Been Country.

Beyoncé's old looks.

"...the first cowboys lived in Mexico and the Caribbean, and most of them were Black. That’s the conclusion of a recent analysis of DNA from 400-year-old cow bones excavated on the island of Hispaniola and at sites in Mexico. The work, published in Scientific Reports, also provides evidence that African cattle made it to the Americas at least a century earlier than historians realized. The timing of these African imports—to the early 1600s—suggests the growth of cattle herds may have been connected to the slave trade, says study author Nicolas Delsol, an archaeozoologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History. “It changes the whole perspective on the mythical figure of the cowboy, which has been whitewashed over the 20th century.”

x

Delta Hill Riders 

Black American Cowboys and Cowgirls of the Mississippi Delta photographed by Rory Doyle.

“Being a Delta Hill Rider is like being a member of a biker club. They have been riding horses for generations, and they take great pride in passing down the skills – riding, grooming, competing – from one generation to the next. The riders go to R&B clubs dressed as cowboys and the DJ will play cowboy songs and zydeco music. To begin with, I had very minimal knowledge of the deep history of Black cowboys.” (x)

“It's estimated that just after the Civil War, one in four cowboys were Black American. Yet this population was drastically underrepresented in popular accounts, and it is still. The ‘cowboy’ identity retains a strong presence in many contemporary Black communities.” (x)

Here’s one more:

Captured by the same photographer during a rare snowfall in Bolivar County.

MLK Day 2023, Houston TX

It is estimated that black cowboys contributed to about 25% of cowboys who drove cattle from the 1860s to 1880s in the American West.

Steven Onoja, Nov. 2023

Instagram.com/stevenonoja

I need to see these types of brothas when we get this new pack.

Shamhad on X

caracal in wait

prints

The Harder They Fall (2021)

Black American Cowboys and Cowgirls in Oakland, California photographed by Gabriela Hasbun. 

Majority were captured at the annual Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo.

The Black Slutty hunk cowboy... He's ready to ride!

Today we venerate Ancestor Nat Love aka Red River Dick aka Deadwood Dick on the day that we recognize his169th birthday 🎉

A permanent fixture of the American West, Nat Love led the life of legends & became a hero to the peoples of the TX, AZ, TN, & Dakotas territories.

Nat Love was born enslaved with his family in Davidson County Tennessee in 1856. He was raised in a log cabin during the turbulent years of the Civil War & its transition into the Reconstruction Era; where his father taught him how to read & write - a rarity of the time. After the Civil War, Nat & his father worked on the plantation farm as sharecroppers until his death shortly thereafter.

Nat Love's superior talent of breaking horses swept him off to the American West. He worked as a cattle/horse-driver throughout the Texas Panhandle, Kansas, Arizona Territory & the Dakota Territory. Here, his exploits began - with him fighting off cattle thieves who trained as marksmen. His journey led him to cross paths with local western legends in Arizona where he earned the title of "Deadwood Dick" after competing as a rodeo contestant in Deadwood, South Dakota & winning countless competitions in throwing, roping, tying, bridling, saddling, & bronco riding.

Nat Love later released his autobiography entitled, "The Life and Adventures of Nat Love Better Known in the Cattle Country as “Deadwood Dick.”, in which he shared his exploits as a legendary cowboy & star rodeo performer. How he had once endured extensive bullet wounds in a fight & was captured by Pima Indians, nursed back to health, then welcomed by Chief Yellow Dog into tribe & later betrothed to Chief's daughter until he escaped on a stolen pony & road back out into West Texas. He recounted how he earned the nickname, “Deadwood Dick” along with the love/respect of the good citizens of Deadwood, Dakota Territory. And how he met legendary cowboys like, “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Since there are no records of the cattlemen that claimed to have worked with/for, no one will ever know how fact or fictional the wildly outrageous accounts of Nat Love truly were. Yet and still, he'll always remain a undying fixture of the American West post-Maafa.

"Mounted on my favorite horse, my… lariat near my hand, and my trusty guns in my belt… I felt I could defy the world. — from "The Life and Adventures of Nat Love"

We pour libations & give him💐 today as we celebrate him for his unbridled courage & asserting our rightful place among the true cowboys/gals of the wild wild west.

Offering suggestions: cowboy caviar, libations of whiskey, & read/share his autobiography