Rubio credited Spain for the origins of the American cowboy. Mexico begs to differ

MEXICO CITY — Few figures loom large in US lore as the American cowboy, the embodiment of rugged individualism celebrated in pulp novels, oldies radio, TV and Hollywood blockbusters.

But Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent musings have fueled a sometimes bitter debate — mostly on social media — about the origins of the long-capped deer bird that helped tame the West with the help of a trusty horse and six-gun.

At the Munich Security Conference this month, Rubio noted that “all the romanticism of the cowboy archetype that has become synonymous with the American West” was “born in Spain.”

Responding angrily, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the Florida Republican’s ideological opponents, said: “I believe that Mexicans and descendants of African enslaved peoples will want to have a say in this issue.”

Participants on social media did not hesitate to take sides.

“This tradition originated in present-day Mexico and southern Texas and is not Spanish,” said one person at X.

Another wrote: “Andalusian cowboys prove Marco Rubio right and respond to Ocasio-Cortez: ‘Even the cattle carrying the rope came from Spain.’”

In one sense, experts say, Rubio, Ocasio-Cortez and their defenders are all right; but their accounts tell only part of the story.

It was actually the Spanish and Portuguese who introduced horses and cows in America in the 16th century, which did not exist at that time.

But the New York legislator is on the same track: The cowboy tradition developed in a direct line from Mexico’s unique innovations. vaqueros. Their diverse ranks included people of European, Indigenous, and mixed-race descent.

However, the Mexican vaquero has largely disappeared from popular U.S. cowboy depictions. Traditional western dramas tended to portray vaqueros as bandits rather than hard-working farmers whose contributions to the American West were essential.

“The American cowboy, our great national folk hero, is recognized throughout the world as a symbol of our country,” said the late Jim Hoy, the noted cowboy historian. Texas Highways magazine. “But cowboys as we know them would never have existed without the vaquero.”

But as Rubio says, his cowboy ancestry can be traced back to the Iberian Peninsula; Until the late Middle Ages, before Spain even existed as a nation. Moorish horse breeds were crossed with native animals to create a sturdy and agile beast for handling cattle. The horse also proved indispensable in the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521.

However, once Hernán Cortés was victorious, the invaders moved from waging war by defeating the Aztecs to a project of subjugating areas where the Natives had resisted and building a self-sustaining territory loyal to the crown. Among the many tasks: managing the ever-increasing numbers of cattle.

Non-native livestock (not just horses and cows, but also donkeys, pigs, and sheep) thrived on the vast grasslands, plains, and deserts of the New World. The sudden arrival of animals changed entire ecosystems, cultures and economies.

“When you go to America, it’s a huge place,” said Eric D. Singleton, curator of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. “You have a new environment and you develop new techniques and new things to make that environment hospitable.”

Topography, weather, cultures, and other factors differed greatly from Old World norms; thus managing cattle required something beyond the skills of Andalusian shepherds.

Emilio Carranza Sr. asks for a replacement saddle when his stirrup broke during the Joaquin Murrieta Ride in Central California last July. Mexican American riders organize this ride every year to commemorate the figure during California’s gold rush.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

The work of improving riding and roping techniques – while modifying equipment and clothing – fell largely to skilled vaqueros. empty for cow.

“Vaquero had to reinvent techniques and strategies in a completely new context,” said Mexican anthropologist and writer Héctor Medina Miranda. “This wasn’t just copying Spanish. It involved a completely new approach.”

Mexican cowboys mastered everything from calving to branding to overseeing the long-distance cattle drives that later became a staple of the western.

It was the vaquero who developed the first incarnations of the so-called Western saddle, with its distinctive “horn” used for both gripping and securing ropes..

Even centuries later, terminology of Spanish origin survives: “corral”, “lasso”, “bronco”, “lariat” (la reala) and “dudes” (chaparreras). Period mestenoIn cowboy language, the mustang, meaning stray or wild, became the legendary, free-ranging resident of the high plains.

Even the “10-gallon hat,” which was not large enough to hold a gallon, was probably of Mexican origin. One theory is that the name arose from a prosecutorial misinterpretation of the Spanish word. gallonfor braided hat bands. A hat with a crown large enough to hold 10 bands became a 10-gallon hat.

Bull riding, still a staple of the U.S. rodeo circuit, grew out of the vibrant vaquero tradition. dark readings — Competitions that showcase the participants’ skills with horses, ropes and husbandry. Charreadas remain a mainstay throughout Mexico and in Mexican American communities north of the border.

“The Vaqueros did not cross the border,” Medina Miranda said. “The border has passed over them.”

El Charro, that indomitable expert rider (or woman) who wears a wide-brimmed hat, embroidered jacket and trousers, still has a very important role in Mexican culture. Charro is far from a humble vaquero, but a respectable one. cabalero (The gentleman) has mastered the art of border strife.

Charrería is the national sport of Mexico to this day. Long celebrated in cinema and music, the figure of the charro is as much an embodiment of masculinity and culture in Mexico as the cowboy in the United States. The late Vicente Fernández, beloved actor and Grammy-winning master of mariachi and farmhouse The species was affectionately known as “El Charro de Huentitán” after its hometown in Jalisco.

Ocasio-Cortez was right about something else. African Americans and immigrants also helped create the cowboy tradition. Added to the diverse mix were laborers hired from tribes such as the Comanche, Cheyenne, and Apache, who became unrivaled horse whisperers long before settlers arrived on their lands.

Like many famous figures, the cowboy turns out to be a more nuanced individual than the silver screen’s often one-dimensional representations. Before John Wayne and Gary Cooper, Mexico had noble vaqueros who were legends in their own right.

“I put the cowboy on the same level as what the medieval knight was to Europe and the samurai was to Japan,” Singleton said. “This is our mythology.”

Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed to this report.