In celebration of Lakeside Western Days April 26, we are able to recapture the traditions and horsemanship of our American cowboys.
  The legends of the cowboy, the great stories of honor, bravery, and hardship, were born almost as soon as the West was settled in the 1800s. The myths and images of the West were so well promoted that by the 1950s everyone knew of the cowboy--or thought they did.
  The American vaquero or cowboy first rode his pony into Alta California and what was later to be our own United States on May 14, 1769. A kerchief was bound about his head, atop which, at a very rakish, arrogant angle, sat a trail-worn, weather-beaten hat, wide of brim, low of crown, held in place by a barbiquejo (chin strap) that extended just below the lower lip. His unkempt black beard scraggled over his jowls, and his long hair dangled down his back to a little below the line of his shoulders. His ample colonial shirt was soiled and torn, and a flash of brown shoulder could usually be seen through a recent tear. The typical wide, red Spanish sash encircled his lean midriff.  His short pants, reaching to his knees, buttoned up the sides, and were open for six inches or so at the bottom. Long drawers (which were once white) showed wrinkles at the knees and were folded into wrapped leather botas (leggings).  He wore a rough pair of buckskin shoes with leather iron spurs. This costume was finished off by a tirador (heavy, wide-at-the-hips belt) that helped him to snub with the reata (rawhide rope) when lassoing on foot. Theever-present long knife in its scabbard was thrust inside the garter on his right leg.
  He rode a typical Mexican silla vaquero (saddle) of the period. Spanish-rigged, dangling down on either side from the large, rounded horn were two huge slabs of cowhide that could be drawn back over the thighs and lower legs. These were the armas (chaps) of the Baja California cactus ranges. The reata was tied to the saddle strings in back of the cantle on the off side, with the rolled and pendent serape passing through the coils. There was your very first California cowboy!
  There have been some great arguments in years past as to who the first cowboys were. It is curious the twist many folks have on Western history. A "back-east" professor who had been touring the West making a "study" of the cowboy, claimed that the first American cowboy appeared on our national scene in Texas in the 1850s. That is debatable.  Many agree the honor belongs to the California vaquero, who had arrived some eighty years earlier, and thus the argument started.
  Some say that the California vaquero should not be considered, since California was under the flag of Spain when he first arrived--which should brand him as a "foreigner" and not a genuine American cowboy. That sounded logical enough at first.
  At the time California stepped into the spotlight Texas was under the very same Spanish flag and under the Mexican flag later, since both regions were contiguous parts of the same empire. Then the Texans took their land away from the Mexicans in 1836 and established them

selves as a separate nation under the Lone Star flag, and were accepted as such by the United States and other nations. Well, that wasn't the United States, was it?  Then came the ups and downs of those turbulent, scrappy days with that republic across the Rio Grande and Texas was finally admitted into the Union in 1845.
  Now let's look back at what was happening to Alta California during those hectic days. While the fireworks were going on south of the Rio Grande, the Stars and Strips were hoisted at Monterey, California, in 1846, and California became part of the United States. Texas in 1845, California in 1846, pretty close timing, but as yet the Texas cowboy hadn't made his appearance on the United States stage as a distinct character.
  The professor claimed the cowboy came into being in the 1850s, and he was correct more or less, because with the Texas cowboy you just can't set a definite date. But we still find that the California vaquero had been working daily on what was now United States territory for eighty years before the Texas cowboy came into the picture. The professor still has trouble with the name "vaquero" designating him as a foreigner. However, when I was a child, in much of the cow country in Texas the word "cowboy" was seldom used.  They all called themselves "vaqueros" and do so to this day in many sections.
  So, what side of the argument are you on? Regardless of where he originated, the evolution of the American cowboy was a popular figure enriching our lives with adventures brought to life by dime novels, newspapers, books and artists, all romanticizing that way of life to this day.