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On the last weekend in October, the tranquil old crossing sprang vibrantly to life, as hundreds of folks, including western artists, historians and local cowmen, gathered to celebrate and retell its colorful history.

Pressed up against the edge of the Gulf of Mexico in southwest Florida, this city, long home to carnies and cowmen, is best understood as a study in contrast.

His office is in the home, in the “cowmen’s slums,” far from the comfortable districts of the “shahebi,” the English.

As Brahma Chellaney, a professor of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research, put it: “While the U.S. is ruled by cowboys, India is ruled by cowmen.”

The fourth, the elder statesman of the group, says: “I’m a cowman, I guess.”