California Rodeo, Salinas, 1919

Rodeo is often, falsely, depicted as a white sport. Actually, North African horsemen brought herding knowledge with them to the Iberian Peninsula during the Arab rule of Al-Andalus. Spanish colonizers then brought cattle, horses, and their herding traditions to the Americas. Vaqueros first practiced a form of rodeo called charrería. Among Anglo ranchers, these contests developed into rodeos. Rodeos didn’t explicitly exclude Black riders, thousands of whom became cowhands post-Emancipation. But they were effectively excluded from many rodeos due to discrimination. Nevertheless, many Black cowhands, such as Bill Pickett, the inventor of bulldogging, gained fame for their skill and creativity.

This photo postcard, from 1919, features a Black cowhand riding a bucking bull at the California Rodeo at Salinas. A few years before, famed Black cowboy Jesse Stahl had performed at the same rodeo, blazing a trail for other Black cowhands to compete.