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Article #1: Cowboy history

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Originally, the word "cowherd" (similar to is folk etymology for a behavior seen in
"shepherd," a sheep herder) was used to some young horses. Vaquero itself also has
describe a cattle herder, and referred to elements of the Arabic term bakhara,
a preadolescent or early adolescent boy, originating with the Islamic invaders of
who usually worked on foot (riding Spain from the 8th century. The word is
required skills and investment in horses still used on occasion in the Great Basin
and equipment rarely available to or and parts of California and, less often,
entrusted to a child, though in some in the Pacific Northwest.
cultures boys rode a donkey while going to Florida Cowhunter
and from pasture). This word is very old The Florida "cowhunter" or "cracker
in the English language, originating prior cowboy" of the 19th and early 20th
to the year A.D. 1000.[1] Herding of centuries was distinct from the Texas and
sheep, cattle and goats was often the job California traditions. Florida cowboys did
of minors in Antiquity, and still is in not use lassos to herd or capture cattle.
various third world cultures. Their primary tools were bullwhips and
The word "cowboy" first appeared in the dogs. Florida cattle and horses were
English language about A.D. 1715–25,[2] small. The "cracker cow", also known as
and appears to be a direct English the "native cow", or "scrub cow" averaged
translation of vaquero. ("vaca" meaning about 600 pounds, had large horns and
"cow") This term thus developed after the large feet.
Hacienda system of large land grants to Since the Florida cowhunter didn't need a
private owners, usually for cattle saddle horn for anchoring a lariat, many
ranches, was established by the Spanish did not use Western saddles, instead using
government, and along with it, the need a McClellan saddle. While some individuals
for vaqueros or cowboys. wore boots that reached above the knees
As cattle ranching developed in the for protection from snakes, others wore
Iberian peninsula and later, in the brogans. They usually wore inexpensive
Americas, where the climate was dry and wool or straw hats, and used ponchos for
grass sparse, large herds of cattle protection from rain.[5]
required vast amounts of land in order to Cattle and horses were introduced into
obtain sufficient forage. The need to Florida late in the 16th century.
cover distances greater than a person on Throughout the 17th century, cattle
foot could manage gave rise to the ranches owned by Spanish officials and
development of the horseback-mounted missions operated in northern Florida to
cowboy. Because of the time and physical supply the Spanish garrison in St.
ability needed to develop necessary Augustine and markets in Cuba.[6] These
skills, the cow "boy" was an adolescent or ranches brought in some vaqueros from
even a young man, (and, rarely, a few Spain, but many of the workers were
women) who began earning wages as soon as Timucua Indians.[7] Diseases and Spanish
they had enough skill to be hired, (often suppression of rebellions severely reduced
as young as 12 or 13) and who, if not the Timucua population, plus raids by
crippled by injury, might handle cattle or soldiers from the Province of Carolina and
horses for the rest of his working life. their Indian allies reduced the Timucuas
Though the term became somewhat to a remnant and ended the Spanish
disassociated from age (the phrase "old ranching era by the beginning of the 18th
cowboy" is not considered an oxymoron), century.
the low wages and low social status of the In the 18th century, Creek, Seminole, and
job kept the term "boy" in use, though other Indian people moved into the former
ultimately it became simply a label for Timucua areas and started herding the
the job itself, and even a term of pride. cattle left from the Spanish ranches. In
On western ranches today, sole the 19th century, most tribes in the area
responsibility for herding cattle or other were dispossessed of their land and cattle
livestock is not considered a job for and pushed south or west by white settlers
children or early adolescents. However, and the United States government. By the
both boys and girls growing up in a ranch middle of the 19th century white ranchers
environment often learn to ride horses and were running large herds of cattle on the
perform basic ranch skills as soon as they extensive open range of central and
are physically able, usually under careful southern Florida. The hides and meat from
adult supervision. Such youths, by their Florida cattle became such a critical
late teens, are often given supply item for the Confederacy during the
responsibilities on the ranch that require American Civil War that a "Cow Cavalry"
a level of maturity and levelheadedness was organized to round up and protect the
that is not generally expected of their herds from Union raiders. After the Civil
urban peers. War, Florida cattle were periodically
The Spanish invented what we now consider driven to ports on the Gulf of Mexico and
the cowboy tradition, beginning in shipped to market in Cuba.
