Lore Of The Wild, Wild West Springs Alive At Hawley

By Larissa Lytwyn

While the visage of the American cowboy is as firmly ingrained in our culture as baseball and apple pie, his face is almost always a Caucasian one.

In truth, the cowboy’s face was as varied in color as America itself has always been.

One such cowboy, the African American Nat Love, also known as “Deadwood Dick,” has risen to the forefront of historians’ recent rediscovery of the black cowboy.

Actor and musician Rochel Garner Coleman, III, recently brought Nat Love alive once more during performances at Hawley Elementary School that several young audience members said left them in awe.

“It was really, really good!” declared one student, Mason Page.

Dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, and the requisite wide-brimmed cowboy hat, Mr Coleman-as-Nat-Love traced his life from his humble beginnings in Nashville, Tenn., to his adventures in Dodge City, Kan., and later, on the Texas plains.

Mr Coleman’s eyes went wide as he described the first time Nat Love saw a “real cowboy” in Tennessee. Impressed with the man’s raw, independent spirit, Nat Love decided to pursue the cowboy’s path in the still untamed American West.

During the mid-19th Century, the West was considered a land of opportunity in both its newness and already infamous lack of control.

Tales of “Indian savages” threatening to wreak havoc on settlers and fevered expeditions to take part in California’s Gold Rush were enough to capture any young man’s imagination.

Mr Coleman described Nat Love’s journey on foot from Tennessee to Kansas by noting the change in scenery. “It went from lots of green, rolling hills to lots of flat land and red rock,” he said.

Although his initial arrival to Dodge City was met by skepticism by the cowboys, Nat Love soon discovered that while his muddied overalls and gait screamed “greenhorn,” he was a natural at roping cattle and wild horses.

He even drew volunteers from the audience to “ride” on a saddle, which Mr Coleman parlayed into a horseback riding simulation by lifting the child high above his head to replicate the bucking and twisting of a wild horse.

Through his roping and riding skills, Nat Love soon won the respect of his fellow cowboys, who were not only white but also of Mexican, Native American and, like him, African descent.

“Now one day,” said Mr Coleman-as-Nat-Love, “a herd of cattle escaped far into the distance [to Deadwood City in the then-Dakota Territory]. I was told that if they went beyond the Red River, I should turn back.”

But, Mr Coleman was quick to note, Nat Love was “hardheaded.”

“Have any of you ever been called that name?” he asked his audience.

Several hands shot up.

“What does that word mean?” Mr Coleman queried.

“Like, you won’t do what you are told to do,” said one boy.

Mr Coleman nodded approvingly. “Exactly. Stubborn!”

As he neared the Red River, Mr Coleman said, Nat Love spotted the herd on the other side of the shore. As soon as he crossed to herd them up, however, a tribe of Native Americans attacked him. To prevent further bloodshed after his horse was killed beneath him, Nat Love surrendered.

Over time, Mr Coleman said, Nat Love sought to learn the tribe’s tongue.

“I saw that some of these tribespeople looked like me,” Mr Coleman-as-Nat-Love noted. “They were very dark. It made me think of the time of the Underground Railroad, when slaves escaped not only northward, but also to the west. There were stories of these slaves being adopted and marrying into these Indian tribes. I realized that these people, my captors, were their ancestors.”

Unlike mythic stereotypes of the native “savage,” Mr Coleman-as-Nat-Love described the Native Americans as “a very spiritual people.”

He was soon adopted as a son and was even introduced to the chief’s daughter as a potential mate.

But, Nat Love realized he missed his cowboy life and escaped in the middle of the night, back to Dodge City.

“Throughout my life, I’ve had many names,” Mr Coleman-as-Nat-Love said. His adventure herding 3,000 cattle to Deadwood City earned him the name “Deadwood Dick.” During his life with the Native Americans, he was dubbed Tatanka Papoose, or “Buffalo Baby.”

He asked the students to research more into the life of Nat Love, to find out more names he was known as, before thanking them for listening so attentively to his story.

After his presentation, several students approached Mr Coleman to learn more about the cowboy way of life.

“I loved the saddle he used, all his props,” said student Dana Bowers. “He was really fun and interesting.”

Mr Coleman, a native of Indianapolis, Ind., began singing professionally at age 9, distinguishing himself as a soloist with the Men and Boy’s Choir of Christ Church Cathedra and later the Boston Symphony.

He majored in theater and geology at Colorado College; today he works as a geologist while maintaining his passion for acting and singing, traveling across the country with his educational programs on a variety of subjects, including Martin Luther King and African American airmen. “I do all the research, and plan the programs myself,” he said.

He currently resides in Providence, R.I.

Mr Coleman’s visit was the Hawley PTA Cultural Arts Committee’s final event of the school year.

For more information on Mr Coleman, call 888-223-2092 or email Azilee’s Porch Productions at azlspch@aol.com.