USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Black cowboys in the American West accounted for up to an estimated 25% of cowboys “who went up the trail” from the 1860s to 1880s and substantial but unknown percentage in the rest of the ranching industry, estimated to be at least 5000 workers according the latest research.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the 19th century, the Wild West drew enslaved Blacks with the hope of freedom and wages. When the Civil War ended, freedmen came West with the hope of a better life where the demand for skilled labor was high.

Detailed explanation-3: -Thousands of African-Americans made their way to Kansas and other Western states after Reconstruction. The Homestead Act and other liberal land laws offered blacks (in theory) the opportunity to escape the racism and oppression of the post-war South and become owners of their own tracts of private farmland.

Detailed explanation-4: -Vaqueros were the first cowboys. Vaquero culture in North America goes back as far as the 1680s. This was a time when the population was much smaller, and life was much different. Look closely at this image of a vaquero from the Autry Museum.