Black History Month: The Wild West
One in four cowboys was black, according to historians.
Cowboys are the trailblazing, sharpshooting, horseback-riders of American lore. If you picture one in your mind, you might think of John Wayne or Roy Rogers. But the reality is far more complex and interesting than Hollywood’s version. By 1860, millions of cattle roamed Texas, and 30% of the state’s population were enslaved people. After the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, ranchers relied heavily on newly freed men and women to care for their livestock.
“Right after the Civil War, being a cowboy was one of the few jobs open to men of color who wanted to not serve as elevator operators or delivery boys or other similar occupations,” William Loren Katz, a scholar of African-American history and the author of 40 books on the topic, including The Black West, told Smithsonian Magazine.
Many found jobs herding cattle from Texas to the northern states, where beef was 10 times more valuable.
One of the most infamous was Nat Love (1854-1921).
By Unknown author – https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/01/317441998/on-the-trail-of-black-cowboys-from-nat-love-to-sheriff-bart, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112346158
Love was born into slavery in Tennessee. Gifted at breaking horses, he headed west at 16, eventually settling in the Texas Panhandle. For the next several decades, he moved cattle across Texas, Arizona, and the Dakota Territory.
“Mounted on my horse my … lariat near my hand, and my trusty guns in my belt … I felt like I could defy the world,” he wrote in his autobiography Life and Adventures of Nat Love, Better Known in the Cattle Country as ‘Deadwood Dick,’ by Himself.
Eventually, Love married and became a Pullman porter for the western railroad.
George Glenn (1850–1931) was born into slavery on the Texas ranch of Robert B. Johnson. After Emancipation, he continued working for Johnson as a trail hand. In 1870, he rode the famed Chisholm Trail, becoming the only Black cowboy of prominence in its history. He was later honored as one of the few Black members of the Old Trail Drivers Association at its 1924 and 1926 annual meetings.
By Unknown author – http://www.reunionblackfamily.com/apps/blog/show/14748608-mary-fields-started-life-as-a-slave-in-hickman-county-tenn-in-1832-when-she-gained-her-freedom-after-the-civil-war, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20044630
“Stagecoach” Mary Fields (1832–1914) was a true BOSS. Legend has it she was “fierce and feisty, with a short, explosive temper that often led to fists flying and gunshots ringing.” Born into slavery in Tennessee, she made her way to Montana after Emancipation and worked for a convent. She chopped wood, did stonework and carpentry, went on solo supply runs—anything that needed doing, she handled.
Eventually, she was fired after a male coworker complained that she made $2 more per month than he did. The argument escalated into a full-blown gunfight, leaving the man injured.
In 1895, she became the first African American woman to deliver U.S. mail. Riding her mule, Moses, she carried mail well into her sixties.
By Unknown author – http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-oldwest/BassReeves-275.jpgThe Western History Collections at the University of Oklahoma Library have a copy of this image in their holdings., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1134185
Bass Reeves (1838–1910) was the first African American Deputy U.S. Marshal. Born into slavery, he escaped during the Civil War and lived among the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole tribes. The skills and languages he learned during that time proved invaluable.
Reeves served for 32 years as a federal peace officer in Indian Territory—present-day Oklahoma. By the time he retired, he claimed to have arrested between 3,000 and 4,000 horse thieves, cattle rustlers, gunslingers, bandits, bootleggers, swindlers, and murderers.
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William “Bill” Pickett (1870–1932) invented bulldogging, a technique that directly led to steer wrestling in modern rodeos. Born to formerly enslaved parents, Pickett left school after the fifth grade to become a cowboy.
Bulldogging—the skill of grabbing cattle by the horns and wrestling them to the ground—originated, quite literally, with bulldogs. Ranchers used these dogs to subdue stray steers, and Pickett, inspired by the practice, turned it into a rodeo trick. He performed it at local fairs and competitions, with legend claiming he would even bite the steer on the lip before toppling it.
The act eventually became a full-blown spectacle, with Pickett starring in the famous 101 Ranch Wild West Show alongside well-known figures like Buffalo Bill and Will Rogers. However, due to racial discrimination, he was often barred from rodeos and had to claim Comanche heritage in order to perform.
In 1921, Pickett appeared in the films The Bull-Dogger and The Crimson Skull. He was posthumously inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1972 and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1989.
Go riding.
Amanda Uechi Ronan is an author, equestrian, and wannabe race car driver. Follow her on Instagram @amanda_uechi_ronan.
