Por Vida

― Anne Sexton, Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait in Letters

The African American Cowboy~

By the 1870s and 1880s, it is believed around 25 per cent of the 35,000 cowboys in the Old West were black

Despite their skills with cattle and horses, black ranch hands still faced discrimination. They got all the worst jobs, rode the lamest and the most temperamental horses, while also being banned from brothels. It was also the black cowboy who broke the horses and herded the cattle across the rivers.

However the cow handling industry generally treated black men similarly to white men in terms of pay and responsibilities. Black and white men shared sleeping quarters and even blankets.

Discrimination persisted, though to a lesser extent than in other places in America of the time. Whereas saloons in the Wild West were typically segregated, whites and blacks could meet in the middle, although restaurants were socially regulated.

Meanwhile black men were banned outright from brothels, but welcome in gambling halls.

There were also black women cowboys, though their numbers are unknown, as income was provided to a common household rather than to individual women.