Black Cowboys and Early Cattle Drives
Emancipated slaves headed west after the Civil War, driving cattle to Bosque Redondo in New Mexico on the Goodnight-Loving Trail. By the 1870s, black cowboys made up 25% of the trail crews driving over 27 million cattle on this and other trails. Paid equally and respected for their skill and ability, their legacy endures. Nancy Williams tells their story.
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After the Civil War, emancipated slaves who didn't want to pick cotton or operate an elevator headed west to find work and a new life. Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving drove two thousand longhorns across southern Texas blazing a trail to Bosque Redondo in New Mexico.
In 1866, the new Goodnight-Loving Trail was crowded with cattle headed for a government market. By the 1870s, twenty-five percent of the over thirty-five thousand cowboys in the West were black. They were part of trail crews that drove more than twenty-seven million cattle on the Goodnight-Loving Trail, Western Trail, Chisholm Trail and Shawnee Trail.
They were paid equally, and their skill and ability brought them earned respect and prestige. Author Nancy Williams recounts their lasting legacy.
Information
Subject: History
Brand: The History Press
Publisher Date: 06/19/2023
Dimensions: 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.35
UPC: 9781467153645
Pages: 160
