Colorado – The Rodeo of the Black Cowgirls

The Wild West was white. The world of cowboys, ranches, campfires, the rodeo, and cattle drives—in the USA, none of it brings to mind African-American faces topped by wide-brimmed cowboy hats. Found near Denver, Colorado, nonetheless, is a prospering community of black men and women who are dedicated to keeping alive the world of horses and calves, lassos and cowboy boots, thick belt buckles and hard-riding work. They are casting a new light on the erroneous association between this North American tradition and a purely white history. The first rodeo in the United States is said to have taken place in 1864, run by white cowboys from farms in nearby Colorado, but similar events had already taken place in South America long before. As early as 1800, there were reports of rodeos organized by the herdsmen on the grazing pastures of Brazil. In his travel writings, Alexander von Humboldt describes contemporary rodeos involving “armed Indians.” And while these events cannot be compared with professionally organized competitions in North America, they can nonetheless be regarded as the origin of the contemporary rodeo. 

Today, however, we are familiar only with the standard image of the American cowboy—from John Wayne in classics like “True Grit,” all the way to the good-looking Marlboro men in the iconic cigarette advertisements. This is because history books and Hollywood depictions of cattle ranching have for so long overlooked many prominent horsemen and women—African-Americans.  Immediately after the US-American Civil War, which ended in 1865, it has been estimated that every fourth cowboy was black. When US-Americans began populating the Western frontier, thousands of black cowboys led the way. Historical reports ignore this fact. Since then, things have moved on. In existence since 1984, meanwhile, has been the first purely black rodeo in the US, the Bill Pickett Rodeo. And black women have now succeeded in conquering this male-dominated world. In our “ARTE Wunderwelt,” we seek to explore the world of the “black cowgirls” in the US. We accompany newcomers and professional horsewoman as they prepare for the great Bill Pickett Rodeo, to take place in Denver in January of 2020. We also spent time with the African-American organizers of the event in Denver, where they plan the rodeo competition for the black cowgirls and cowboys, always striving to inspire growing numbers of black women to participate in these events.

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