page_title: Cowboy
section_title: Roundups
hierarchical_section_title: Cowboy / History / Roundups
caption_attribution_description: العربية: تجميع الماشية على نهر السيمارون في كولورادو، نسخة مُلوَّنة عن صورة بيضاء وسوداء تعود لِحوالي سنة 1898، وهي تُظهر إحدى العمليَّات الكُبرى لِتجميع الماشية بِالطُرق القديمة قبل اللجوء إلى الأسلاك الشائكة، والأسوار، وغيرها من طُرق التجميع التي سهَّلت على البشر عملهم. يغلب الظن أنَّ البلدة الظاهرة بالصورة هي سيمارون، عند المُقارنة بِالصُورة العائدة لِسنة 1883 على الجهة اليُمنى. &lt;يقول الخبراء في مكتبة الكونغرس أنَّ النهر الظاهر على اليسار هو نهر سيمارون. هُناك عدَّة أنهر في منطقة كولورادو تحمل ذات الاسم، ولكن عند الأخذ بعين الاعتبار الجبل الظاهر والذي يسهل التعرُّف عليه، يُمكن استنتاج أنَّ هذا أحد فُرُوع نهر گانيسون. English: Colorado. "Round up" on the Cimarron, a photochrom print from c. 1898, showing one of the large musters of cattle done in the days before barbed wire, fences, and easy access to transport ended the necessity for the practice. This is almost certainly in the town of Cimarron, compare the 1883 photograph on the right. &lt;The LoC identify the river on the left as being the Cimarron River. There are several rivers of that name in the Colorado area, but given the very easily-identifiable mountain in this image, this would be the one that is the tributary of the Gunnison River. Français&#160;: Colorado. "Round up" on the Cimarron (Rassemblement du bétail à Cimarron), un photochrome de 1898 environ, montrant l'un des grands rassemblements de bétail qui se faisaient avant l'arrivée du fil de fer barbelé et du chemin de fer. Le lieu, Cimarron (Colorado, États-Unis), a été déduit de la comparaison avec d'autre photographies, dont celle de droite, montrant la localité à la même époque.
context_page_description: A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of special significance and legend. A subtype, called a wrangler, specifically tends the horses used to work cattle. In addition to ranch work, some cowboys work for or participate in rodeos. Cowgirls, first defined as such in the late 19th century, had a less-well documented historical role, but in the modern world work at identical tasks and have obtained considerable respect for their achievements. Cattle handlers in many other parts of the world, particularly South America and Australia, perform work similar to the cowboy.
  The cowboy has deep historic roots tracing back to Spain and the earliest European settlers of the Americas. Over the centuries, differences in terrain and climate, and the influence of cattle-handling traditions from multiple cultures, created several distinct styles of equipment, clothing and animal handling.
context_section_description: Large numbers of cattle lived in a semi-feral, or semi-wild state on the open range and were left to graze, mostly untended, for much of the year. In many cases, different ranchers formed "associations" and grazed their cattle together on the same range. In order to determine the ownership of individual animals, they were marked with a distinctive brand, applied with a hot iron, usually while the cattle were still young calves. The primary cattle breed seen on the open range was the Longhorn, descended from the original Spanish Longhorns imported in the 16th century, though by the late 19th century, other breeds of cattle were also brought west, including the meatier Hereford, and often were crossbred with Longhorns.
  In order to find young calves for branding, and to sort out mature animals intended for sale, ranchers would hold a roundup, usually in the spring. A roundup required a number of specialized skills on the part of both cowboys and horses. Individuals who separated cattle from the herd required the highest level of skill and rode specially trained "cutting" horses, trained to follow the movements of cattle, capable of stopping and turning faster than other horses. Once cattle were sorted, most cowboys were required to rope young calves and restrain them to be branded and (in the case of most bull calves) castrated. Occasionally it was also necessary to restrain older cattle for branding or other treatment.
  A large number of horses were needed for a roundup. Each cowboy would require three to four fresh horses in the course of a day's work. Horses themselves were also rounded up. It was common practice in the west for young foals to be born of tame mares, but allowed to grow up "wild" in a semi-feral state on the open range. There were also "wild" herds, often known as Mustangs. Both types were rounded up, and the mature animals tamed, a process called horse breaking, or "bronco-busting," (var. "bronc busting") usually performed by cowboys who specialized in training horses. In some cases, extremely brutal methods were used to tame horses, and such animals tended to never be completely reliable. However, other cowboys became aware of the need to treat animals in a more humane fashion and modified their horse training methods, often re-learning techniques used by the vaqueros, particularly those of the Californio tradition. Horses trained in a gentler fashion were more reliable and useful for a wider variety of tasks.
  Informal competition arose between cowboys seeking to test their cattle and horse-handling skills against one another, and thus, from the necessary tasks of the working cowboy, the sport of rodeo developed.
caption: An 1898 photochrom of a round-up in Colorado
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