African American cowboys
African American cowboys played a significant yet often overlooked role in the history of the American West. Despite the common portrayal of cowboys as predominantly white figures in media, historical evidence suggests that African Americans made up about 25 percent of the cowboy population. Many were former slaves or Civil War soldiers, drawn to the opportunities of the open range and the promise of higher wages. Their work involved long hours in challenging conditions, often spending months on the trail herding cattle, a task that required collaboration across racial lines, making segregation difficult in the field.
However, African American cowboys faced systemic discrimination, receiving lower pay than their white counterparts and enduring segregation in cattle towns. The lack of written records, due to widespread illiteracy among them, has contributed to their stories being less documented. Despite these challenges, figures like Nat Love and Bill Pickett emerged as notable personalities, highlighting the contributions and resilience of African American cowboys during the westward expansion of the United States. Their legacy is increasingly recognized as essential to understanding the diverse fabric of cowboy culture and the historical narrative of the American West.
On this Page
Subject Terms
African American cowboys
Despite the predominantly white portrayals in television and film Westerns, many cowboys were African American. Attracted by the high wages and the pull of the open range, the cowboys were a diverse lot that included former Civil War soldiers, former African American slaves, Mexicans, and American Indians. Evidence suggests that perhaps as many as 25 percent of cowboys were African American.
Most of the African Americans were unable to read or write, so few records of their daily life exist, but like their peers, they spent as many as four months in the saddle, working the long drives. The cowboy’s job was dangerous, hard, and lonely. Because the cowboys had to work together to herd the cattle up the trail, segregation was impractical, but African American cowboys were constantly reminded of the inequalities of the time. Pay for African American cowboys was frequently less than for their white counterparts, and segregation was common in cattle towns along the trail. Despite the discrimination they faced, however, the contribution of the African American cowboy to the westward movement and the settlement of the western United States is indisputable. Some, most notably Nat Love, even gained lasting fame for their exploits, and later research helped bring recognition to those long overshadowed by their white counterparts.
Bibliography
Acosta, Teresa Paloma. "Black Cowboys." Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Assn., 12 June 2010. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.
Bays, Brad A. "African American Cowboys." Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. U of Nebraska Lincoln, 2011. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.
Hardaway, Roger D. "African American Cowboys." Texas Ranch House. WGBH, PBS, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.
Jordan, Terry G. North American Cattle Ranching Frontiers: Origins, Diffusion, and Differentation. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P, 1993. Print.
Manzoor, Sarfraz. "America's Forgotten Black Cowboys." BBC News. BBC, 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.