Black Cowboys in Texas

Chair

Henry B. Crawford

Retired Texas Tech University Museum

Presenter

Katherine Nelson Hall

Retired Witte Museum Texas Heritage Curator

Uncovering and Sharing Stories of Black Cowboys of Texas

The Witte Museum Exhibition Black Cowboys: An American Story explored the lives and work of numerous Black men, women and children-enslaved and free-who labored on the ranches of Texas and participated in cattle drives from before the Civil War through the turn of the twentieth century. Also featured were Black Cowboys who came after them who had transitioned into successful performers in Wild West Shows, Rodeos, and the Silver Screen.

This presentation will focus on telling the stories of Black Cowboys of Texas from a museum and curatorial perspective. Artifacts and archival records of individuals and families, and material culture representative of Cowboy Life, will be interpreted by displaying artifacts used by the participants, if available or similar examples to what would have used. Applying both traditional research methodology and unconventional strategies to expose key primary source material will be discussed. Family Archives, Genealogy, Descendent Outreach and underused Repositories often reveal illusive facts and hidden histories. All of these tools will enable the creation of more authentic and compelling narratives about Black Cowboys and their families from the 1830s to the present day.

Presenter

Bruce Shackleford

Retired Witte Museum

Big Country Black Cowboys

Big Country Black Cowboys: From 1850 to 1890 the area called the Big Country in Texas was one of the most violent in north America. Out of the violence came important ranching operations and cowboys that became legendary. The presentation examines the history of black cowboys in and around the 12 Texas counties historically called the “Big Country”. The opening of the Big Country to large open range ranching will be discussed and with that the arrival of Black Cowboys to work on the livestock operations after the Civil War and into the 20th century. The presentation will discuss 5 well known cowboys from the area and 2 from further afield. Pre-1850 frontiersman and scout Jim Ned will be briefly discussed as well as the Hash Knife Ranch which are the lands Abilene, Texas was founded on.

Presenter

Ronald W. Davis II, Ph.D.

Texas State University

“He waked us up ‘bout four in the mornin’ to milk the cows and feed them hawgs…,” From Cowboys to Butter Churners, Enslaved Labor on Texas Plantations and Ranches

During the Cattle Drive era of Post-Reconstruction Texas, at least 35,000 cowboys participated in long-distance cattle drives. Approximately twenty-five percent were Black. Many of the early Black cowboys learned their skills while enslaved. This paper explores the labor enslaved people performed in Texas beyond their work with cash crops, such as cotton, sugar, and rice. Instead, “From Cowboys to Butter Churners” examines the labor enslaved people performed with livestock and animal by-products. It will demonstrate that enslaved people managed, tended, and cared for livestock. They milked cows, churned butter, slaughtered animals, smoked and cured meat, tanned hides, made shoes, and were cowboys. Due to these additional labors, many enslaved people described working from before the sun rose until after it set. “From Cowboys to Butter Churners” will demonstrate that enslaved people were expert livestock managers who produced everything needed on many plantations.