Studio E

Cowboy Strike

A film by Matthew Pehl

In 1883, cowboys in the Texas Panhandle responded to the rise of the first mega-ranches in dramatic fashion: they launched a strike. In investigating the story of this long-forgotten historical anecdote, a contemporary songwriter seeks to pay tribute to the cowboys’ search for economic justice. But in doing so, he must also rethink the meaning of the mythic legacy of the American frontier.