The True American Cowboy Essay Example For Students

The True American Cowboy Essay The True American CowboyAs the twentieth century approached, America was experiencing a time of considerable expansion. All eyes were looking for ways to make the United States a larger, more powerful, and more efficient country. Because of this wave in American society, there was no movement given more devotion than the settling of the West. The range-cattle industry in its various aspects, and in its importance to the United States and particularly to the Great Plains, has been a subject of focus to Americans since its origin in the mid 1800s. This industry was rendered possible by such factors as vast sections of fertile land, the rise of heavy industry involving the great demand for beef, and projected commercial tributaries, such as railroad lines across the frontier. The West was turning toward the future A future that held industrial promises of high monetary rewards as well as a valuable addition to a growing America. However, like any other industry, the West needed a labor force. Workers with special skills and qualities were necessary to support a booming new frontier. Previously untaught skills such as riding, roping, and branding could not simply be acquired by the average American. Athletic, rugged men were needed to settle the West. However, these men also needed inborn courage and quick thinking to utilize these skills effectively. The general public, however, under the influence of decades of Western movies and television shows have created an imagery of these men of the west or cowboys that is extremely inaccurate. American society has come to regard these settlers as the purest and noblest Anglo-Saxons. In reality, a great portion of the work contributed towards the settling of the western frontier was performed by minorities, largely consisting of African Americans. Kenneth W. Porter has devoted his life to researching the truths about African-Americans in the West. He chronicles his findings in his book, The Negro on the American Frontier. Porter proves that the role of the black man during the settling of the of the land west of the Mississippi River that stretched from the Rio Grande to the Canadian border was crucial not only to the cattle industry, but to the entire country. In his findings, Porter reveals that the West was one of Americas first non-segregated territories, both physically and morally. This integration was a crucial step towards physical productivity as well as social productivity. During the great expansion of the West between 1866-1900 it is authoritatively estimated by General George W. Saunders of the Texas Trail Drivers Association that of the 50,000-75,000 cowboys who helped to created the West, 25 percent were black (Porter, 1971). However, to merely state that there were 13,000-19,000 Black cowboys is inaccurate simply because the American definition of a cowboy has become distorted. To understand the role of the blacks in the West, one must first comprehend what the cattle-industry workers or cowboys truly did. To move a herd of cattle men do not simply jump on horses and scream and hit until the herd moves. Contrary to common thought, there was a very systematic hierarchy of jobs involved in being a frontiersman. The group together was referred to as the trail herd outfit. This outfit usually consisted of about a dozed men, each with an individual responsibility. As in any group, there was a leader, second in command, and then three levels of workers. Negroes occupied all positions of the cattle-industry employees, from the usually low wrangler through ordinary hand to top hand and lofty cook. However, it would never be tolerated to give the distinguished honor of ranch or trail boss to a man with colored skin. Although the Black cowboys seem to have been treated much more fairly than their relatives in other regions of the country, it must be understood that at this point in history the United States was rebounding from a traumatic Civil War. This left a bitter taste in the mouth of many Americans and hostile feelings towards Negroes were still inundating the country. These conflicts could be seen the West. These feelings were simply blurred by the other hardships that accompanied the settling of the new frontier. African-American men were not simply handed important jobs out of pity, they were there for a reason. While, there were plenty of white men willing to work for the same extremely low wages, the hostile attitudes held by whites were generally overlooked in compensation for the more than adequate work performed by blacks. Black cowboys, whether on ranch or trail, were generally regarded as good workers, who got along well with others and who took pride in their work. One white Texan, a former cowboy and rancher, even went so far as to say, There was no better cowman on Earth than the Negro (Porter, 1971). Endangered species 3 EssayThe black cowboys life was hard, tedious, and lonely with very few luxuries. Despite these hardships, the African-American frontiersmen lived a somewhat dignified life. They were not burdened with the constraints placed upon many other blacks throughout the country. This was especially crucial to those who were previously living in the South and trying to survive as sharecroppers during the enactment of the Jim Crow laws. Instead of remaining prone to harsh treatment, they worked on the ranches, herding and branding cattle. The real cowboys were black, white, brown, and red. They ate together, did the same jobs, spent weeks with each other, and shared the same dangers. Together cowboys rode out of Texas along many notorious trails, such as the Chisholm, Western, and Goodnight-Loving trails that went northward towards Kansas, the Dakotas, Colorado, and Wyoming. Many of these rugged outdoorsmen were killed in stampedes, frozen to death, exhausted from the he at, or even drowned. Some remained on the northern plains, while some migrated back South, and some, like Nat Love, ended up somewhere in the middle (Porter, 1971). Unfortunately, today the true history of the West has become a nothing more than a myth. History was replaced by fiction, and these falsehoods are perceived by todays society as facts. The true American cowboy, white or black, no longer exists in the minds of Americans.It is only as one delves deeper into the facts that the unperceived truth arises. The success of settling the West can be contributed to men such as Nat Love, but one can certainly not omit the hardworking cowboys who did not live such a glamorous life. The Negro cowboys of this era played a crucial role in facilitating any work on Americas new frontier. The Black cowboys were essential to the United States during the late 1800s, in a time when any Negro needed great perseverance against prejudice. For their valiant efforts the Black cowboys should be give n great honor and prestige. Bibliography:Love, Nat, The Life and Adventures of Nat Love, Better Known in the Cattle Country asDead Wood Dick, New York; Arno Press, 1968. Porter, Kenneth W., The Negro on the American Frontier, New York; Arno Press, 1971.