When one harkens the idea of a cowboy in their mind’s eye, they might imagine someone like John Wayne, or maybe Rip from Yellowstone. But it might surprise you to know that a large number of the original cowboys working in the South and West were Black, Indigenous, and Chinese. In fact, the original concept of the Vaquero comes from a time when the majority of the land west of the Mississippi belonged to Spain, then Mexico, and Mexican-Indigenous men were often the ones minding the cows as a need for milk and beef rose across the Southwest. In the days following Emancipation and several migrations north and west, Black men joined them, often working as cooks and other low-end cattle minders.
Read This….
If you’re interested in a starting point on not just the cowboying way of life among Black men in the west, but their connection to the Rodeo—cowboying’s biggest sport—check out Black Cowboys of the Old West. Tricia Martineau Wagner looks at broader strokes of Wild West history, but focuses on the lives of several individuals, many of whose names are far lesser known than their white counterparts. Learn about musicians and rodeo stars, cooks and amateur scientists, all who spent most of their lives on the back of a horse.
Then That…
Once you’ve finished that, why not have a little more fun? Beverly Jenkins has been writing about Black folks on the frontier for thirty years, with stories taking place in the Kansas town of Henry Adams, and all over the west from Michigan to California to New Orleans. She’s even written one set right here in Pima County.
Breathless, while the second in a series, can stand alone! Here, we’re introduced to Portia, who runs her family’s hotel in the Catalina Foothills, and Kent, a cowboy who has just been offered a job by her uncle. The pair have a history, but Portia’s goals do not include marrying a cowboy—or any man—at the risk of never getting her own work off the ground. Beverly Jenkins's novel explores what life in the Old West might have been like for Black people at home and on the move, and what home might mean to someone who has never had a place to settle before.
Whether you’re more of a nonfiction reader or lean towards romance, you’ll get a bit of edutainment (Ms. Bev's word) out of both of these compelling reads!
