The real-deal cowboys: African-Americans played a crucial role in taming the Wild West
March 7, 2011
Temple Daily Telegram - 'New studies show the largest numbers of African-Americans herding cattle worked in Texas - one-third of all black cowboys in 1890 and two-thirds in 1910,' said Alwyn Barr, a Texas Tech history professor who specializes in African-American studies. 'Their jobs ranged from breaking wild horses to serving as cooks. Life on ranches and drives seemed to involve less discrimination than in more settled areas. Yet blacks seldom became foremen, although a few rose to be trail bosses.'
Whoa, pod'nah. Real cowboys can look less like Roy Rogers and more like Danny Glover in "Lonesome Dove."
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"New studies show the largest numbers of African-Americans herding cattle worked in Texas - one-third of all black cowboys in 1890 and two-thirds in 1910," said Alwyn Barr, a Texas Tech history professor who specializes in African-American studies. "Their jobs ranged from breaking wild horses to serving as cooks. Life on ranches and drives seemed to involve less discrimination than in more settled areas. Yet blacks seldom became foremen, although a few rose to be trail bosses."