Giddyup!!

I grew up in Tucson. My family was all from Chicago, but we migrated West . And, once the first batch got here, the rest loved to come visit! For some reason, when someone from Chicago visited Tucson (at least back in the 50's), they had to become a cowboy! Yup, it was a tradition.

My Uncle Tommy had quite the swagger and my Uncle Joe had the ever-present cigarette.

This is my Dad and Uncle Joe. Not sure why dad thought that doofus hat looked like a cowboy hat!! But he thought he was cool!
And doesn't my grandmother look thrilled to have her son (my dad) holding a gun on her?!?!? Funny thing is, I don't remember anyone in my family ever even having a gun (except the occassional BB gun), and certainly NONE of them ever rode a horse!! But, hey, this was the Wild West!! Palm Trees, dessert plants, mountains, hot dry days, wooden sidewalks, hitching posts, real Indians, and, yes, back then some of the citizens of Tucson still wore spurs.

Of course, if you wanted to be on the "other" side of Cowboys & Indians, you could always find an authentic Native American and pretend to be a relative - like my two cousins in this photo! Or just take a picture with one - like me, great-grandma, and Aunt Fanny. All right, so the whole family was a bit dorky. But we didn't know it at the time!!