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Feb 164 min read

Black Cowboys, Part I: Background

Nat Love was a self-proclaimed cowboy. His 1907 autobiography describes his involvement in everything one might associate with any cowboy tale in the Western genre- massive cattle drives, shootouts with outlaws, a temporary capture by the Pima tribe, participation in daredevil riding, and washing it all down with a drink. He earned a real cowboy nickname - “Deadwood Dick” - for his roping prowess. Pictured here, he was born into slavery near Nashville, TN in 1854, and moved out west as a free man due to his skills breaking horses.


At one point in American history, 1 in 4 cowboys looked like him, yet Black cowboys’. stories are often left out. Over the next few posts, let’s explore some of the history of Black Cowboys in the U.S. and their early contributions to the sport of rodeo competition. Let’s start with some background.



The image of a cowboy wrangling cattle is so distinctly American - but Black cowboys aren’t often part of the narrative around that image. Did you know that during the 18th and mid 19th centuries, 1 in 4 cowboys were Black?


Spanish colonizers brought horses and domesticated cattle to the Americas in the 1500s. The Indigenous peoples enlisted to drive cattle on their ranches became known as vaqueros. Later, as white American settlers moved West into Spanish (and later Mexican) territories to build ranches on cheap land, they relied on learning skills from the vaqueros and Native tribes to manage cattle and horses - and used the labor of enslaved Black people to do much of this work.


During the era of slavery in America, one common job for enslaved Black people was tending to livestock. Many built skills with cattle and horses as a result of labor on ranches. Some possessed or inherited knowledge about working with these animals from African cultures.


Others worked for various Native American tribes, learning their techniques in the cattle and horse industries. Also, when enslavers went to fight in the civil war, they further relied on enslaved Black people to continue managing the livestock on their properties.


After the Emancipation Proclamation, the increasing population of cattle still needed to be herded and moved, and horses still needed care and training - which created opportunities for paid work. Many formerly enslaved Black people chose to bring their skills to this profession.


White livestock workers were referred to as “cowhands” while enslaved Black livestock workers were referred to with the more pejorative “cowboy” until all ranch and cowhands were referred to as “cowboys” or “cowgirls.”


Additionally, many free Black people moved into the Western frontier themselves and started ranches, living the open range lifestyle. The northwest was one of first places for free Black people to settle or own land- though many were forced out by white men as economic hardship befell the country amidst the Dust Bowl.


Opportunities for paid work in cow herding declined as barbed wire was invented and the railroad system grew towards the late 1800s, but the eastern and urban US remained fascinated with the lore of cowboy culture in the American West.


Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Shows met and further popularized this demand by staging “Wild “West” themed performances that shocked and awed audiences with incredible feats of trick roping and riding. The Wild West acts featured many astonishingly skilled Black, Mexican, and Native American performers.


The development of these shows were influenced by the techniques vaqueros taught ranch workers (including their modifications of Spanish saddles and lariats for use in the Americas) and by the Spanish form of rodeo, charreadas. Charreadas included stunts such as roping bulls and riding wild horses. Practicing these skills and traditions became local “ranch versus ranch” entertainment - evolving into Wild West Shows and rodeo competitions.


Bill Pickett, one of the most legendary Wild West show performers, was born in Texas to formerly-enslaved parents in 1870. After Bill left school to become a ranch hand, he invented “bulldogging” - a daring method of catching runaway cattle. Bill’s “bulldogging” technique involved grabbing a steer running full speed by its ear or lip using his own mouth and flipping it over onto the ground.


This unique talent earned him widespread celebrity at local fairs and in Wild West shows. Bill Pickett’s stunt later evolved into the popular rodeo event known today as steer wrestling, a feat in which performers wrestle steer to the ground by its horns.


Mainstream narratives often exclude stories about Black cowboys. When voices are missing from popular historical narratives, it’s important to reflect why and how they have been omitted. Their absence impacts our understanding of both past and present. Let’s continue to unearth and share hidden stories like those of these Black ropers & riders. Our next few posts will continue to highlight their contributions to the sport of rodeo and history of the American West.


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