Cowboy Mike, aka Mike Searles, has died.
Cowboy Mike is survived by his wife, Toni.
Searles, a retired Augusta University history professor, is best known among his academic colleagues as a scholar of black cowboys in the west. He was author of two books on the topic, “Black Cowboys in the American West” co-authored with Bruce A. Glasrud and Albert S. Broussard, and “Buffalo Soldiers in the West,” also co-authored with Glasrud.
Prior to joining Augusta College history faculty, he taught at Boggs Academy in Burke County, a residential school for young African Americans supported by the Women of the Church of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. That school closed in the early 1990s.
His students remember him as an amazing teacher and mentor who always had something new to teach them. His friends and church colleagues remember him as a man who took service to others seriously, a man who truly did love his neighbor above himself.
Below, we publish remembrances of Cowboy Mike from his students and from a colleague who also worked with him at the denominational level of their church.
Remembering a professor and mentor
by Scott Hudson
Dr. Michael Searles, who passed away June 23, was not the typical stodgy history academic.
He was more like a pecan-tan skinned Indiana Jones. He didnāt like to be referred to as āDoctorā or āProfessor.ā He just simply wanted to be āCowboy Mike.ā
An icon on the Augusta University campus, Searles, who was well over six-feet tall, always wore his cowboy boots, neck scarves, ten-gallon hat and a toothy grin. His laughter ricocheted down the halls of the university.
āHistory can be really boring for some people,ā saod Sheena Dorsey, who graduated in 2008, ābut that wasnāt the case with Cowboy Mike. He was so passionate about the subject that the book just seemed to come to life.ā
Cowboy Mike taught several Honors classes including āAfrican American History Through Film.ā
Upon handing out the syllabus for the class, he would announce, āIn case you think there may be a typo, there is not. We are going to start with watching what I think is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, film ever made, āBirth of a Nation.ā
Shannon Powers says she took that particular class because she has a mixed-race child and was interested to learn more about Black history.
āI had no idea what I was walking into. Some of the movies we watched made me want to cry, but Cowboy Mike was not there to guilt anyone. He explained that movies like āBirth of a Nationā were time capsules that give us an understanding of how society of that time functioned, and it shows us how far we have come,ā Powers said.
Powers graduated in 2012 and says she bumped into Cowboy Mike at CostCo last year.
āI was shocked that he remembered my name after all that time, and he still had that unmistakable laugh that sounded like James Earl Jones playing Santa Claus,ā Powers said.
Jake Mace never actually studied under Cowboy Mike, but became friendly with the professor from encountering him in the hallways.
āHe would see me in the hall and say, āHey Jake, wanna hang out for a minute?ā I would go into his office, and he would ask me how my studies were coming along. He really seemed to care, even though I didnāt have him as a teacher,ā Mace said.
According to Ruth McClelland-Nugent, a history department colleague, Cowboy Mike wanted to bring the Buffalo Soldiers to campus in 2008 as part of Black History Month, but he didnāt ask the university for funding. Rather, he raised the funds himself.
āI remember that!ā Dorsey said. āHe brought in the horses and invited the kids from the local schools. It was a lot of fun. Iām not surprised that he raised the funding himself. He would have paid out of pocket if he had to.ā
Even in retirement, Cowboy Mike continued to write extensively and bring his larger-than-life persona to speak to any group that issued an invitation. He never forgot a name and his passing brings to mind the adage that āold cowboys never die, they just ride off into the sunset.ā
āHe was a true ambassador for history and for Augusta University and he will never be forgotten,ā McClelland-Nugent said.
Happy trails, Cowboy Mikeā¦until we meet again.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
Remembering a colleague and friend
by Hubert van Tuyll, professor of history emeritus
On Friday, June 23, 2023, āCowboyā Mike Searles went on to his reward.
āThere is so much to say about Cowboy that it is hard to know where to begin. He and I were colleagues at Augusta College/State for the better part of three decades and every day with him was joyful. He was a man of great wisdom as well. While always optimistic, he was not naĆÆve. As one should expect of a history professor, his knowledge was encyclopedic. But there was much more to him than that.
āCowboy was a true scholar. By that I mean that he did original research, travelling around the country unearthing information about the Black cowboys who played such a large role in the West. He interacted with, and was highly respected by, nationally known scholars of Western history. He drove some half million miles in pursuit of this knowledge, even interviewing the few Black cowboys still living.
āHis commitment to scholarship was visible in his office. As is typical of scholars, he never threw anything away that related to either his teaching or his research. You can imagine the result. He even had to negotiate with someone else on our hall to store some of his materials on top of her bookcases. When I was Mikeās department chair, I told him that he could never retire because weād never be able to get a Bobcat into the elevator.
āI had hoped to see him in just a few weeks at a community event. Never wait to see the ones you care about.
Hubert van Tuyll
Augusta University (Emeritus)
