The African-American Cowboys
Isom Dart, born a slave became a cowboy who owned his own ranch.
Photo from The Cowboy Encyclopedia, Slatta.
In the cattle drives from the 1860’s to the 1890’s there are estimates that the drives consisted of 63% whites, 25% African-Americans, and 12% Mexican or Mexican-Americans. These numbers are saying that 1 in 4 cowboys on the famous cattle drives from Texas, north to Dodge City, Ogallala, Wyoming, or Montana were black cowboys. The African-American former slaves were great cowboys, and the big advantage to being employed as a cowboy was that the wages for the African-American, and white cowboy were usually the same. Being a cowboy for a former slave really would have been an overwhelming experience of freedom, being on the open plains, working for an honest wage, and feeling the freedom of riding your horse anywhere you choose.
Nat Love, shown here in his "fighting clothes."
Photo from The Cowboy Encyclopedia, Slatta.