JACKSON, Wyo. — In honor of Black History Month, the National Park Service and historians pay tribute to the Black cowboys and cowgirls who made their mark on the wild west.

According to the Smithsonian, around one in four cowboys in the 19th century were Black men.

Following the American Civil War and the reconstruction of the South, enslaved Black men and women continued to be denied land ownership and basic rights in most states.

In the late 19th century, Exodusters, which was the name given to African Americans who migrated from states along the Mississippi River to Kansas, marked the first general migration of Black people following the Civil War. Of this group, a smaller portion migrated toward states in the West.

In the West, Exodusters were known to be trained as ranch hands under cattle-raising Native Americans and other employers, eventually gaining equal pay as their white counterparts. This was a stark contrast to the opportunities of Black men in the Jim Crow South.

“Right after the Civil War, being a cowboy was one of the few jobs open to men of color who wanted to not serve as elevator operators or delivery boys or other similar occupations,” said William Loren Katz, a scholar of African-American history and the author of 40 books on the topic, including “The Black West.”

Black cowboys also participated in Wild West rodeo shows which showcased the skills and characters of the Western U.S. The shows would include rodeo roping and other acts. An African-American cowboy by the name of Jesse Stahl was famous for saddle riding, which was a defining aspect of Wild West rodeos.

Despite being allowed to participate, racism was all too common in rodeo competitions and Black rodeo riders were often equated to animals.

According to the NPS, Bill Pickett was an internationally famous rodeo star in the early 1900s, but many venues and ranch owners banned him from performing because he was Black. Despite discriminatory treatment, he continued to perform for millions of people across the world. Pickett was posthumously inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1971.

The NPS also acknowledges Mary Fields, who some considered a cowgirl during her time as a postal worker in Montana. She was born enslaved in the early 1830s and went on to deliver mail for the U.S. Post Office from 1895 to 1903. During her service, she faced harsh weather, bandits and wolves, and when the snow was too deep to drive the stagecoach, she trekked the route with snowshoes, delivering the mail on foot. Mary Fields was the first African American woman and the second woman to receive a Star Route contract from the U.S. Postal Service. 

Today, the stories of Black cowboys largely go undiscussed in American history, education and pop culture. In fact, Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning film, “Django Unchained,” is one of the few Hollywood films depicting a Black cowboy.

In reality, there were many, some of whose stories will never be known or told.

Buckrail posts this story annually.