The American Cowboy

1. The American Cowboy • As we discuss, choose the appropriate column for your notes… • Other Facts/Details • Negative aspects of life • Positive aspects of life • Cowboys effects on Native Americans • Next to your “cowboy” give a purpose for his major form of attire

2. Cowboys… fact vs. fiction The lariat is another name for a rope or LASSO! FICTION: According to the old western movies and novels, the cowboy was a hero of the dangerous and wild American west. He quarreled with Indians, law, and whatever else might hinder him on his way. FACT: In reality, however, cowboy life was dreary and difficult. Most cowboys were uneducated men who worked hard for little pay. Their job was to take care of the cattle - which included, herding, rounding, branding, and driving. And even these daily labor challenges were multiplied in difficulty by Mother Nature’s lack of mercy. Contrary to legend, the typical cowboy was not a skilled marksman. The lariat, not the gun, was how the cattle drover showed his mastery.

3. Cowboys and Exploration...? Cattle, as well as horses, were first brought over to the United States from Spain. Christopher Columbus brought cattle on his second voyage west in 1494. These cattle would produce the Spanish fighting bull and the famous Texas Longhorns. The conditions in North America proved favorable for both horses and cattle. The cattle soon spread from New Spain (Mexico) to the United States. Explorers transported the cattle north during their quest for cities of gold. After many Spanish explorers failed to discover cities of gold, they returned to Mexico to make profit from raising cattle. BUT WHO WAS HERE FIRST????

4. US Government vs. Indians Native Americans and the US Government never really got along… vs. Pontiac and Tecumseh both tried to unite the Native American against the American Government taking Native lands. By 1840 the US government and Native Americans had made over 200 treaties, most of which were broken because of cattle ranching and mining.

5. The First Cowboys The first cowboy was MEXICAN, or a vaquero. Originally, the vaquero was regarded as a low-class position. Poorer members of the community, such as, Indians, Blacks, and native Spaniards took on the vaquero position. The work was hard and the pay was low, but these vaqueros provided the influence and inspiration of the American cowboy, in both dress and dialect. The typical COWBOY wore a hat with a wide brim to provide protection from the unforgiving sunlight.

6. Real American Cowboys The word cowboy refers to the men who drove herds of cattle from ranchland in Texas over hundreds of miles of rough and dangerous terrain to the stockyards in the North, a trip taking two to three months. CHAPS, or leggings and high boots were worn as protection from briars and cactus needles. .. Cowboy boots were not made for walking. The boot was designed the boot to allow for easy insertion and removal of the foot into the stirrup of the saddle, the toe was rounded and a bit narrowed to make it easier to insert.

7. The Cowboy Crew A typical crew consisted of a foreman(or boss), eight cowboys, a wrangler, and a cook. Cook The cook usually earned more than the cowboys. He traveled about a mile ahead of the rest of the outfit with no security. He was in charge of finding camp, preparing breakfast at three in the morning, lunch at noon, and dinner no later than midnight. Often times the cook would take on all the other odd jobs that might come their way such as: tailor, doctor, veterinarian, etc. Cowboys They were paid from $20 to $40 a month. Their job was to work the herd. There were three different positions among the cowboys: the front, most experienced cowboy, or the Segundo; on each side of the herd were the swings; behind the swings were the flanks; last were the drag riders, who were the worst. Wrangler The wrangler was usually the youngest of the outfit. His job was taking care of the horses. Each cowboy had three or four horses that he took with him on the drive. The wrangler was in charge of feeding, saddling, tying up the horses, and herding them forward during the day. The Foreman He was in charge of putting the outfit together and all the men and equipment (including animals). His pay would be around $125 a month, a pretty good sum of money in those days. He rode at the point, or with the leaders of the herd, ahead of everyone but the cook.

8. The Cowboy Gun Don’t mess with Josie Wells…who is NOT a good representation of a REAL Cowboy. Very few Cowboys carried guns because they were too heavy…but often times the Cook would be the only member of the “Cowboy Crew” with a gun to protect himself from “everything” since he tended to ride ahead of the pack! Cattle kicked up clouds of dust on the drive, so the cowboy donned a bandanna over the lower half of his face. The most popular gun used by cowboys was the Colt Peace Maker (aka Colt 45), a deadly revolver capable of carrying six shots (SIX SHOOTER). It was a single action gun that required the shooter to cock the hammer before pulling the trigger to fire. The length of the gun barrel was eight inches and bullets were 45 caliber which could kill with one shot

9. Texas Cowboys After the Civil War approximately 1/3 of all American cowboys in the were African American, Native American, or Mexican. Becoming a cowboy was only appealing, or maybe even necessary, for those of the lower social class. Cowboys only made about a dollar a day plus food and a bed in a bunkhouse. By 1830 around 100,000 cattle roamed Texas. But by 1860 over 3.5 million cattle roamed the Texas plains. The Civil War brought the cattle driving to a halt, and as a result, the thousands of cattle in Texas produced more unbranded cattle.