medieval Spain. Hawaiian Paniolo
Origins of the North American cowboy The Hawaiian cowboy, the paniolo, is also
During the 16th century, the Conquistadors a direct descendant of the vaquero of
and other Spanish settlers brought their California and Mexico. Experts in Hawaiian
cattle-raising traditions and their etymology believe "Paniolo" is a
horses, the ancestors of the "wild" Hawaiianized pronunciation of espanol.
mustangs, with them to the New World (The Hawaiian language has no /s/ sound,
through New Spain (later Mexico) and and all syllables and words must end in a
Florida. The mustangs are called "wild" vowel.) Paniolo, like cowboys on the
but in reality these are feral horses - mainland of North America, learned their
descendants of domesticated animals. skills from Mexican vaqueros.
Though popularly considered as an American By the early 1800s, Capt. George
icon, the traditional cowboy comes from a Vancouver's gift of cattle to Pai`ea
Hispanic tradition, which originated in Kamehameha, monarch of the Hawaiian
the Central States of Mexico, Jalisco and Kingdom, had multiplied astonishingly, and
Michoacán, where the Mexican cowboy would were wreaking havoc throughout the
eventually be known as a "charro". countryside. About 1812, John Parker, a
Historically, the northern parts of Mexico sailor who had jumped ship and settled in
(New Mexico) originally included most of the islands, received permission from
the territory of the American southwest, Kamehameha to capture the wild cattle and
including Texas and California. develop a beef industry.
Development of different traditions in The Hawaiian style of ranching originally
North America included capturing wild cattle by driving
Geography, climate and cultural traditions them into pits dug in the forest floor.
caused differences to develop in Once tamed somewhat by hunger and thirst,
cattle-handling methods and equipment from they were hauled out up a steep ramp, and
one part of the continent to another. In tied by their horns to the horns of a
the modern world, remnants of two major tame, older steer (or Ox) that knew where
and distinct cowboy traditions remain, the paddock with food and water was
known today as the "Texas" tradition and located. The industry grew slowly under
the the "Spanish", "Vaquero", or the reign of Kamehameha's son Liholiho
"California" tradition. Less well-known (Kamehameha II)
but equally distinct traditions also Later, Liholiho's son, Kauikeaouli
developed in Hawaii and Florida. (Kamehameha III), visited California, then
Texas still a part of Mexico. He was impressed
In the early 1800s, the Spanish crown, and with the skill of the Mexican vaqueros,
later, independent Mexico, offered and invited several to Hawai`i in 1832 to
empresario grants in what would later be teach the Hawaiian people how to work
Texas to non-citizens, such as settlers cattle.
from the United States. In 1821, Stephen Even today, traditional paniolo dress, as
F. Austin and his East Coast comrades well as certain styles of Hawaiian formal
became the first Anglo-Saxon community attire, reflect the Spanish heritage of
speaking Spanish. Following Texas the vaquero. The traditional Hawaiian
independence in 1836, even more Americans saddle and many other tools of the
immigrated into the empresario ranching cowboy's trade have a distinctly Mexican
areas of Texas. Here the settlers were Spanish look and many Hawaiian ranching
strongly influenced by the Mexican vaquero families still carry the names of the
culture, borrowing vocabulary and attire vaqueros who married Hawaiian women and
from their counterparts, but also made Hawai`i their home.
