Wyoming Governor Signs Law Adopting "Cowboy Ethics—the Code of the West"

Teresa Neumann-Commentary : Mar 9, 2010
Staff - AP/Newsmax

It "admonishes residents and lawmakers to live courageously, take pride in their work, finish what they start, do what's necessary, be tough but fair, keep promises, ride for the brand, talk less and say more, remember that some things aren't for sale, and know where to draw the line."

(Wyoming)—Wyoming is a great state. Home to vast expanses of rangeland and oil fields, magnificent vistas, and Yellowstone National Park, this sparsely populated hunter's paradise is not for the weak or faint of heart. (Photo: WyomingTourism.org)

It takes a strong constitution to call oneself a "Wyomingite." William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Vice-President Dick Cheney, Curt Gowdy, Actor Matthew Fox, and Author Patricia MacLachlan who wrote Sarah, Plain and Tall, are all from Wyoming. Not coincidentally, Wyoming was the first state in which women had the right to vote and hold public office.

Indeed, verse IV of the Wyoming State Song goes:

Other treasures thou dost hold,
Men and women thou dost mould,
True and earnest are the lives that thou dost raise,
Strengthen thy children though dost teach,
Nature's truth thou givest to each,
Free and noble are thy workings and thy ways.

So, it should come as no surprise that Wyoming's governor, Dave Freudenthal, recently signed a symbolic bill adopting an official Wyoming Code known as "Cowboy Ethics."

As reported by the Associated Press, the 10-point code is derived from the "Code of the West" outlined in a book by author and retired Wall Street investor James Owen.

It reportedly "admonishes residents and lawmakers to live courageously, take pride in their work, finish what they start, do what's necessary, be tough but fair, keep promises, ride for the brand, talk less and say more, remember that some things aren't for sale, and know where to draw the line."

To my fellow Americans in Wyoming I say, well done!