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Article: INNERVIEWS: ; 'I was willing to work'; Ex-cowboy is riding out the unemployment gap
- Article from:
- Charleston Gazette
- Article date:
- November 9, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Charleston Gazette. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Hes a cowboy, the real deal. In the mid-1980s, Roy Smyth herded
cattle on the open range in British Columbia, just him, his dog, two
horses and 250 cows out in the middle of nowhere. Crouched by the
fire each night, awed by the vast, star-studded sky, he experienced
a sense of serenity that nourishes his soul to this day. An Illinois
farm boy, he always had a way with horses. When he lost his job as a
heavy-equipment operator at an Illinois coal mine, he saddled up for
the solitary life of a Canadian cowboy. He returned eventually to
Illinois and signed on with Arch Coal. In 1994, the company lured
him to West Virginia. Arch Coal closed the surface mine at Samples
in July. Now he does odd ...