Hey there, friends.  Long before you got to know me as The Big Valley's Nick Barkley, or even before that, as Black Saddle's Clay Culhane, I was predominantly performing on the stage, and becoming a cowboy was the farthest thing from my mind.

    I grew up in Rochester, New York.  Sure, that's the hometown of Western legend Buck Jones, too.  But this one commonality didn't make me a cowboy.  Not by a long shot.  After all, I had never really been around a horse before I came to Hollywood, nor had I ever owned a pair of cowboy boots.  In fact, I wasn't raised all that much on Westerns, although I did take a liking to singing cowboys when I was younger, such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers who heroically cut the villains off at the pass.  Later, I grew to enjoy the strong, silent type like Joel McCrea, Randolph Scott, and John Wayne whose mere presence was a threat to whomever was wearing the black hat; and even Glenn Ford and Ben Johnson who always impressed me with their riding ability.  And one of the highest compliments this writer-rider has ever received, came from Ben Johnson who said, "There are three men in Hollywood that can sit a horse well --- Glenn Ford, Peter Breck, and myself."

    Becoming a cowboy came about when I came to Hollywood in the late 1950s.  I was a single, young actor, fresh out of theater.  I had just performed in a play called Man of Destiny --- a story about Napoleon Bonaparte --- at the Washington Arena Stage in Washington D.C.  I was getting ready to play the part of.................