The Black History of Cowboys and Cowboy Music

A story about the true origins of the American cowboy as we know it today

We all know Black people have created or significantly contributed to many, if not most major American music genres. Genres such as:

Blues.

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Jazz.

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Rock and roll.

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Soul.

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Funk.

*Bootsy and his older brother, the guitarist Catfish Collins, back James Brown, The Godfather.*

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Cowboy music.

*Legendary Black cowboy,* *George McJunkin*.

Wait, cowboy music?

Yes, you read that right! It's time for a quick Black Music Project history lesson.

The origins of the term cowboy

After the Civil War, thousands of formerly enslaved people headed west, lured by the opportunity for freedom, regular wages, and to escape the social restrictions of the South. Because many of them had experience working cattle on plantations, the work of a cowboy was a natural fit. The terms cowboy and cowhand have a fascinating but racially tinged history. Originally, cowhand was a designation given only to whites. Cowboys was a term solely used for Blacks.

Why the distinction?

*(l) A "cowhand", (r) a "cowboy" — what's the difference?*

The word boy had a derisive undertone that maintained the racial codes of the day and reinforced white supremacy as it referred to all African-American males, regardless of their age. So yes, the word cowboy, which today is a symbol of masculinity and strength and is so associated with America that its most profitable sports franchise appropriated the term, was originally a racist put-down for Black men working in the West.

*Union Soldiers of the 4th United States Colored Troops, circa 1864.*

While segregated work crews were common, Black cowboys often worked alongside whites, indigenous Americans, and Mexican vaqueros. The dangerous nature of the work meant these men had to trust each other for their safety. Cowboys sang songs around the campfire to entertain themselves, but also to calm their cattle. Cattle stampedes were costly financially and physically, and there is truth to the old adage that music soothes the savage beast.

*An integrated cowboy crew at mealtime in Texas in the 1890s.*

*Tom Lea’s mural, 1940 “Stampede.” Learning to trust one another regardless of race was key to avoiding the man's fate depicted in this painting.*

*Ute Dick Charlie and Black cowboy John Taylor.*

Cowboys were never a homogenous group, some "cowboys" weren't boys at all

Historians today estimate that about one in four cowboys were African-American. Another interesting yet overlooked aspect of cowboy history is that some cowboys were actually cowgirls. Names like Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane, and Belle Starr are fairly well known, but did you know that there were also many African-American female cowhands and settlers in the Old West? Mary Fields, aka Stagecoach Mary, Bridget “Biddy” Mason, and Cathay Williams were just a few of the Black women that helped settle the Old West.

*African-American cowgirl, Nellie Brown.*

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Cowboy music’s mixed racial heritage

*John Lomax’s book Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads was published in 1910.*

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We know much of the Black history of cowboy songs because they were recorded for posterity by musicologist and folklorist John A. Lomax, who wrote about them in his book Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads published in 1910.

Because cowboy songs were part of an oral tradition, it’s impossible to say who wrote a particular piece. Many versions of the same song might exist, with each cowboy or cowboy crew adding its own spin.

One thing we do know from John Lomax’s son Alan is that the version we know of “Home on the Range”, perhaps the most famous cowboy song of all time, is from Black cowboys.

He wrote in the liner notes to his 1999 album Deep River of Song: Black Texicans: Balladeers and Songsters of the Texas Frontier:

The cries and songs on this record are perhaps the most direct evidence we have of black participation in the cowboy song tradition, although it seems unquestionable that this participation was rich and important. My father recalled a black bartender in San Antonio who sang “Home on the Range” into his little cylinder recorder in 1908, and it was this black variant, not any of its predecessors, that became our national western hymn.

Dom Flemons performs “Home on the Range” as it was sung by an ex-Buffalo Soldier for John Lomax in the early 20th century. The video starts at 9:17. This song was included on his 2019 album Black Cowboys.

*Alan Lomax's collection* *Deep River of Song: Black Texicans: Balladeers and Songsters of the Texas Frontier*

How the West was really won and how its true story was lost

America is a relatively young country searching to define just what it is and who matters in shaping its identity. The western settlement stood completed just as the forces of American media were coming to full power in the early and mid-20th century. Newspapers, pulp fiction novels, radio shows, and most importantly, Hollywood reinforced the social mores and conventions of the era, meaning prejudice, misogyny, and racism were baked into the myth-making. The white males in charge of creating those myths made sure to focus on the heroics of their tales to the exclusion or downright debasement of all others.

*The prototypical look of Hollywood cowboys.*

*Roy Rogers is Hollywood’s most famous singing cowboy.*

The history of Black music is the story of America

The African-American origins of cowboys and cowboy music are just another example of a whitewashed history that seriously needs a more inclusive paint job. Why is it important to know about the history of Black cowboy music? As history professor Michael Searles at Augusta State University in Georgia said in an interview with NPR in 2010:

Many people see the West as the birthplace of America. If they only see it as the birthplace of white America, it means basically that all other people are interlopers — they're not part of the core of what makes an American. But if they understand that African-Americans were cowboys, even Native Americans were cowboys, Mexicans were cowboys, then it really opens the door for us to think about America as a multiethnic, multiracial place. Not just in the last decade or century, but from the very beginning.

*Native American and African-American cowboys circa 1870.*

*Mexican vaqueros* *drove cattle between New Mexico and Mexico City and later between Texas and Mexico City.*

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Home on the range? Or was it "homeboy on the range?"

*Black cowboys of the Old West — until recently, Hollywood largely ignored their stories.*

An illustration of cowboys at home on the range — but these are made up of African Americans, a Mexican, and a Native American (and one of the "cowboys" is a "cowgirl"). — *Home on the Range artwork by Black Music Project founder Christopher Fuller. Please visit our* *store* *if you want this or other BMP original artwork, such as posters or apparel*. It also helps to support our mission of showing that the history of Black music is the story of America.

The history of cowboys and their multiracial musical heritage is another prime example of why we created the Black Music Project, to show that Black music is the story of America. Please watch our TikTok version of this exhibit too!

How to support The Black Music Project

To learn more about African-American music’s importance to US and world culture, please explore our other exhibits from our 2023 Webby Award Honoree for Educational and Mobile Sites website.

If you believe in the mission of the Black Music Project and want to help us reach more people, please consider supporting us by purchasing some of our exclusive merch inspired by the music you love (you can receive 12% off everything during Black History Month 2024 using the code BHM2024) or making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas.