I
see by your outfit that you are a cowboy. -"The Cowboy's Lament"
Let
me say right, the this question is best answered in detail by Lawrence Clayton,
Jim Hoy, and Jerald Underwood's book, Vaqueros,
Cowboys, and Buckaroos, a University of Texas Publication. and
while I have researched other
sources in attempting a brief introduction below,
I suggest all who are interested to go to the link above to
purchase their
well researched and well written book.
An
Introduction The outfit or appearance
regarding style and material of hats, scarf's, shirts, chaps, boots and spurs
are key factors that establish an individual as a vaquero, a cowboy, or a buckaroo.
Also important, his saddle - slick or swelled fork; rim-fire or seven-eighths
or three-quarter rigged, and rolled or straight cantle. If his rope is thirty
feet long - he is a cowboy; if it is sixty feet long - he is a buckaroo. Different
influences and geographic living contributed to evolvement of these styles.
As
the authors of the book indicate, "by 1600, there had emerged a distinct
class of men who herded and worked cattle in North America. By the early 1700s,
Longhorn cattle and these herders were common in northern Mexico, southern Texas,
and southern California. They were Mexican vaqueros, who lived in poverty and
who no doubt dressed themselves in whatever nondescript garb and worked with whatever
equipment they could find to meet their needs. Gradually, however, they developed
distinctive clothing, gear, techniques, and annual routines, much of which bore
similarities to the vaquero's South American cousin, the gaucho of the broad and
grassy Argentine Pampas.
More than two centuries later, when Anglos took up
the practice of herding cattle in what was to become California and southern Texas,
they adapted the vaquero pattern into a culture that can be divided into two distinct
versions related to specific areas of the United States-the cowboy and the buckaroo."
In 1927 Charles M. Russell, the noted painter
and interpreter of the West, commented early on the introduction of branding in
America, which originated with the Spaniards, and confirming the early influence
of the Spanish. His paintings He further states, "depict with
the keen eye of the artist - their (Buckaroos) penchant for fancy gear: "These
cow people were generally strong on pretty, usin' plenty of hoss jewelry, silver-mounted
spurs, bits, an' conchas." Their tack also caught his observant eye: "Instead
of a quirt" they "used a romal, or quirt braided to the end of the reins.
Their saddles were full stamped with from twenty-four to twenty-eight-inch eagle-bill
tapaderos. Their chaparejos were made of fur or hair, either bear, angora goat,
or hair sealskin." He identifies the bits used by these men as the "Spanish
spade." He had them pegged: "These fellows were sure fancy, an' called
themselves buccaroos, coming from the Spanish word vaquero." In
contrast, Russell notes, the cowboy "originated in Texas and ranged north."
Unlike the buckaroo, "he wasn't much for pretty; his saddle was low horn,
rimfire, or double-cinch." He identifies another of their salient characteristics
and the reason for it: "Their rope was seldom over forty feet, for being
a good deal in a brush country, they were forced to swing a small loop. These
men generally tied [hard and fast], instead of taking their dallie-welts, or wrapping
their rope around the saddle horn. Their chaparejos were made of heavy bullhide,
to protect the leg from the brush and thorns." He goes on to note that they
protected their feet "with hog-snout tapaderos," those with no flaps.
These characteristics are still typical of cowboys, although the tapaderos are
found only in brush country.
Russell seems to have preferred the flashy buckaroo
to the plainer cowboy, or at least he described the California type more fully.
His use of "lass-rope" reflects the dialect of the buckaroo. Without
doubt, however, he understood the differences he observed.  Lawrence
Clayton, deals with the evolution and current life and work of the cowboy. Jim
Hoy's final section on the buckaroo traces the development, life, and work patterns
of the range hands of the Northwest United States.
Information
from:
Vaqueros,
Cowboys, and Buckaroos
|
 Cowboy (Western)
Boots
Cowboy Boots (also known as Western boots) refer to a specific style
of riding boot, historically worn by cowboys. They usually have a high heel, rounded
to pointed toe, high shaft, and no lacing. Cowboy boots are normally made from
cowhide leather but are also sometimes made from "exotic" skins such
as
alligator, snake, ostrich, lizard, eel, elephant, stingray.
Buckaroo
Boots
Buckaroo
Boots get their name from the men who wore them, the California vaquero, a type
of Spanish or Mexican cowboy who worked with young, untrained horses.
The
California vaquero or buckaroo, unlike the Texas cowboy, was considered a highly-skilled
worker, who usually stayed on the same ranch where he was born or had grown up
and raised his own family there. Cowboys of this tradition were
dubbed buckaroos
by English-speaking settlers. The term buckaroo officially appeared in American
English in 1889. The Buckaroo's Boots are tall, ranging from 15" to 20"
or up to the knee. They are usually two-tone, and many have multi-colored stitching
on the foot and shaft. They usually have a deep scallop and pull holes instead
of straps.
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