Black Cowboys of the Old West

True, Sensational, and Little-Known Stories from History

By: Tricia Martineau Wagner

Narrated by: Allyson Johnson

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. White men, as Hollywood remembers them. What is woefully missing from these scenes is their counterparts: the Black cowboys who made up one-fourth of the wranglers and rodeo riders. This book tells their story.

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. Some had experience working cattle from their time as slaves; others simply sought a freedom they had never known before. The lucky travelled on horseback; the rest, by foot. Over dirt roads they went from Alabama and South Carolina to present-day Texas and California up north through Kansas to Montana. The Old West was a land of opportunity for these adventurous wranglers and future rodeo champions.

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.

©2011 Tricia Martineau Wagner (P)2021 Tantor

powerful and shocking

the information in this book is nothing short of breath taking as I am introduced to the powerful and rugged black riders of the old north American west.

Exciting History!

I was thrilled to learn so much relevant US history. I never heard about this in school…even in college with African American history courses. I sm grateful to be linformed.

Thanks to the author for bringing light to these forgotten cowboys.

It’s important to remember the contributions of those overlooked and I’m happy to have learned about them.

Excellent!!

The cowboy identity, rugged individualism/ freedom, has largely been white. That's what American history taught me and thousands of other African American black men like myself. The book flips the script revealing that the cowboy fraternity was quite diverse and black cowboys were some of the best in history and setting the standard for what it means to be a true cowboy.

Such Great Cowboy History!

I absolutely loved this read! It was so great an expanded my knowledge on cowboys I already knew about and it also introduced me to new names that I am excited to research.