like that ... .

At the festival the real cowboys can often be distinguished by the way they tip their hats, jump to open doors, pull out a chair for a woman, stand up when a woman enters the room, and by the way they shake your hand with a firm grip while looking you in the eye.

We promote our festival and share our vision with future generations through a program called Cowboys in the Schools. Before the festival officially begins on Friday afternoon, cowboy poets and musicians go into King and Colton Middle Schools, and Monterey High earlier in the day where we conduct assemblies and perform our music and poetry, followed by short sets in individual classrooms. It has been great to see how these kids embrace the Cowboy Way.

Two years ago we began bringing kids to the Carmel Valley Trail and Saddle Club, where we set up stations that feature such things as chuckwagon cooking, mountain man demonstrations, and local Native American exhibits.

We may feature a cowboy teaching roping. The kids might learn the fundamentals of cattle sorting or learn how to start a new horse -- a gentler style that has replaced the outmoded practice of breaking horses.

Cowboy from the Heart
Ever since childhood I've been drawn to the Cowboy Way. Willie Nelson could have been referring to me when he sang the poignant words, "My heroes have always been cowboys. And they still are, it seems."

When I was in high school my buddy and I wore cowboy hats, silver buckles, and cowboy boots, though we lived in the Greater Los Angeles area. My sister used to say that I was country before country was cool, and before Barbara Mandrell sang it.

I tried to live by the values of a good cowboy. In high school I was a little on the rowdy side and got into my share of fights. But, like Roy Rogers or John Wayne, I wouldn't hit a guy when he was down.

I was a cabinet-maker in Southern California when I met my wife in 1980, and a short time later moved up to the foothills of the Sierras to be near her. My father-in-law was a retired law enforcement officer from Sunnyvale and conversations with him led me to believe it was the right career path for me. I began testing for police officer positions.

In the little community of George­town, California I fell in with a group of retired law enforcement officers who called themselves the Over The Hill Gang. "Put yourself through a police academy," they told me. My wife got a job in Placerville to help pay my way through the 16-week academy. I excelled in that program and in April of 1984, three months after graduation, I became an officer with the Seaside Police Department. Twenty-three years later I'm still here.

I try to carry the cowboy values into my work as a police officer. The ideal is never to judge a person on the basis of whatever baggage they might be carrying. People make choices in life and have to live with the consequences. But people can also sometimes change, if given the opportunity.

I bought my first horse in 1993 and eventually put in some time as a real cowboy. An old-time rancher in the Sierra foothills had begun to lose touch with reality and had trouble gathering a crew. I had learned to ride a horse fairly well by then, and was given the chance to put my skills to the test.

I went up to his ranch and spent two weeks pushing his cattle down out of the hills. Being October when I joined up, it was cold in the morning, but still warm in the afternoon. I spent 10 to 12 hours in the saddle -- freezing when I climbed on and sweating hard when I climbed off - and I loved every minute of it!

The old rancher died a couple of years later and the family called me to help bring his last herd out of the hills. Coincidentally, that second roundup was the year of the first Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival.

That first year the festival gave me the opportunity to sit and chat with a couple of the well-known performers. It was nice to see that they were plain folk, no different than you and me, and easily mingled with everybody else.

The elegant simplicity of cowboy poetry inspired me to explore a previously unknown poetic talent within myself. I became a student of poetry.

To better understand poetry I read everything from Chaucer to Frost, and poems by Buck Ramsey, who has been called "the spiritual leader of the cowboy poetry movement."

I wrote my first poem a few weeks after the Cowboy Festival and two years later I found myself performing poetry on the festival circuit and selling my first book of poems.

When the Monterey cowboy festival first started, Gary Brown had a radio show called Radio Ranch on a local station. He was on the road a lot and I began hosting the show on a semi-regular basis.

In December 2005 local radio station KNRY AM 1240 approached me about resurrecting Radio Ranch every Sunday evening. The KNRY studios occupy the upper floor of a historic building on Cannery Row, overlooking the Monterey Bay.

I continue to perform today, reciting poetry and singing ballads while accompanying myself on the guitar.

I don't have time to promote myself so I usually get gigs on a word-of-mouth basis.

I've performed in venues scattered throughout the Sierras and Central California.

Cowboy poetry and music have a depth, passion, and history that people seldom suspect.

Not a festival goes by without someone saying, "I had no idea!" They are taken by the depth and breadth of the cowboy poetry experience.

My heart continually soars with Buck Ramsey's amazing poem, "Anthem," which closes with,

I'll be this poem, I'll be this song.
Those horsemen will ride all with me,
And we'll be good, and we'll be free.

Stop by and visit with Mick Vernon at the Monterey Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival, from December 7 to 9 at the Monterey Conference Center. Go to www.montereycowboy.com for more information.