I got this from Ask.com: By 1877 and the end of Reconstruction ... 94% of blacks lived in the South, did not own land, few had gone west to homestead ... 50% of cowboys were black (poor pay) ...... and it is a Georgetown University class....synopsis. Of course as economic advantages rose or fell, the percentage of all occupations shift by demographics.
Not only had I heard this; but it is logical and fits perfectly in with all other available data.
Buffalo soldiers, for one. Here's a link:
I hadn't quite thought of black cowboys fully -- but you are right: These were amazing men.
"Over 180,000 African-Americans served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Of these, more than 33,000 died. After the war, the future of African-Americans in the U.S. Army was in doubt. In July1866, however, Congress passed legislation establishing two cavalry and four infantry regiments (later consolidated to two) whose enlisted composition was to be made up of African-Americans.
Cowboys. On horseback. Buffalo Soldiers.
If I may be so immodest, of course I'm right. I was social studies teacher of the year at my high school in 2001. Teaching is one of the very few things I do very well. But you did the right thing. Something I drill into my students daily. Don't take anything anybody says as being absolutely true. Check it yourself. Find the other side. Especially: Look for a person's AGENDA when you are told something!
My classes always seem to fill first. I have had parents with children who had me in the past call the school to demand the younger sibling be put in my classes or moved from another class into mine. That's a responsibility I take seriously and so I do my homework before I open my mouth. Seventeen years and counting.