![]() ![]() Black cowboys were taught the cowboy way of life by vaqueros, who were Mexican or Spanish cowboys, their former slave masters, or Native American cattle handlers. While they were enslaved many African Americans had acquired skills that were useful for the cattle industry. Being a cowboy was one of the few ways African American men and some women were able to obtain autonomy and freedom in ways typically unheard of during the 19 th century.Īfter the Civil War ended in 1865 many African Americans migrated to the West or became free people in the West. ![]() Since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s historians and other scholars have inquired more about the integral role African Americans played in the settlement and development of the West. ![]() Oftentimes popular films and literature that depict the Wild West fail to convey the diverse nature of the Western Frontier. Did you know that 1 out of every 4 cowboys was Black? Historians now estimate that between 20 to 25% of cowboys in the American West were African American. ![]()
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