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. Cattle drives ensure the herds' health in finding pasture and bring them to market. 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 in South America and stockmen and jackaroos in 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 the Americas from Spain. The vaquero became the foundation for the North American cowboy, in Northern Mexico, Southwestern United States, and Western Canada.
King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some 825,000 acres it is larger than both the land area of Rhode Island and the area of the European country Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the racehorse Assault, who won the Triple Crown in 1946.
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 St. Louis and points east, and direct to Chicago. 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.
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.
Empire Ranch is a working cattle ranch in southeastern Pima County, Arizona, that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. In its heyday, Empire Ranch was one of the largest in Arizona, with a range spanning over 180 square miles (470 km2), and its owner, Walter L. Vail, was an important figure in the establishment of southern Arizona's cattle industry. It is currently owned by the Bureau of Land Management with a grazing lease to a private operator.
Bartolomé Baca was Governor of the territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México from August 1823 until September 1825. His very large landholdings were later the subject of disputes that eventually went to the Supreme Court of the United States.
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 is 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 ranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas, in north Texas near the Red River and Oklahoma border. Founded in 1852 by Daniel Waggoner, it is the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. The land has been used to raise crops, beef cattle, and horses and to produce oil.
Guy Leslie Waggoner was an American rancher and business executive. He inherited one-fourth of the Waggoner Ranch in Texas. Later, he owned the Bell Ranch in New Mexico. He served as Chairman of the Texas Racing Commission and later Chairman of the New Mexico Racing Commission.
The San Rafael Ranch, formerly known as the Greene Ranch, is a historic cattle ranch located in the San Rafael Valley about a mile and a half north of Lochiel, Arizona, near the international border with Sonora, Mexico.
William Charles James Roper Hull was a Canadian rancher, meat packer, businessman, and philanthropist. He played a prominent role in western Canada's early economic development by integrating a systematic approach to cattle raising, meat processing, and retailing on a large scale in Alberta.
Kenedy Ranch, also called La Parra Ranch, is located in Kenedy County, Texas. It was established in 1882 by Mifflin Kenedy, a steamboat operator and rancher. His friend and business partner, Richard King, established the adjoining King Ranch. It began as a cattle ranch, but it has found other sources of revenue, including guided hunting and wind farms, due to the changing economy. The town of Sarita was founded in 1904 on land that had been owned by the Kenedy Farm.
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.
