1 in every 4 cowboys was believed to be a Black man released from slavery despite the stories told in popular books & movies although the most famous cowboys of the old west were white
Many of the slaves were familiar with cattle herding from Africa #BlackHistoryMonth
A THREAD!
Bill Pickett (1871-1932), rodeo performer.
World famous black cowboy Bill Pickett "Dusky Demon" invented the rodeo sport, bulldogging (steer wrestling).
This is the actual man on which the movie D'Jango Unchained is loosely based.
His name is Dangerfield Newby, and he was a member of the John Brown raiders. He joined the gang to save his wife, Harriet and children from slavery.
Jesse Stahl (1879-1935), cowboy and rodeo star.
Jesse is considered the greatest of all bronco riders by many rodeo enthusiasts.
In a time when a bronc rider rode a horse until it stood still, Jesse became a legend and set the bar for bronc-riding during the 1912 Salinas Rodeo.
Isom Dart, originally known as Ned Huddleston, gained a reputation as a late 19th Century Wyoming Territory outlaw. He had many aliases including "Black Fox," "Tan Mex," and "Calico Cowboy".
Nat Love, aka Deadwood Dick (1854-1921), cowboy and saddler
Nate earned the nickname "Deadwood Dick" after winning a rodeo in South Dakota. As he tells it, he could hit anything within range of his Colt .45 revolvers or Winchester Model rifle, but killed only out of self-defense
Bass Reeves (1838-1910), lawman and deputy U.S. marshal.
Bass Reeves was the first African American commissioned to serve as a deputy marshal west of the Mississippi River. He brought to justice over 3,000 criminals and killed fourteen outlaws during his years as a marshal.
George Fletcher (1890-1973), rodeo star and cowboy.
George Fletcher was the first Black cowboy to compete for a world championship in bronco riding at the 1911 Pendleton Round-Up, Oregon's largest rodeo.
Texas cowboy Robert Lemmons was one of the greatest mustangers of all time. He became a legend in his day by perfecting his unique method of catching wild mustang horses.
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Did you know that it was once against the law for black women to show their hair in public?
The Tignon laws of the 18th century banned black women from exposing their natural hair in public and to cover their hair with a headwrap called a tignon. #BlackHistoryMonth
A THREAD!
This headdress was the result of laws passed in 1786 under the administration of Governor Esteban Rodriguez Miró. It aimed to prohibit women of color from displaying excessive attention by their dressing in the streets of New Orleans'.
A tignon (tiyon) is a headdress used to conceal hair. It was worn by free and enslaved Creole women of African ancestry in Louisiana in 1786. The regulation was meant as a means to regulate the style of dress and appearance for people of color.
The Virginia Calculator: Thomas Fuller, the slave with remarkable calculation power who was used by antislavery campaigners as a demonstration that blacks were not mentally inferior to whites. #BlackHistoryMonth
A THREAD!
Thomas Fuller was an African, stolen from his native home at 14 and shipped to America as an enslaved man in 1724. He was sold to a planter in Virginia.
When he was about 70, two gentlemen, natives of Pennsylvania, William Hartshorne and Samuel Coates, men of probity and respectable characters, having heard of his extraordinary powers in arithmetics sent for him.
On this day in 1946, Isaac Woodard, WWII veteran, hours after being honorably discharged, was attacked by South Carolina police while still in uniform when taking the bus home & left permanently BLIND
Isaac enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C, and served in the Pacific Theater as a longshoreman in a labor battalion. In February 1946, the decorated soldier received an honorable discharge at Camp Gordon, which is located near Augusta, Georgia.
Along with other discharged soldiers, Woodard boarded a Greyhound bus on February 12 to travel home. A conflict was triggered when the white bus driver belittled the army veteran for asking to take a bathroom break.
Did you know that an entire Manhattan village owned by black people was destroyed to build Central Park.
The community was called Seneca Village. It spanned from 82nd Street to 89th Street.
Blackdom, New Mexico
It was founded by Frank Boyer and Ella Louise McGruder and it was the first black town in New Mexico. It was a safe haven for our people. It had a population of 300 residents by 1908.
In 1919, the town struck oil!
The residents then created the Blackdom Oil Company, and they became set for generations of wealth but tragedy struck too…
The town suffered a drought and became uninhabitable. Families left and by the end of World War I, it was essentially a ghost town.
Robert Smalls stole a Confederate Ship and sailed it to Freedom disguised as a captain, freeing his crew and their families. #BlackHistoryMonth
A THREAD!
In 1862, Robert Smalls was serving as the pilot of a steam powered, Confederate ship, The CSS Planter. It was transporting large guns out of Charleston Harbor and deliver them to Union Navy forces on blockade duty
On the evening of 12th May 1862, The ship was docked and the confederate officers left the ship to spend the night on shore, leaving the slave crew on board. Rob had gotten permission to bring the crew’s families on board for the evening, as long as they were gone before curfew.