Walt Whitman wrote the poem Oh Captain, My Captain after President Abraham Lincoln was killed on April 14, 1865. It was just five days after General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. Abraham Lincoln only lived five days after the civil war ended.
These are a few of the words that Whitman wrote, “O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
Whitman was pointing out how unfair is was that President Lincoln was killed just five days after the end of the civil war. Good times were coming, people were glad the war was over, the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery. So much had been accomplished, yet Lincoln did not live to reap the rewards.
Patrick Gottsch was the founder of the cowboy channel. He passed away unexpectedly on May 18, 2024. When I heard of his passing I was immediately reminded of Walt Whitman’s poem, O Captain, My Captain. How unfair it is that Patrick Gottsch didn’t live to see what is coming for the rodeo industry and the western way of life.
There is a million dollar breakaway roping event in Arizona this fall. This Memorial Day weekend there are several junior events that pay out enough to put a kid through college. The prize money at almost all of the major rodeos are at record highs. The price of horses has increased dramatically as the cowboy channel has became more and more popular. The entire western industry is booming because of Patrick Gottsch’s invention, the cowboy channel.
The marketing numbers say the cowboy channel hasn’t reached its peak, new subscribers and new advertisers are signing up daily. Nielsen ratings are growing, driving the prices for advertising, which fuels more and more companies to invest.
I’ve been watching the business side of the cowboy channel for about a year now and I’ve decided I’m going to invest in it. I think in ten years the cowboy channel will be as big as ESPN. It’s a shame Patrick Gottsch died just as his creation is beginning to really take off.
Oh Captain, My Captain the fearful trip is done, the prize we sought is won…….
My deepest condolences to the Gottsch family. The western world lost a true icon. Patrick changed western the world forever and for the better. May he rest in peace.
James Lockhart lives near the Kiamichi mountains in southeast Oklahoma. He writes cowboy stories and fools with cows and horses.
Get Local News!