10. Cowboys, Indians, and the Railroad 5:12, 14:22 Treaties were made with Indian tribes out West that allowed the transcontinental railroad construction to begin, which gave pioneers a way to move westward more easily. This lead to the depletion of the buffalo and deforestation. These actions caused a great amount of environmental damage which caused the Native Americans to suffer. BUFFALO were a much needed resource for the Indian population to survive. All parts of the buffalo were used by the Indians for tools, food, clothing, tepees, warm rugs, and making hunting weapons. (They were almost extinct in the beginning of the 20th Century) Trees were also used to make railroad ties and bridges for trains to pass over.

11. Branding Before the days of barbed wire, the range was a wide open expanse of grassland shared by all the ranchers. As a result, cattle from different ranches were mixed. Branding was important for marking which cow belonged to which ranch. Each spring all the ranchers would work together on the spring roundup. The cattle belonging to each ranch would be sorted out and the young calves, which had no brand would be marked with the same brand as their mothers. Each rancher had a specific brand for his cattle and this brand was not allowed to be used by anyone else. The unique brands helped prevent rustles from stealing cattle.

12. Cattle Market Texas had a LOT of cattle; however, it was not a good market to sell cattle. The cattle in Texas sold for ONLY $4 dollars EACH!!! In other places, like in the eastern and northern United States, cattle sold for $40 dollars each…where would you sell your cattle? A market is a situation in which people buy and sell goods. In a market, producers find buyers for their goods, and consumers find goods to buy.

13. Cattle Drive Cattle Drive is the process of moving a herd of cattle from one place to another, usually moved and herded by cowboys on horses. There were many trails used by the cowboys to head north: The Western, the Chisholm, the Shawnee, and the Goodnight-Loving trail. Although they had no compass, each outfit carefully made it to the railheads in Kansas.

14. Cattle Drive In order to sell their cattle for the best price, Cowboys used the LONG DRIVE to move their cattle north towards railheads. This is where the cattle were loaded onto the train. Cattle drives took weeks or months to finish and roughly 25 miles a day. They followed trails that took the cattle near water and grass to keep them nourished…no one wants a skinny cow  Railhead-a town where railroad tracks begin or end.

15. Cattle Drive During the Cattle Drive, life was lonesome for the cowboy. The plains were huge and the company was small. Entertainment became a critical part of life for all cowboys. Cowboy songs and poems were created and performed for the cattle at night and during the day. Cow towns were established like Dodge City and Abilene, where they catered to the cowboy’s needs by providing hotels, saloons, and places to park their horses and cattle.

16. The Horse A cowboy used three or four horses for roundups and drives, were kept “wild” for the first two or three years of their lives then tamed by a bronco buster.* The horse was an important figure to the cowboy. On lonely days of driving cattle, it was usually just the cowboy and the horse. On drives a cowboy would take three to four horses with him, and at the end of the drive the cowboy would sell the horse. *The rodeo developed from this tradition.

17. Difficulties of the Job The animals have a hard time leaving home. So many of them would try to break away and head back to the home ranch. The sun beat down on the their faces, cracking their lips. If it was too hot, both men and animals would collapse Water would sometimes be hard to find…. and dust flew everywhere. (enter WINDMILLS) Night also brought dangers to the herd and the cowboys. The boys would take turns watching the herd to make sure nothing and no one attacked. Mother Nature also brought problems for the cowmen. Heavy storms, twisters, and hail could send the herd into a sudden stampede.

18. Difficulties of the Job But their biggest priority was keeping the herd calm in order to prevent a stampede. Stampedes brought danger to the herds and to the cowboys themselves. Anything at night could spook the herd and start a stampede. Often the cowboys would sing lullabies to the herd to keep them calm.

19. Cowboys and Indians The movies exaggerate the relationships of the cowboy and the Indian. Cowboy’s hardly ever carried a gun on the drive. It was too heavy and annoying to carry for a long days work. Often the guns would be left with the cook on the chuckwagon. Crossing into Indian Territory did become an issue for the cowboys though. Indians did not like cowboy’s using their grass or parking their cattle on their land. Most of the time the dispute was settled when the boss paid a toll each head. This toll could be from ten cents to a dollar.

20. End of the Cattle Drive Cattle drives lasted for about 20 years. They began in the 1860’s and ended in the 1880’s. They ended for 4 reasons: 1. The invention of Barbed Wire-a twisted wire with a sharp barb, or point, every few inches. 2. The growth of railroads-built in 1870 in Texas 3. Too many cattle grazed on crowded ranges-there was not enough grass for all the cattle 4. Cold Temperatures during 1886-1887-freezing weather killed thousands of cattle

21. Is this different from cowboy movies and country music? Indian Outlaw John Wayne Like a Cowboy