#western-themed

#western-themed

In the self-conscious hallucinatory tradition of historical novelists like E.L. Doctorow and Don DeLillo, Enrigue keeps intrusively reminding us that this overpacked tale of the past is something he's constructing, as much as resurrecting. And, like his predecessors, Enrigue subscribes to a paranoid reading of history.

On these spacious properties, Western culture is alive and well. You'll drift off to sleep under clear, starry skies and wake up to hot coffee and a warm meal. During the day, you might hop on your trusty steed for a tour of the land by horseback or sit on a sprawling deck with a glass of sweet tea and enjoy the expansive views.

In 1836, Apaches raided a remote ranch near Janos, a tiny town on the northern fringes of the state of Chihuahua, in the newly independent republic of Mexico. The Natives absconded with some cattle, as well as with a young widow named Camila. Setting off in pursuit was José María Zuloaga, a taciturn lieutenant colonel in the Mexican army supported by a band of irregulars. Among them: a self-possessed teenager who served as an aide-de-camp, a pair of Yaqui brothers whose permanent address was the town jail, and a sharp-shooting nun named Elvira, who was actually a singer of zarzuelas dressed up in a habit.

Perched high atop a dappled-colored horse at Alisal Ranch, I stroked the equine's coarse hair in an effort to bond before sauntering off to an authentic cowboy breakfast. I was with a group of like-minded women in search of a wellness weekend but we chose to trade our spa robes for cowgirl hats and forgo mani-pedis for dusty trail rides. This was not a typical dude ranch experience. It seamlessly blended nurturing self-care, enriching workshops, nourishing meals, and fostering friendships.

Home to Grand Teton National Park, world-class ski slopes, and the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is a destination unlike any other. Victoria Gonzalez, lead Pathfinder at The Cloudveil, describes the region as "the intersection of wilderness and the resilient American spirit." In other words, it's somewhere travelers can go to experience a "flourishing cultural arts center with celebrated restaurants, a playground for year-round recreational opportunities ... and natural wonder."

Fashion has a habit of building legend, and in the modern era, few brands are more revered by menswear fanatics than Double RL, often styled as RRL. Originally born out of Ralph Lauren's fascination with westernwear (the line is named after the designer's expansive Colorado ranch), the offshoot of Lauren's eponymous brand marked a significant divergence from the traditional tailored prep of the main line when it debuted in 1993.

Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill Cody - the gang of American frontiersmen is all here in The Undiscovered Country: Triumph, Tragedy, and the Shaping of the American West. The valuable new volume is by historian Paul Andrew Hutton, an award-winning author, documentary writer, and a Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at the University of New Mexico. Hutton's 565-page history, a New York Times bestseller published last year by Dutton, covers the American frontier from the mid-18th century to 1900.

Known for his romanticized depictions of the American West, the wildly successful 19th-century painter and sculptor captured cowboy culture in its nascency, helping to etch its ethos of rugged individualism into the American psyche. This nocturne, created toward the end of this career, represented a shift in his style from narrative depictions of frontier battles to more atmospheric renderings of the North American landscape.