Black men were called Cowboy because Black men were called boy. Whites were called Cattlemen until the term Cowboy became popular. All of a sudden they were the Cowboys.
A significant amount of cowboys were black, with some estimates giving figures as high as 25% nationwide for those on trail drives.
Typically former slaves or children of former slaves, many black men had skills in cattle handling and headed West at the end of the Civil War.
Some estimates suggest that in the late 19th century, one out of every three cowboys was a Mexican vaquero, and 20% may have been African-American. Other estimates place the number of African-American cowboys as high as 25 percent.
A significant number of African American freedmen also were drawn to cowboy life, in part because there was not quite as much racial discrimination in the West as in other areas of American society at the time.
However, regar…
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