The James Cathey Heritage Collection, consisting of more than 100,000 photographic negatives, shot during the thirty-year career of the late James Cathey, is a unique piece of America's heritage. It is the only significant photography collection of its era to focus on the American sport of rodeo, the American cowboy at work, the American Quarter Horse, and the western way of life. Cathey, as he was known to his friends, was the "official" photographer of many events, including the Santa Rosa Roundup, the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show (better known as the Fort Worth Stock Show), the Texas State Fair, the Wyoming State Fair, the Houston Stock Show and Rodeo, and the Laramie Steer Roping, among many others. When Cathey worked a rodeo, he shot every contestant in every go-round of every event, compiling an amazing record of the American rodeo sport and its participants during the 1940s, 50s and 60s. At live stock shows, Cathey created the same historical record of championship animals and their owners, recording the foundations and now-ancestral lines of some of America's most significant current breeds of live stock. |
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As a direct result of his work at horse shows and stock shows, Cathey began to specialize in photographing the champions of the working cowhorse breed known as the American Quarter Horse. For years, he traveled all across the western United States, photographing quarter horses at home on their ranches, competing in cow cutting contests and winning halter and confirmation classes at horse shows. Cathey's real specialty became the portraiture of AQHA champions and bloodline sires. He shot the long-gone greats like King, Poco Bueno, Go Man Go, Cutter Bill, and hundreds more. |
While Cathey was traveling the West and making quarter horse portraits, he simply had no peer. No other professional photographer attempted his specialty. Every owner of an AQHA champion wanted a Cathey portrait of the horse, especially if that horse was put up for stud, and Cathey worked hard to see to it that most got their wish. Since his travels led him to the most significant ranches and through the most beautiful scenery of the American West, Cathey shot these too. Here are the real cowboys and their working horses. Here are yearlings being individually roped and wrestled to the ground by hand. Here is the fence rider streatching wire with the help of his horse and a saddle horn. Throughout his career, Cathey believed he was recording America's heritage for the future, and he managed his collection with the thoroughness and attention to detail of a historical librarian. Each of the many thousands of frames he shot was numbered, dated and cataloged, and most of the people and named animals in the pictures were identified by cross-reference files. The collection is a monumental work, the life's work of an artist and a dedicated photojournalist who was truly unique. |
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An old rodeo announcer used to say, "There ain't a bronc that can't be rode: ain't a cowboy, can't be throwed." Now it can be said that there ain't many'a champion rodeo cowboy, rodeo cowgirl, or quarter horse from James Cathey's time who missed his eye, his shutter, and his collection. The collection is now owned by The Cathey Family Partnership, which, in turn, is owned by Cathey's four sons, Gordon, Craig, Tommy, and Robert Cathey. It is currently housed within the offices of Cathey Associates, Inc., a graphic design firm owned by Gordon Cathey. Plans for preservation of, development of, and public access to the collection are still under consideration. Many possibilities for action exist, although none is currently underway. The sale of prints and publishing of books may be undertaken to raise money. Public exhibits, especially those targeted to specific topics, such as All Girl Rodeos or working cowboys, will probably be developed. Pieces of the collection may be made available to specific museums with special interest in the collection's contents. The Cathey Family Partnership welcomes suggestions and offers of assistance from other parties interested in this unique piece of our American heritage. Initial contact should be made through Gordon Cathey, gordon@cathey.com, (214) 300-8430. |