The word cowboy conjures up vivid images of rugged men on saddled horses--men lassoing cattle, riding bulls, or brandishing guns in a shoot-out.
A long overdue testament to the courage and skill of Black cowboys, Black Cowboys of the Old West finally gives these courageous men their rightful place in history..
The Old West was a land of opportunity for these adventurous wranglers and future rodeo champions.
Over dirt roads they went from Alabama and South Carolina to present-day Texas and California up north through Kansas to Montana.
The lucky travelled on horseback; the rest, by foot.
Some had experience working cattle from their time as slaves; others simply sought a freedom they had never known before.
When the Civil War ended, Black men left the Old South in large numbers to seek a living in the Old West--industrious men resolved to carve out a life for themselves on the wild, roaming plains.
This book tells their story.
What is woefully missing from these scenes is their counterparts: the Black Cowboys who made up one-fourth of the wranglers and rodeo riders.
White men, as Hollywood remembers them.
The word cowboy conjures up vivid images of rugged men on saddled horses--men lassoing cattle, riding bulls, or brandishing guns in a shoot-out
