Photographic postcard portrait of a cowboy

Stories of the American West often depict all cowboys as white. But historians estimate that a quarter of cowhands in the late-19th century American West were Black. Many enslaved African people brought knowledge of cow herding to the United States. After Emancipation, many Black people migrated West and made a living as cowboys. Simultaneously, increasingly accessible photography gave rise to a visual culture in which everyday people could exchange photographs, like this postcard of a Black cowhand. The cowboy sits in front of a plain studio backdrop. His adorned vest gives way to lushly furred chaps. He gazes unapologetically at the viewer, his hands on his hips. Scholar Bryant Keith Alexander writes that archival images of Black cowhands are staged to document their presence as working men in the West. These images challenge the erasure of Black experiences in that region.