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acrylic prints horse acrylic prints occupation acrylic prints history acrylic prints historic acrylic prints historical acrylic prints cowboy acrylic prints bronco acrylic prints bronco buster acrylic prints cattleman acrylic prints cowhand acrylic prints cowpoke acrylic prints cowpuncher acrylic prints herder acrylic prints herdsman acrylic prints ranch hand acrylic prints

photographs horse photos occupation photos history photos historic photos historical photos cowboy photos bronco photos bronco buster photos cattleman photos cowhand photos cowpoke photos cowpuncher photos herder photos herdsman photos ranch hand photos

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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. By the late 1860s, following the American Civil War and the expansion of the cattle industry, former soldiers from both the Union and Confederacy came west, seeking work, as did large numbers of restless white men in general. A significant number of African-American freedmen also were drawn to cowboy life, in part because there was not quite as much discrimination in the west as in other areas of American society at the time. The average cowboy earned approximately a dollar a day, plus food, and, when near the home ranch, a bed in the bunkhouse, usually a barracks-like building with a single open room. Over time, the cowboys of the American West developed a personal culture of their own, a blend of frontier and Victorian values that even retained vestiges of chivalry. Such hazardous work in isolated conditions also bred a tra...