February 2019 - Black History Month

I have an affection for horses. They are incredible animals in realizing how they have provided the advancement of civilization. It could not have occurred without them. One of the places horses were used as a vital part of developing civilization is "The Old West" where food choices could include beef. Cattle were managed by people on the backs of horses and I began to wonder if there were African Americans somewhere in the history of the making of the West. I didn't have to look far.

Bill Pickett invented "bulldogging," a rodeo technique to wrestle a steer to the ground.

...Bill Pickett, born in 1870 in Texas to former slaves, became one of the most famous early rodeo stars. He dropped out of school to become a ranch hand and gained an international reputation for his unique method of catching stray cows....

Understand that the modern day rodeo competition called "Cattle Wrestling" would never have existed if Bill Pickett didn't develop the skill and technique in the beginning. He did participate in the earliest rodeos as a skilled cowboy.

One in four cowboys were black. (click here) So why aren't they more present in popular culture?

In his 1907 autobiography, (click here) cowboy Nat Love recounts stories from his life on the frontier so cliché, they read like scenes from a John Wayne film. He describes Dodge City, Kansas, a town smattered with the romanticized institutions of the frontier: “a great many saloons, dance halls, and gambling houses, and very little of anything else.” He moved massive herds of cattle from one grazing area to another, drank with Billy the Kid and participated in shootouts with Native peoples defending their land on the trails. And when not, as he put it, “engaged in fighting Indians,” he amused himself with activities like “dare-devil riding, shooting, roping and such sports.”...

Modern day racism no longer belongs on the American landscape. Tonight may be a magnificently historic ceremony at the Oscars for the African American community. I will be watching and hoping I will see history in the making.

Thank you for your interest.