retaining some of the livestock-handling End of the open range
traditions and culture of the Eastern By the 1890s, railroads had expanded to
United States and Great Britain. The Texas cover most of the nation, making long
cowboy was typically a bachelor who hired cattle drives from Texas to the railheads
on with different outfits from season to in Kansas unnecessary. The invention of
season.[3] barbed wire allowed cattle to be confined
Following the American Civil War, vaquero to designated acreage to prevent
culture diffused eastward and northward, overgrazing of the range, which had
combining with the cow herding traditions resulted in widespread starvation,
of the eastern United States that evolved particularly during the harsh winter of
as settlers moved west. Other influences 1886-1887. Hence, the age of the open
developed out of Texas as cattle trails range was gone and large cattle drives
were created to meet up with the railroad were over. Smaller cattle drives continued
lines of Kansas and Nebraska, in addition at least into the 1940s, as ranchers,
to expanding ranching opportunities in the prior to the development of the modern
Great Plains and Rocky Mountain Front, cattle truck, still needed to herd cattle
east of the Continental Divide. to local railheads for transport to
Thus, the Texas cowboy tradition thus stockyards and packing plants. Meanwhile,
arose from a combination of cultural ranches multiplied all over the developing
influences, in addition to the need for West, keeping cowboy employment high, if
adaptation to the geography and climate of still low-paid and somewhat more settled.
west Texas and the need to conduct long In the 1930s and 1940s, Western movies
cattle drives to get animals to market. popularized the cowboy lifestyle but also
California formed persistent stereotypes. In pop
The vaquero, a type of Spanish or Mexican culture, the cowboy and the gunslinger are
cowboy who worked with young, untrained often associated with one another. In
horses, had flourished in California and reality, working ranch hands had very
bordering territories during the Spanish little time for anything other than the
Colonial period. Settlers from the United constant, hard work involved in
States did not enter California until maintaining a ranch. Likewise, cowboys are
after the Mexican War, and most early often shown fighting with American
settlers were miners rather than livestock Indians. However, the reality was that,
ranchers, leaving livestock-raising while cowboys were armed against both
largely to the Spanish and Mexican people predators and human thieves, and often
who chose to remain in California. The used their guns to run off people of any
California vaquero or buckaroo, unlike the race who attempted to steal, or rustle
Texas cowboy, was considered a cattle, nearly all actual armed conflicts
highly-skilled worker, who usually stayed occurred between Indian people and cavalry
on the same ranch where he was born or had units of the U.S. Army.
grown up and raised his own family there. Development of the modern cowboy
In addition, the geography and climate of Over time, the cowboys of the American
much of California was dramatically West developed a personal culture of their
different from that of Texas, allowing own, a blend of frontier and Victorian
more intensive grazing with less open values that even retained vestiges of
range, plus cattle in California were chivalry. Such hazardous work in isolated
marketed primarily at a regional level, conditions also bred a tradition of
without the need (nor, until much later, self-dependence and individualism, with
even the logistical possibility) to be great value put on personal honesty,
driven hundreds of miles to railroad exemplified in their songs and poetry.
lines. Thus, a horse- and Today, the Texas and California traditions
livestock-handling culture remained in have merged to some extent, though a few
California and the Pacific Northwest that regional differences in equipment and
retained a stronger direct Spanish riding style still remain, and some
influence than that of Texas. individuals choose to deliberately
Cowboys of this tradition were dubbed preserve the more time-consuming but
buckaroos by English-speaking settlers. highly skilled techniques of the pure
The term buckaroo officially appeared in vaquero tradition. The popular "horse
American English in 1889. It is believed whisperer" style of natural horsemanship
to have originated as an anglicized was originally developed by practitioners
version of vaquero, dating at least to who were predominantly from California and
1827 which itself originates in the the Northwestern states, clearly combining
Spanish word for cowherd, derived from the attitudes and philosophy of the
vaca ('cow') (Latin: vacca). Buckaroo also California vaquero with the equipment and
contains derivations from "bucking", which outward look of the Texas cowboy.






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