Black Cowboys, or, How The West Was Really Won

Folks get surprised when I talk about black cowboys of the Old West, and some don’t even believe me. Dumbasses. These guys (and some gals) played a big role as cowboys, marshals, ranchers, business owners, land owners, and all-around rowdy citizens of the best kind. You had to be rowdy and full of gumption to even survive those hard times. Some were escaped slaves, some were born free, others received their freedom with the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Very few jobs were open to former slaves, or black folks in general, but the booming cattle industry out West was hiring. And so the trek began. Aapproximately five thousand black cowboys rode the cattle trails in the 19th century. They have great stories, and I love talking about ‘em. I can feel a Texas accent comin' on as I speak. It's a thrill to see black cowboys and cowgirls in the saddle in the here and now, as I have on a few happy occasions, although I cannot claim to have been ridden by one myself. But hey, the night’s still young!

So here I go. Can you see me? I’m stepping up onto my Black-Cowboys-Rock Soapbox. I am now even taller, which you probably thought was not even possible.

We’ll start with the most famous: Bill Pickett. Bill was such a bad ass. Holy crap. Lemme tell you why. Stray steers are very hard for a lone horseman to catch. So cowboys used to have dogs that they used to help retrieve steers that had wandered away from the herd. These “bulldogs” would lunge at the bull, sinking their teeth into the bull’s upper nose/lip area, which is one of the few sensitive areas on a steer. The other is his nuts, but good luck dodging the hooves to reach those. This brought the bull to the ground right quick, and the cowboy could rope it and bring it back in. Well Mr. Pickett got it into his head one day that if the dogs could do it, why couldn’t he? Maybe he had a wayward steer and no bulldog handy on one of his runs; it’s hard to say. But he developed this technique where he would launch himself from his running horse onto the bull, grabbing him by the horns, twisting till the steer went down to the ground. Then he would bite the bull in the nose just as the dogs did, leaning backwards till he had one very submissive steer holding very still. Boom bam goddamn! You see what I mean? Bill Pickett was the shit. Word got out that he has doing this crazy shit, and they started calling him the “Bulldogger.” Later he joined up with his four cowboy brothers and started The Pickett Brothers Bronco Busters and Rough Riders Association, performing his bulldogging trick for crowds all over Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Wyoming. Later he traveled to Europe with the 101 Wild West Shows group, as the only black man among 90 white performers. Frequently he competed in competitions where he was not allowed to collect the prize money if we won. Goddamn honkies. But Bill’s the one laughing now, cuz The Bill Pickett Rodeo is the most successful US rodeo, as well as the only traveling and black-owned rodeo, going on two decades now. I have wanted to go to that thing for years, but I have a knack for figuring out its in town about two weeks after its left. Dangit, stupid honky!

Nat Love is a pretty cool name. But Deadwood Dick is hella cool, right? Sounds like an Old West porn star. Well, Nat Love was a star in his day, cuz he was one amazing bronc rider and sharpshooter. That's his picture up above. The Emancipation Proclamation set him free when he was 15, and he made his way west. He got his first cowboy job based on the fact that one of the most notorious broncos around just couldn’t budge Love from his back. In 1876 he entered the roping, shooting, and wild horseback competitions of a special July 4th event. He won all three, and his 12.5 minutes on their craziest bronc earned him the nickname “Deadwood Dick.” Not totally sure what the connection was. I guess the Deadwood part cuz he was like a bump on a log on that horse’s back (I shall not be moved!). But where does the Dick part fit in? (*snicker* somehow the dick always fits in…). Prolly just cuz it sounded good; but then, dick always sounds good, don’t it? Sorry, I’ll stop. I get the feeling that if you were still going by your given name in ye Old West, you had not done anything noteworthy yet. Do something to get noticed, and you got yourself a crazy new nickname. Look at his picture again; didn't that guy have some serious flair? Not the Office Space movie kind of flair, but more the “I’m-wicked-talented-in-a-bad-ass-way” kind of flair. Dude wore his hair all long (unusual for that period, when most men cultivated enormous mustaches instead), and had a great cocky air that comes through in his photo. If he were around today, he’d be a gazillionaire sports/movie star known for his high fashion and his way with the ladies. Just a guess. Mister Love also wrote his own biography when he got older. Take that, illiterate honkies!

Not all the black cowboys of the West played by the rules. A few were hustling cattle and horses, much to the chagrin of the local constabulary, because they tended to be good at it. And some African-Americans of the time lived pretty much within the law, but had run-ins now and then. Which brings us to Stagecoach Mary. This chick did not mess around. And methinks that if she lived in the here and now, she would be one serious butch dyke. The kind you don’t mess with cuz she will fuck your shit up. First of all, she was a solid build, about 6’ tall (that’s one for my team), and weighed over 200 lbs. Second, she meant what she said and didn’t take kindly to being shafted (in more ways than one! *snicker*). For instance, she ran a laundry business when she was in her 70s and too old to run the stagecoaches. One male client refused to pay his bill, but took his clean clothes anyway. (Yeah, he was a honky, what else?) When Mary next saw him at the saloon, she clocked him right in the face, knocking him out. She then announced that… “NOW his laundry bill is paid.” I guess so! And please note, gentle reader, that Mary was the only female allowed into the all-male saloon. Prolly cuz she dressed in men’s clothes, carried two six shooters and a rifle, smoked cigars that she rolled herself, and drank like a pro. Nobody noticed she wasn't a dude! I’m betting she could piss her name on the wall if she felt like it. Stagecoach Mary once almost shot a man after a verbal insult led to a fistfight between them. Wonder what he said? She worked in many different professions in her life, with many of them facilitated by her relationship with a certain Mother Amadeus, the leader of a bunch of nuns, and uh, maybe an admirer of Mary’s outlandishly bold behavior? I bet the Mother Superior just loved having someone else be a top once in awhile! Mother A helped her get the mail-carrier stagecoach route that earned Mary her nickname (See? That nickname thing again!), among other jobs. You just gotta love a big ol’ lesbian who knows how to use a bull whip. Yee ha!

So you see, this is a topic comprised of amazing stories. And even better, folks are still carrying on the tradition. Not sure anyone really wants to bite into the snotty nostrils of a steer anymore, but there’s one fella, Fred Whitfield, who is a three-time world champion calf roper with rodeo earnings of over one million dollars. How ‘bout them apples? And how about a black rodeo in Harlem?

If you really wanna know more, here’s a book that might make ya happy. And how can you talk about cowboys without talking about country music? But no, I will resist, and do a separate blog on that one, cuz it's too good to do quickly. But I will tell you that I just listened to the following awesome songs: "All the Gold in California" (Gatlin Brothers), Devil Woman (Marty Robbins), and "Missing You" (Charley Pride), and oh yes, "The Gambler" (Kenny Rogers). That song is the shiznit! My coworkers hate me now, but do I give a damn? Hellz no, punk ass mutha fuckas! Country music is in the hiz-ouse!

Goddamn honkies.