To many Italians, especially those who grew up on a diet of bread-and-western-movies, there is nothing more quintessentially American than cowboys.  Anyone wearing a Stetson hat and riding a horse was a hero to many children, back in the day: we used to play “cowboys,” running around the garden or the backyard, with plastic pistols and a broomstick as a horse, dreaming of the lands of Texas and California.

These iconic, legendary figures were not only a symbol of America to us, they embodied freedom. They were guided by strong morals, they were just, they lived in harmony with nature, they were free. Of course, this was the image we, as kids, had of American cowboys, and yes, it was highly influenced  and shaped by the image Hollywood gave us of them.