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Cowboys
Picture spending your days riding a horse in the great outdoors. During daylight, you tend herds of cattle on vast stretches of open land. At night, you cook your meals over a campfire and sleep under the stars. Such was the life of an American cowboy.
Life as a cowboy may sound exciting and fun. But cowboys spent long hours doing hard, often dangerous, work. It could also be very lonely out on the range, even downright boring!
WHAT IS A COWBOY?
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse grew up riding horses and hunting buffalo. But it was his bravery and daring in battle that earned him the name Crazy Horse. This was also his father’s name.
Crazy Horse was one of the greatest Native American chiefs. When the United States government tried to force Native Americans to live on reservations, Crazy Horse fiercely defended his people’s land and way of life. Today, Crazy Horse is remembered mostly for a victory over United States Army troops. The loser in that battle is even more famous. His name is George Armstrong Custer. The battle in which Crazy Horse defeated Custer is often called Custer’s Last Stand.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Who was the only American president elected four times? The answer is: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. As a young man, Roosevelt was crippled by polio. But Roosevelt refused to let the disease get in the way of his public career. He went on to serve as president for more than 12 years, longer than any other person.
BORN INTO WEALTH
Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, on his family’s estate near Hyde Park, New York. He was the only child of wealthy parents. Roosevelt loved reading and spending time outdoors.
Daniel Boone
When pioneer hero Daniel Boone was born, the American colonies still belonged to Britain. An unexplored wilderness lay to the west of the rugged Appalachian Mountains. A man of the frontier, Boone earned a place in American history as an explorer who helped open the wilds of Kentucky to pioneers in the 1700s.
GROWING UP
Boone was born in 1734 in Reading, Pennsylvania. In 1753, his family moved to North Carolina. A backwoods boy, Boone received little formal schooling. But from an early age he learned to track, hunt, and trap.
George W. Bush
Many people go into the family business when they grow up. For President George W. Bush, the family business was politics. His grandfather was a senator, his father a president, and his brother Jeb became a governor.
In 2001, George W. Bush himself took office as the 43rd president of the United States. He is only the second president whose father was also president. The other was John Quincy Adams, who rose to the presidency in 1825, 24 years after his father left the White House.