Rodeo is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico. Today, it is a sporting event that involves horses and other livestock, designed to test the skill and speed of the cowboys and cowgirls. American-style professional rodeos generally comprise the following events: tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, Steer roping, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, bull riding and barrel racing. The events are divided into two basic categories: the rough stock events and the timed events. Depending on sanctioning organization and region, other events such as breakaway roping, goat tying, and pole bending may also be a part of some rodeos. The "world's first public cowboy contest" was held on July 4, 1883, in Pecos, Texas, between cattle driver Trav Windham and roper Morg Livingston.
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of special significance and legend. A subtype, called a wrangler, specifically tends the horses used to work cattle. In addition to ranch work, some cowboys work for or participate in rodeos. Cowgirls, first defined as such in the late 19th century, had a less-well documented historical role, but in the modern world work at identical tasks and have obtained considerable respect for their achievements. Cattle handlers in many other parts of the world, particularly South America and Australia, perform work similar to the cowboy.
The vaquero is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in Mexico from a methodology brought to Latin America from Spain. The vaquero became the foundation for the North American cowboy, in Northern Mexico, Southwestern United States, and Western Canada.
A herder is a pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic or transhumant management of stock, or with common land grazing. The work is often done either on foot or mounted.
King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some 825,000 acres it is larger than the land area of Rhode Island and the European country Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the Triple Crown winning racehorse Assault.
John Carl Malone is an American billionaire businessman, landowner, and philanthropist. He was chief executive officer (CEO) of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), a cable and media giant, for twenty-four years from 1973 to 1996. Malone is now chairman and largest voting shareholder of Liberty Media, Liberty Global, and Qurate Retail Group, and also owns 7% of Lionsgate and Starz Inc. He was interim CEO of Liberty Media, until succeeded by former Microsoft and Oracle CFO Greg Maffei. By most estimates, Malone is the largest private landowner in the United States, possessing upwards of 2.2 million acres, more than twice the size of Rhode Island.
Cattle drives were a major economic activity in the 19th and early 20th century American West, particularly between 1850s and 1910s. In this period, 27 million cattle were driven from Texas to railheads in Kansas, for shipment to stockyards in Louisiana and points east. The long distances covered, the need for periodic rests by riders and animals, and the establishment of railheads led to the development of "cow towns" across the frontier.
George Forbes Ellis was a cattleman, pioneer in the field of beef cattle production, and a published writer. Born in Portales, New Mexico Territory on May 11, 1903, he graduated from the Kansas State Agricultural College in Manhattan, Kansas in animal husbandry.
Robert Lougheed was a Canada-born American artist who has specialized in images of the American West.
History of rodeo tracks the lineage of modern Western rodeo.
George Washington Coe (1856–1941) was an Old West cowboy and a gunman during the Lincoln County War.
Cowboy boots are a specific style of riding boot, historically worn by cowboys. They have a high heel that is traditionally made of stacked leather, rounded to pointed toe, high shaft, and, traditionally, no lacing. Cowboy boots are normally made from cowhide leather, which may be decoratively hand-tooled, but are also sometimes made from "exotic" skins like alligator, snake, ostrich, lizard, eel, elephant, stingray, elk, buffalo, and so on.
A ranch is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to livestock-raising operations in Mexico, the Western United States and Western Canada, though there are ranches in other areas. People who own or operate a ranch are called ranchers, cattlemen, or stockgrowers. Ranching is also a method used to raise less common livestock such as horses, elk, American bison, ostrich, emu, and alpaca.
Aztec Land and Cattle Company, Limited ("Aztec") is a land company with a historic presence in Arizona. It was formed in 1884 and incorporated in early 1885 as a cattle ranching operation that purchased 1,000,000 acres in northern Arizona from the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad. It then imported approximately 32,000 head of cattle from Texas and commenced ranching operations in Arizona. Because Aztec's brand was the Hashknife, a saddler's knife used on early day ranches, the company was known more famously as The Hashknife Outfit. The company has been in continuous existence since 1884.
Montoya is an unincorporated community on the route of historic Route 66 in Quay County, New Mexico, United States. It is the site of the Richardson Store, which listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Daniel Waggoner was an early American settler and rancher in Texas. He also owned five banks, three cottonseed oil mills, and a coal company. He established the Waggoner Ranch, which spanned eight counties: Wise County, Clay County, Wichita County, Wilbarger County, Foard County, Baylor County, Archer County, and Knox County. In 1959, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
The Waggoner Ranch is a historic north Texas ranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattle and horses as well as for oil production. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. It was originally established in 1852 near Vernon, Texas, by Daniel Waggoner under the name of Dan Waggoner & Son; his son being William Thomas Waggoner. It was acquired by Stan Kroenke, who is married to Ann Walton, in February 2016. At the time of acquisition, the ranch comprised 520,527 acres (210,650 ha), or 800 sq mi (2,100 km2) but additional acreage was included in the sale making the total closer to 535,000 acres (217,000 ha).
Yetta Kohn was a German-American immigrant who came to New Mexico and became a businesswoman, rancher, and ferry operator. After her husband died in 1877, Kohn operated the family's wool and hide business. She became a real estate investor and a cattle rancher. The T4 Cattle Company ranch, which has remained a family business, in Montoya, New Mexico has become one of the largest private ranches in the United States. Besides mercantile stores, Kohn has also operated banks, a ferry, and a post office.
T4 Cattle Company is a cattle ranch near Montoya, New Mexico, in eastern New Mexico, operated by family since it was founded in 1902 by Yetta Kohn. As of 2023, it is operated by Phil Bidegain. It is a cow-calf ranch with about 2,500 mother cows, where the cows feed on gramma grasses. At 180,000 acres the ranch is among the largest in the country, and making the Bidegains among the largest landowners in the country. The ranch breeds Quarter Horses and its farm grows wheat hay and alfalfa.
Howard Louis Kohn and Clara (McGowan) Kohn were New Mexican businesspeople and ranchers of T4 Cattle Company, one of the largest private ranches in the United States with about 220,000 acres. They also held a hotel, banks, and mercantile shop. Howard shipped cattle on railroad cars from Texas into New Mexico in groups as large as 1,200 at a time.
