The myth of Hollywood
John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and many others have become the iconic face of the cowboy as portrayed by Hollywood since the 1940s. The famous Western films have their origins much earlier, dating back to the late 19th century with the 1899 film Kidnapping by Indians, for example. This marked the beginning of a legend printed in images, recounting the encounter between natives and settlers and the territorial battles that followed. The golden age of Westerns lasted from 1940 to 1950, with iconic films such as Robert Aldrich's Bronco Apache and Sam Peckinpah'sRide the High Country, followed later by Howard Hughes' TheOutlaw. What they have in common is their protagonist: usually a wandering nomad, a white male who rides a horse armed with a Colt and/or Winchester. These male characters usually wear wide-brimmed Stetson hats, scarves, vests and cowboy boots with spurs. Their number-one enemy: the Indians; always identified as a "plural" character, an enemy with a subjectivity erased by its generalizing identification, provoking tension between entire tribes against a single, solitary, mystical man: the cowboy. And so it is that cinema has never shied away from amplifying the dream, at the risk of portraying cowboys, Indians and life in general in a slightly - or even very distorted - light. The media coverage of this myth has probably put a veil over the difficult, complicated and disputed history of the formation of the United States. The complicated history of Texas offers a more nuanced answer. What's more, it's a state that, even today, prides itself on its individualistic, liberal culture: characteristics that are at the heart of the mythical character of the cowboy, left to his own devices in a wild, lawless world. The neighboring state of New Mexico, by contrast, is steeped in the history of the First Nations peoples.
The Vaqueros
Texas didn't join the United States until 1845. Texas has been a predominantly English-speaking territory for less than 200 years, before which it was a disputed territory between French and Spanish colonies, then briefly belonging to Mexico with a short period of independence. Texas has spent much of its history as a Hispanic territory, and that's where it all begins. In fact, cowboys were originally called vaqueros, from the Spanish word vaca, meaning cow, in reference to the herds of cows they tended. Cowboys are in fact simply herdsmen, and their English name reflects this. And in Hispanic traditions, the shepherd guards his herd on horseback, often with a lasso. If we go back even further, this same tradition is partly influenced by the Arab culture of nomadic shepherds. So, historically, the Spanish vaqueros form the oldest cowboy culture in the region that crosses Texas and northern Mexico, extending as far as Louisiana. Their famous hats provided shade from the endless hours under the blazing sun, and their songs were sung on lonely nights walking their herds across wild, isolated plains. The first horses to mark the advent of cowboys were mustangs, imported by the Spanish to Mexico in the 16th century, and later to the Santa Fe region of New Mexico. During the pueblo revolts, many mustangs escaped and returned to the wild. Today, in northern Mexico, there remains a great tradition of horse training and a genuine vaquero culture.
Cattle drives, those long transhumance rides on horseback during which cowboys moved cattle from one place to another, also originated in Mexico. This was a major source of economic income for the south-western regions of the USA, and some cattle trails are still well known, such as the Goodnight-Loving Trail, opened in 1866 by Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving and linking Texas to Wyoming via New Mexico, or the Chisholm Trail, which went as far as Kansas.
Finally, it's important to note that much of the terminology associated with cowboy culture is of Hispanic origin, with words like " rodeo", which comes from the Spanish verb " rodear " and primarily means to corral cattle, or ranch from the word " rancho".
True cowboy culture
In addition to the vaqueros and cowboys who roamed the wild plains of the Far West on horseback, the Indians, or Native Americans, were also formidable horsemen. The famous Comanche legend tells of their ability to hide under their horses at full gallop, and to fire their arrows with great and dangerous precision. There was also a large population of African-American cowboys, too often forgotten, who still persist today. In fact, since a third of the Texan population was made up of black slaves, African-Americans made up the majority of cowboys in the 19th century. According to J. Marvin Hunter's book The Trail Drivers of Texas, one in three cowboys was African-American or Hispanic, contrary to Hollywood legends...
Cowboys established rodeo culture, for example with the famous Bill Pickett, a great star who in 1972 was honored by the National Rodeo Hall of Fame, also African-American. Rodeos originated in the Hispanic cultures of Mexico, becoming a competitive sport inspired by the tasks involved in raising cows, including catching the moving animal with a lasso. In the late 19th century, rodeos became public entertainment, with shows featuring the likes of Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley and other stars. Cowboys invented yet other sources of entertainment, now popular worldwide, such as country western music. The same link between music and the solitary life of shepherds can be found elsewhere in the world, probably linked to the need for entertainment on long, isolated journeys. This musical genre is related to the old English, Irish and Scottish ballads, as well as to the Mexican folk music of northern Mexico. The laments are sung around a fire under a starry sky with a guitar or harmonica, easy to carry. One of the best-known is the song Streets of Laredo, referring to the town in Texas.
Gastronomy is also linked to the nomadic cowboy lifestyle, with the famous chili con carne, for example, which retains its Spanish name, invented in San Antonio, Texas. Essentially a stew containing chillies and ranchero beans, or beans typical of the region, to which you can add whatever you have on hand, and preserve it for several days. Finally, we can't forget the iconic cowboy fashion! With their Stetson hats, which are, in fact, the evolution of Mexican hats called sombreros, or their beautiful leather boots, the most popular of which are the casey boots.
The Legend of Billy the Kid
You've probably heard his name, perhaps from the comic strip Lucky Luke. This outlaw was wanted everywhere by posters crossed out with the word " wanted ". He made his name by being featured in articles in New York and New Mexico, where he was described as a terrible murderer. He was put in prison for murder, from which he escaped, killing two sheriffs, then managed to hide for several months. Until he was finally murdered in his turn, at the age of 21, in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in 1881. Today, you can see his grave there. For decades after his death, legends developed that Billy the Kid had survived, and a number of men impersonated him. Billy the Kid remains one of the most famous figures of his time, whose story has been frequently dramatized in over fifty films and several TV series. The book that tells the story of his life is The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, written in 1882 by the outlaw himself.
Cowboys today
At first glance, you might say that only one thing remains of cowboys today, and that's probably the way they dress. You'll probably see a lot of people walking around in cowboy boots and wide-brimmed hats, but they've probably never ridden a horse in their lives. That said, a certain "cowboy soul" persists to this day, referring to a form of freedom, that of the solitary, pensive person who loves the wilderness, the simple life, Tex-Mex from the bottom of his heart, and knows his repertoire of Western songs by heart. The disappearance of cowboys as we know them began when cattle drives came to an end at the turn of the 20th century. The railroad became a more important mode of transportation, barbed wire was adopted, preventing transhumance, and natives were parked on reservations, reducing the need for cowboys on ranches. Many cowboys went through a difficult transition period. Today, the closest you'll get to an old-fashioned cowboy is probably at a rodeo. Visit the Fort Worth Stock and Rodeo Show in Fort Worth, the cowboy capital of the world!
