Toms Trail In the Footsteps of the First American Cowboy Tom Candy Ponting

Do you know the name of the first American cowboy? When I was combing through our family papers, looking for details of our family tree, I found a book with the simple title, "My Life Story" and so I discovered the details of the first time Texan cattle were sold in the New York market in 1854. On the sepia dog eared cover is the scrawling signature of Tom Candy Ponting who was that first cowboy. But he was far more that that. This is my personal journal delving into the "Life Story", my experiences over two weeks following his trail, Tom's Trail, from Chicago to Dallas. I use Tom's own words, extracts from his autobiography, to tell his story set in the mid 19th Century, a story of a pioneer, shaping America, always grateful to have been a successful immigrant. Perhaps it is unusual for an English person to visit America to find the life of their ancestors; normally it is the other way round! My photographs look at his world today, searching for signs of the past, but only an occasional glimpse. Some experiences were wonderful and emotional, others weird or merely mundane. Coincidences often. I collected many snippets of information and at the end reflected on 150 years of change. Change creeps along, resisted, imperceptible, snaking in under the radar but then take a step back and the world has changed! The changes and developments in Tom's time since his birth in 1824; the changes in my life since my birth in 1943, the backdrops to our lives. The milestones seem clearer looking back. And my conclusion? It is hard to be both an optimist and a historicist. I hope we don't repeat the past but I fear we will. Optimism must be a better bet!