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 5th 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
