Mexican cowboys

Vaqueros: America's First Cowmen
by Martin W. Sandler


Almost everything a cowboy does, the clothing he wears, the equipment he uses, and the words that he speaks come directly from the vaqueros of Mexico. The vaqueros used their riding and roping skills to tend to the cattle first brought to Hispaniola by Christopher Columbus. When cattle were later introduced to the southwest United States, it was the vaqueros who taught the American cowboys everything they knew.

This book offers an enlightening glimpse at a people whom history has too long ignored.