Cowboy

:This article is about the cowboys and cowgirls of the Americas; for other uses see Cowboy (disambiguation) or Cowgirl (disambiguation).

History

The Spanish were adept at herding livestock. In fact the Spanish invented what we now know as the cowboy tradition beginning in the Middle Ages in Spain. During the 16th century, they brought the tradition with them to the New World through Mexico, then north into the heart of the US west in the state of New Mexico. The kingdom of New Mexico in its original configuration included most of the territory of the American southwest including Texas. In the early 1600s, first Spain and then Mexico began offering empresario grants in what would become New Mexico then Texas to Americans who agreed to become citizens and convert to Catholicism. In 1821 Steve Austin and his East Coast comrades became the first English speaking Mexicans. Following Texas independence in 1836 even more Americans immigrated into Texas and to the empresario ranching areas. Here they were absorbed by the Mexican vaquero culture, borrowing vocabulary and attire from their counterparts.

Related Topics:
Spanish - Middle Ages - 16th century - New World - Mexico - New Mexico - Texas - 1600s - Grants - Americans - Citizens - Catholicism - 1821 - Steve Austin - Texas independence - 1836 - Vocabulary - Attire

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The buckaroo, also a cowboy of the vaquero tradition, developed in California and bordering territories during the Spanish Colonial period. Buckaroo is the anglicized pronunciation of vaquero and is still a common term in the Great Basin and many areas of California and the Pacific Northwest. Following the Civil War, their culture diffused eastward and northward combining with the earlier cowboy tradition that was following the cattle trails out of Texas northward and westward. Sharing the same base, their traditions became indistinguishable with a few regional differences still remaining.

Related Topics:
California - Great Basin - Pacific Northwest - Civil War - Culture - Traditions

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Over time, the cowboys of the American West developed a culture of their own, a blend of frontier and Victorian values. Such hazardous work in isolated conditions bred a tradition of self-dependence and individualism, exemplified in their songs and poetry.

Related Topics:
American West - Frontier - Victorian - Individualism - Songs - Poetry

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By the 1890s, the open ranges of the Indian Territory were gone and the large cattle drives from Texas to the railheads in Kansas were over. Smaller cattle drives continued at least into the 1940s, with Arizona cattle driven to the railhead at Magdalena, New Mexico. Meanwhile, ranches multiplied all over the developing West, keeping cowboy employment high, if somewhat more settled.

Related Topics:
Kansas - Arizona - Magdalena

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In the 1930s and 1940s, Western movies popularized the cowboy lifestyle but also formed persistent stereotypes. In pop culture, the cowboy and the gunslinger are often associated with one another.

Related Topics:
1930s - 1940s - Western movie - Stereotype - Pop culture - Gunslinger

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Much has been written about the racial mix of the cowboys in the West, but cowboys ranked low in the social structure of the period and there are no firm figures. The Cattle on a Thousand Hills by John Ambulo in the March 1887 issue of The Overland Monthly states that cowboys are "... of two classes—those recruited from Texas and other States on the eastern slope; and Mexicans, from the south-western region. ...". Census records bear that out. The cowboy occupation undoubtably appealed to the freedmen following the Civil War. It is estimated that about 15% of all cowboys were of African ancestry—ranging from about 25% on the trail drives out of Texas, to very few on the northern ranges. Similarly, cowboys of Mexican descent also averaged about 15%, but were more common in Texas and the southwest. American Indians also found employment as cowboys early in the history of the West. Many of the early vaqueros were Indians trained to work for the Spanish missions in caring for the mission herds. Following the dissolution of the reservation system around 1900, many of the Indian trade schools also taught ranching skills to Indian youth.

Related Topics:
Social structure - John Ambulo - 1887 - Census - American Indian

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Paniolo

The Hawaiian cowboy, the paniolo, has as rich a history and tradition as the mainland cowboy. As with the mainland cowboy, the paniolo learned their skills from Mexican vaqueros. Hawaiian King Kamehameha III brought these vaqueros over from California in 1832 to teach the Hawaiians how to handle their cattle. At that time California was still part of Mexico, and Hawaii was known as the Sandwich Islands. The term paniolo is thought to have originated as a Hawaiianized pronunciation of español.

Related Topics:
Hawaii - Kamehameha III

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Cowboys of other nations

In addition to the Mexican vaquero, the North American cowboy, and the Hawaiian paniolo, the Spanish also exported their horsemanship and knowledge of cattle ranching to

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the Mexican charro, the gaucho of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and (with the spelling "gaúcho") southern Brazil, the llanero of Venezuela, the huaso of Chile, and, indirectly through the Americans, to Australia. In Australia, which has a large ranch (station) culture, cowboys are known as stockmen (with trainee stockmen being known as jackaroos and cowgirls as jillaroos).

Related Topics:
Charro - Gaucho - Argentina - Uruguay - Paraguay - Brazil - Llanero - Venezuela - Huaso - Chile - Australia - Station - Stockmen - Jackaroo - Jillaroo

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In the British Isles, the term cowboy is derogatory, and usually applied to

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tradesmen whose work is of shodddy and questionable value ie 'Cowboy plumber'.

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This is generally thought to be derived from the image of men riding into a

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town and shooting up the place before quickly riding off again.

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