The forgotten history of NYC’s Black cowboys
The dominant image of the cowboy has always been that of a white man dashingly traversing the American West. However, the cowboy has strong ties to the African American community, and nearly a quarter of cowboys in the 19th century were Black. The New York City Federation of Black Cowboys, a nonprofit organization established in 1994, aims to educate people on the rich history of Black cowboys in New York City.
While Black cowboys have played a major role in shaping cowboy culture, this reality has largely been sidelined in classrooms and popular media. For example, “The Lone Ranger” (2013) was a story that was largely inspired by a Black cowboy named Bass Reeves. The art of bulldogging, which is integral to rodeo culture, was started by Black cowboy Bill Pickett.
Members of the Federation are dedicated to keeping the spirit of cowboy culture alive. “Give me a pair of cowboy boots and my spurs and a pair of jeans and I’m good to go,” Federation member Eddie Abraham told WSN.
“Don’t let the African heritage get lost,” Federation Vice President Raleigh “Curly” Hall said in an interview with WSN.
The word “cowboy” itself was, in part, a racist name given to newly freed African Americans after the Civil War who ventured westward in search of economic opportunity. It then evolved into the name for the job of cowhand, which involved rounding up and herding cattle across great distances. Cowboys have historically included Native Americans and Mexicans as well — the Spanish word “vaquero” led to the origin of the word “cowboy.”
Similarly, the notion of cowboy culture being restricted to the American West is misguided. Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk, New York, credits itself as the oldest cattle ranch in the U.S., established in 1658. The east coast is also home to several other prominent Black cowboy groups, such as the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club in Philadelphia. Even the renowned Madison Square Garden holds an annual Bull Riding Challenge.
Although the collective image and history of the cowboy in America originated in the Southwest, Black cowboys — like Ben “Tex” Miller, also known as Uncle Ben — moved to the Northeast for more equal rights and played a key role in keeping the memory of American cowboy culture alive. Originally hailing from South Carolina, Uncle Ben, the oldest member of the Federation until his passing, moved to Harlem after visiting New York City for a rodeo tour show at Madison Square Garden. Hall, an archivist for the Federation, preserves his memory to this day.
“Uncle Ben was 99 years old, and he was still getting up on a horse,” Hall said.
Horseback riding is an integral part of cowboy culture, which the Federation honors by using horseback riding lessons to offer local youth something that the city can’t — where life skills such as patience and tolerance can be honed.
“When I see a horse, I don’t see a horse. I see a soul,” Abraham said.
The practice of horseback riding also has a colorful history in New York City. Lynne’s Riding Center, established in 1947, was where Hall had his first horseback riding lesson at 8 years old. At that time, the center was located in The Hole neighborhood of Brooklyn but has since moved to Forest Hills in Queens. The essence of being on a horse and having command of it relinquishes a certain freedom in anyone, transcending even the constraints of the most bustling city in America.
Around 2020, Hall built Curly’s Cowboy Center on Rockaway Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens. This hacienda and museum boasts a plethora of historical artifacts from Black cowboys, Native Americans and West African culture as well. Since the center is still in the process of completing the paperwork to be an official museum, potential visitors must call the building’s number to organize a tour with Hall.
One of the items on display is a collection of newspapers about the Unity Ride, a 4,000-mile horseback ride organized and completed in 2013 by the Western Dakota Nation of Native Americans. The journey started in Albany and had a stop at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City, where the Unity Riders called for the reaffirmation of the Two Row Wampum treaty — an agreement between the Dutch and the Haudenosaunee, a Native American confederacy of nations, ensuring that the two parties would not interfere in each other’s affairs.
The cultural center is also a reflection of Hall himself, who was formerly a West African drummer and performed with celebrities such as James Brown and played in the orchestral ensemble for a Broadway show featuring Muhammad Ali. He is also a general contractor who surveyed the buildings of many public housing developments and founded a program that teaches horseback riding to students from Harlem and the Bronx — an initiative that helps to close the gap of underrepresentation of people of color in the sport. Even 10 years later, Hall still gets calls from his students telling him how much they enjoyed their lessons.
Unfortunately, the Federation’s membership is dwindling, with only about 30 members left. To be fully enmeshed with the spirit of the cowboy, “your lifestyle has to be different and special,” Hall said. “[You don’t have] a lot of time for you to participate in the love of horsemanship.”
According to Hall, the Federation reached out to several schools, some of which have expressed interest in making field trips to the Curly’s Cowboy Center museum. While the golden age of the American cowboy has passed, organizations like the Federation are keen on keeping its history — both the celebrated and the hidden — alive.
“It can never be relived,” Hall said. “We can only pass them on to the younger generations.”
Contact Aidan Levin at culture@nyunews.com.
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