Nat Love presents...
True Tales of The Ole West
as told by Madison Walker,
Living Historian

"Gather 'round Mom, Dad, you youn'ins, it's time to tell ya 'bout 'nother true story of the Ole West.  Howdy, mah name is Nathaniel Love, but you kin call me Nat, all mah friends do.  I AM AN AMERICAN COWBOY! YEEEHAW!!

Thus begins another exciting storytelling adventure as told by the first and only African American cowboy to ever write his own autobiography, Nat Love.  "The Autobiography of Nat Love, Alias Deadwood Dick," was published in Los Angeles in 1907.  Nat, who could ride, shoot, rope and rodeo with the best of the west (according to his autobiography) also established several truths about the folk heroes we've come to know as cowboys, the knights errant of the Great American West.  They were not all illiterate, and they were not all white.

Now, stepping out of the pages of his adventure filled days on the open range and exciting nights in the wide open cowtowns, Nat Love returns to titillate, thrill, excite and inform audiences of all ages about the men and women of color whose major contributions helped make the West what it is today.

Madison Walker is the embodiment of Nat Love.  He is a living historian, whose love of poetry, drama, and storytelling spans a career of more than 25 years; in theater, films, broadcasting, and the classroom.  Not only does he bring you the look and feel of Nat Love, American Cowboy, his true tales of the ole west transports you to a West where Buffalo Soldiers (Black military troops) patrolled the trail; where Bass Reeves and Willie Kinnard (Black Marshals) kept the peace; where Biddy Mason and Mary Fields (Black pioneer women) established standards of respect, and where George Monroe (Black Pony Express Rider) delivered the mail.

"Nat Love Presents...True Tales of the Ole West," has been a featured attraction at Colt's End Of Trail World Championship Shooting Competition, Encampment and Old West Exposition, held annyally at Norco, California.  Additionally, Madison has performed at Cowtown, Arizona, an 1880's movie set and western frontier town, Rawhide western amusement facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, and in PBS documentaries and on TNN's "America Shooter," program. 

This presentation is not delivered in the time-honored passive audience concept.  Not at all.  Within moments after the introduction, Nat has either: inducted the audience as new recruits in the Buffalo Soldiers, or welcomed them to the town where Mary Fields hauls freight, or conducts an inspection of horses for use on a pony express run.  The audience actively participates in the poems and storytelling.  Thus, historical points are retained by visual, aural, and hands-on-experiences.

The best part about "Nat Love Presents...True Tales of the Ole West," is that it is a modular concept.  Depending on your objectives (and budget) the presentation can be customized by length of time, number of living historian presenters, live props (horses and tack), and presentation collectibles (video, brochures, photographs).  From a one person, half hour presentation, to a multi-day encampment with a full "cast of characters," Nat Love... can deliver a quality performance tht will definitely be remembered.

For more information give a holler for "Nat Love Presents...True Tales of the Ole West."  You will be glad you did!

email - madison.walker@riomail.maricopa.edu