Posted on 05/06/2026 10:03:22 PM PDT by Cronos
While criticizing a recent speech, Ocasio-Cortez took issue with what she claimed was Rubio’s statement that America’s cowboys came from Spain.
“My favorite part was when he said that American cowboys came from Spain,” she said in her criticism of Rubio’s speech. “And I believe the Mexicans and descendants of African enslaved peoples would like to have a word on that.”
The History Channel reports that America’s cowboy culture stretches back further than America itself, to the era of Spanish colonialism.
“Hundreds of years before there was the American cowboy, there was the vaquero,” it says, referring to expert horsemen who came after the Spaniards landed in 1519 in what is now Mexico.
The first vaqueros, it says, were “Indigenous Mesoamerican men who learned from their Spanish colonizers how to herd cattle on horseback.”
Independent historian Pablo A. Rangel, who has studied vaquero history extensively, says it is “a forgotten history of centuries of horsemanship in the Americas that roots the vaqueros in the colonial past.”
The word “vaquero” itself comes from “vaca,” which is the Spanish word for cow. As Spain extended its North American Empire into what are now Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California, the vaquero played a crucial role. The vaquero domesticated wild horses, braided ropes, constructed saddles, and learned to use a lasso expertly.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Spanish explorers (conquistadors) reintroduced horses to North America, starting with Christopher Columbus in 1493 (Caribbean) and Hernán Cortés in 1519 (mainland Mexico). While horses evolved in North America and went extinct 10,000+ years ago, the Spanish brought domesticated horses that eventually transformed Native American, particularly Great Plains, cultures.
“The vaquero tradition, originating in Spanish Andalusia is the origin of the cowboy”
Vaqueros obtained their horses from Spanish settlers and conquistadors who imported Andalusian and Barb breeds from Spain to Mexico and the American Southwest starting in the early 16th century. These horses, which were vital to managing massive herds on expansive, arid ranches, eventually multiplied to create the wild mustang population.
wy69
You also have the Gaucho culture which can from South America. Cowboys have been around for millennia.
Not to the Super Bowl lately...🤣
"Sandy from Westchester" hasn't a clue.
Anyone who wants a fascinating read on the history of the conquistadors, Mexico, Texas, horse culture in the west, apaches and comanches should read the book Empire of the Summer Moon.
It is really good. Too bad this dumb dumb never read it.
Did you know that by the time Lewis and Clark made their trek to the “unknown” west, there was already an inn in Santa Fe New Mexico that was 200 years old?
“””””Reminds me of how World War Eleven started when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.”””””
Thanks, I haven’t thought of both of those together, it looks like we have a whole new meme.
Does the article say when and how Sandy Cortez got the “history lesson” as is claimed in the title? I’m sick of the click bait freaking article headlines.
They moved to Arlington Tx.
“And I believe the Mexicans and descendants of African enslaved peoples ... “
—
She’s trying to include blacks for more DEI points.
How did she come up with including blacks in that? There is no way they were a part of that history.
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i’m here
“ Reminds me of how World War Eleven started when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.”
You are leaving out a lot of the real story to mislead us, shame on you.
We all know that World War 11 started after Abe Lincoln sent out a serious of tweets challenging the motives of the Pilgrams who came on the Mayflower.
Anyone who wants a fascinating read on the history of the conquistadors, Mexico, Texas, horse culture in the west, apaches and comanches should read the book Empire of the Summer Moon.
It is really good. Too bad this dumb dumb never read it.
= = =
Echo that
Get the one by: S.C. “Sam” Gwynne
You beat me to that little fact!
Political advisors want a balanced ticket. If there is a woman at the top, they don’t want both to be women.
I went to Iona Prep for a year. (Frank Abagnale was just ahead of me - and no, I didn't know/don't remember him).
That’s the Catch Me If You Can guy?
Gaucho/cowboy culture is old, but has not existed for millennia/1000 years. It not exist until the Spanish brought horses to S America-about 500 years-no horses, no gauchos/cowboys...
The county I live in celebrates being the Cowboy Capitol-we also have lots of horses...
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