Vaquero History Lives on in the Northwest
American cowboy culture made popular by westerns and designer Ralph Lauren reflect styles of the Rocky Mountain States and Texas yet neglect the major influence California cowboys and vaqueros have had on creating many of our riding traditions, equipment and vocabulary. Welcome to Open Range I’m Susan Allen and I’ll be back with more on how California’s ranching roots impacted the Northwest. The typical vaquero’s that worked on the great California ranches predominantly located along the Kings Highway known as El Camino Real, (today HWY 101) didn’t rope anything like PRCA cowboys. Unlike team ropers an accomplished vaquero knew up to fifty different ways of placing a loop over a cow or horse and considered rope delivery an art form. Their methods live on in a region known as the Great Basin that encompasses, Eastern Oregon, Idaho and Nevada where Vaquero style horse hair cinches, silver bits, braided rawhide, Riatas, romal reins and the “jaquima” or hackmore are still prized and used . Even words like ranch, rodeo and remuda have Spanish origins. It is fascinating ,and a totally different style of cowboying. Cowboy poet Baxter Black once said “Southwestern Idaho, like Eastern Oregon and Northern Nevada is cowboy country. Not pickup drivin, team ropin, Marlborosmokin, beboppin’baseball cap cowboys. I mean Real cowboys. Shoot they call themselves buckaroos! Yes we are unique in that Vaquero and California’s mission ranching heritage lives on in our back yard. Take a road trip this summer and experience our great western heritage firsthand at a big loop ranch roping or rodeo.
