Most people think of Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, or The Lone Ranger when it comes to cowboys. Although, if you’re reading this magazine, you’re probably thinking about John Marston, Arthur Morgan, or John Cooper – from Red Dead Redemption and Desperados, respectively. These figures are the classic image of a cowboy; rugged, no-nonsense, and self-sufficient. But, notably, they’re all white, which is at odds with the reality of cowboys. The term ‘cowboy’ was originally an insult for black ranch workers, and later, it came to describe anyone who rode or robbed their way across the wild west. This origin shows how widespread black cowboys were. According to the Smithsonian Institute, at least one in four cowboys were black (and more were mixed-race or South American ‘vaqueros’).
However, while historians know…
