Black Cowboys Salute

Other than the fact that I am a Texan, I did learn a little bit about Black Cowboys growing. My cousin DD and I were in my late Great Uncle’s (grandfather’s brother-in-law) car after school discussing & laughing about the movie, Blazing Saddles. We learned quickly Cleavon Little’s portrayal of the sheriff made him upset. It was a “disgrace to the boots”. My great uncle grew in West Texas where he knew quite a few cowboys. His uncle was a Black Cowboy. So that began our occasional education about Black Cowboys. As I got older, away from my car education, I read some books about them and I’ve gone to a few Black rodeos.

The Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the "Negro Cavalry" by the Native American tribes they fought; the term eventually became synonymous with all of the African-American regiments formed in 1866. All of them didn’t stay in the service after the Civil War. Some did come West and served in the Army. Many of them settle West and became Cowboys.

The most famous of the Black Cowboys and Rodeo performers is Willie M. "Bill" Pickett also known as, Wild Bill Pickett. He left school in 5^th grade to work as a ranch hand. He learned to ride horses and steer longhorns. He invented the technique of bulldogging, the skill of grabbing cattle by the horns and wrestling them to the ground. It was known among cattlemen that, with the help of a trained bulldog, a stray steer could be caught. Pickett figured if a Dog could do it, well he could too. Pickett's method for bulldogging was biting a cow on the lip and then falling backward. Soon he became known for his tricks and stunts at local fairs. The name of Bill Pickett soon became synonymous with successful Rodeos. He did his bull-dogging act, traveling about in Texas, Arizona, Wyoming, and Oklahoma. He then became a popular performer who toured around the world and appeared in early motion pictures. Pickett was shown in a movie created by Richard E. Norman. Pickett's ethnicity resulted in him not being able to appear at many rodeos. He often was forced to claim that he was of Comanche Indian heritage to perform. In 1921, he appeared in the films The Bull-Dogger and The Crimson Skull. In 1932, after he retired from the Wild West Shows, Bill Pickett was killed when he was kicked in the head by a wild bronco. In 1971, he was inducted into the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. In 1989, years after being honored by the National Rodeo Hall of Fame, Pickett was inducted into the Pro-Rodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Gang of Roses is not as fictional as it seems. There were Black women in the “Wild, Wild” West. Most known is Stage Coach Mary. Mary Fields was a slave in Tennessee. After the Civil War, she made her way out West. She was the first African-American woman employed as a mail carrier in the United States, and just the second American woman to work for the United States Postal Service. Before her job with the Post Office, she was freed before slavery was outlawed in 1865. First working in the home of a Florida judge then after the judge’s wife she took the children to their aunt, Mother Mary Amadeus, the mother superior of an Ursuline convent in Toledo, Ohio. In 1884, Mother Amadeus was sent to Montana Territory to establish a school for Native American girls at St. Peter's Mission. Fields stood 6 ft. tall and weighed about 200 lbs. liked to smoke cigars, and was once said to be as "black as a burnt-over prairie black." She usually had a pistol strapped under her apron and a jug of whiskey by her side The Native Americans called Fields "White Crow" because "she acts like a white woman but has black skin." Local whites did not know what to make of her. In 1894, after several complaints and an incident with a disgruntled male subordinate that involved gunplay, the bishop ordered her to leave the convent. With help of Mother Amadeus, she opened a restaurant. Fields would serve food to anyone, whether they could pay or not, and the restaurant went broke in about ten months. In 1895, she was hired as a mail carrier because she was the fastest applicant to hitch a team of six horses. She never missed a day, and her reliability earned her the nickname "Stagecoach." Mary Fields died of liver failure in 1914. In the 1976 TV documentary South by Northwest, "Homesteaders", Fields was played by Esther Rolle, in the 1996 TV movie The Cherokee Kid, Fields was played by Dawnn Lewis, and in the 2012 TV movie Hannah's Law she was played by Kimberly Elise.

Cowboys including Black Cowboys are not a thing of the past. They are featured in many rodeos across the country. A hot name to know is Jason Griffin. I learned about him during a #BlerdChat on Twitter a few weeks ago. You can read about him Here. You’ll also learn about an Augusta State University history professor named Michael Searles, who preserves Black Cowboy with a lecture that brings black cowboys to life. Even wears clothing of the cowboy.

So I salute the Black Cowboys. Modern cowboys and movies like Posse, Buck, and Preacher and I will keep would you and your way of life alive.  All your names may not be known but we know you lived.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms