Cowboys have always had a romantic image. When people first watched Hollywood films, begin a cowboy wasn't a job. It was a life of adventure, freedom,horses. It was a classic symbol of the United States of America. In reality, the real America cowboys have lived and worked here in the west long before Hollywood. The adventure and romance have disappeared but the adventure and long hours are the same as they've always been.
No one know how many cowboys are still working. Maybe between ten and fifty thousand. It's also difficult to define a twenty-first century cowboy. Surely it can't be the big cattle owners who do business with a seventy-billion dollar beef industry? These modern ranches use the latest technology and employ accoutants. But even some of the old traditional cattle ranches make more money nowadays by offering holidays to tourists; people come and stay for a holiday and live the cowboy's life (or a Hollywood version of it).