The Real Latino History of the Cowboy

The cowboy’s origin is not as all-American as he’d like to believe–or at least as the 20th century would like to believe. In 1939, John Wayne starred in Stagecoach. A seemingly innocuous detail. It was, however, the film that launched Wayne into mainstream culture and cemented his position as the face of the Wild West. But there was something off with that presentation….

Let’s break it down. Cowboys, using lassos (from the Spanish “lazo”) and rocking sombreros (again, Spanish), wrangled cow herds and mustangs (a Mexican corruption of the Spanish “mesteño”) for ranch (Spanish: rancho) owners. It’s clunky, but are we seeing a pattern? Cowboys may have roamed the Wild West, but their origins lay in Latin roots further south.

The Spaniard Conquistadors & Their 16 Horses

The origin point started with the arrival of the Spaniards in what would become Mexico, in 1519. 450 soldiers, 100 sailors, and 16 horses (the first to set foot in the Americas) landed along the Gulf Coast of Mexico under the command of Hernán  Cortés. Unlike the Spaniards’ prior terrorization of the Caribbean, conquering the mainland would require indigenous allies. While the Totonacs were their first allies, the fighting tribe of the Tlaxcala was a notably effective ally.

After the fall of the Aztec Empire, the Tlaxcala were granted privileges for their initial support of the Spanish invasion of what was now New Spain, including the right to own and ride horses–a strictly regulated commodity. Indigenous knowledge of the land mixed with quick mastery of horse-riding to create invaluable support to the Spaniard food supply, namely the imported cattle that tended to break out. The Spanish term for “cow” is “vaca”, the term vaqueros for these indiginous cattle-hands grew from that.

As the Spaniards settled, they established land ownership similar to their native Spain’s hacienda set-up: large estates of land owned by ethnic Spaniards and operated by people of first indigenous and then mestizo (mixed Spanish and indigenous) origins. Hence, by a few years in, most vaqueros were mestizo–the exception was Santa Fe de Nuevo México, where Hispano and Pueblo people owned land and livestock as well.

Mestizo cattle herders weren’t unique to Mexico, they would simply be the closest influence on American cowboys a couple centuries later. A similar concept developed into the gauchos of Argentina further south, and today the Latino horsemanship and cattle-herding skills are celebrated in competitions throughout the Americas.

The Latino Vaqueros in Action

The vaqueros developed a very specific style of horsemanship, a mix of Spanish influence adapted for the wild American terrain. The hackamore headpiece, a familiar aspect of Western riding today, was brought over by the Spaniards. They in turn had been exposed to it by the Moors (who had possibly gotten it from Persia before that). Short stirrups and spurs came from the jineta, a Spanish light cavalry riding style.

In contrast, the indigenous people were already skilled at making and utilizing rope. While the concept of a lasso was not new–everyone from the Ancient Egyptian to the Huns had versions of the idea–the vaqueros would swiftly hone the practice into an artform over the first century of Spanish occupation.

The sombrero, more accurately the sombrero de charro, is generally considered to be a mestizo vaquero innovation. It would later be adopted by mariachi bands and integrated as traditional Mexican dress. Eventually it morphed too, as the cowboy hat is theorized to be an adaptation of Texan vaqueros’ sombrero hats.

The Texan Lone … Cowboy

Texas was less friendly for cattle compared to areas further into Mexico. Broad expanses of minimal greenery and long distances between ranches and train depots made for a different approach to cattle-herding. Branded cattle were allowed to roam, rounded up primarily for branding, wintering, or transit to the train depots. This approach meant that cattle-herding was only a seasonal requirement at any given ranch instead of the continuous job it was in Mexico or California. Texan vaqueros were less able to maintain a single residence, typically traveling between temporary employers at different ranches. This is where the American cowboy riding the range would develop from.

By the mid-1800s, vaqueros were an established part of Mexican culture, one that stuck when Texas gained independence from Mexico and was annexed by the US. As American businessmen from northern states came to Texas and purchased ranches previously run by Mexican owners, the vaqueros stayed on. The cattle still had to be herded so the vaqueros still traveled between Texan ranches and their new employers.

With the US annexation, businessmen weren’t the only people coming to Texas to pursue new possibilities. Texan vaqueros began training newcomers from the states in their trade. Throughout the 19th century, the Wild West was actually a very diverse culture. (Historians estimate a quarter of the cowboys were African-American.) It wasn’t until the 20th century that the Wild West was whitewashed, largely thanks to Hollywood casting and screenwriting.

The Legacy of the Latino Cowboy

Technically speaking, the heyday of the American cowboy only lasted through the 19th century. In comparison, the Latino vaqueros have a much longer history, starting in the 16th century and continuing to today in the form of charrería–Mexican horsemanship competitions.

The earliest forms of charrería were bored ranch workers making their chores a little more interesting with some competition. But by the early 20th century, it had grown into full-on competitions between haciendas. After the Mexican Revolution, as the hacienda system was broken down, the Asociación Nacional de Charros was organized to keep the cattle-herding & horsemanship traditions alive. Today, the Mexican National Charro Championship semi-finals are held every September, where competitors show off skills honed since childhood while sporting traditional dress. Horsemanship competitions aren’t isolated to Mexico either. Venezuela & Colombia come together for the Coleo World Championships annually to watch llaneros (their cowboys) compete to tumble cattle. 

Vaqueros, gauchos, llaneros–each developed in their own way but ultimately, the Latino cowboy is still very much alive and well.