Explore COWPUNCHER/BUCKAROO Differences: Two Cultures Collide

[@broomtailcountry]

Howdy. I want to thank everyone who has tuned into this video over the last year. It means the world to me to have your support and willingness to watch. It is my intent and purpose with these videos to share the unique history of America's cowboy culture with the entire world. So please like the video so we can get the word out to more people.

[@TheBigjake04]

If you ever want to have some fun. Go visit any cattle town in Colorado. There is a serious mix between the two there. I’m from Northern Nevada and we would always give Texans a little friendly ribbing and vice versa. But in Colorado, it gets downright hilarious.

[@broomtailcountry]

Haha, I’ve seen the mix in Colorado! Where are you from in Northern Nevada. Thanks for the comment.

[@TheBigjake04]

@@broomtailcountry Humbolt County.

[@broomtailcountry]

@@TheBigjake04 That's cool, I was born in Elko and lived in Battle Mountain for awhile. Cowboyed up at the Px ranch a few summers ago. Thanks for watching the videos.

[@TheBigjake04]

@@broomtailcountry small world. I worked the Star Peak in Unionville and a few outfits Paradise and Oravada.

[@rustlersillo]

En Chihuahua se trabaja y el estilo es mas sencillo o mas parecido al cowpuncher, las chaparreras de uso son largas y amplias para cubrir de los mezquites o chaparrales. Saludos desde Chihuahua Mexico.

[@enzomahalo2433]

Buckaroo is short for Vaquero because back in the day most people could not pronounce vaquero. They seem to be a spin off from vaqueros and they're trying to keep the art of the Vaquero alive. I admire keeping the art of horsemanship alive. However, I prefer cowpuching all because I grew up around them. I'm just use to it.

[@broomtailcountry]

Absolutely! The buckaroos typically try and keep the traditional style alive, even if changing would be faster and more efficient. Aka no atvs, typically no trap branding, reatas for roping, and custom boots.

[@williamgosvener47]

Incorrect.

[@williamgosvener47]

@@broomtailcountry Buckaroo was someone who worked on a LDS ranch with cattle. Cowpuncher was someone who worked on a non-LDS ranch with cattle. The LDS didn't like the term Cowpuncher after 1860, do to the civil war, drinking, prostitution, and other vises, connected with the term. Equipment used by Buckaroos and Cowpunchers depends on the weather, the work they are doing, local dress styles, individual taste, local environment, etc. The vaquero of Mexico gave birth to both the Buckaroo and the Cowpuncher, the equipment they use, etc.

[@broomtailcountry]

@@williamgosvener47 The historical articles I have read said that the term "buckaroo" came from vaquero. Also, the Mormon church was not and still is not as wide spread to cause the term buckaroo to be created. Buckaroos and cowpunchers were long in their creation before the Mormons found their way to the West.

[@curtussmith143]

Lorenzo, this is mostly correct. The only part of the story you left out was the mispronounced word of vaquero. What I mean by that is that the V in vaquero in traditional spanish is pronounced with a B not the english V. That is how we got buckaroo. I learned this from watching Pat Pickett. He has an excellent channel on youtube if you are more interested in Buckaroo life style.

[@gagesunderland-jewett4179]

The cow(puncher )came from the stock yard and rail heads had to do with the stick they used to move cows down the alley ways

[@margaretmargaret6582]

Buckaroos im one - tend to be a little slower to b more deliberate in handling cattle / avoiding injuries to cattle & horse etc as we are working a lot very far from home ranch. We prize good quiet horsemanship 60 ft ror longer ropes as we often are using "long loop" for catching horses on range. We also use working cow dogs on the gather btw my hats are grey or white with regular top crease the round top is more popular in Oregon and I use bosal and mecate for training. (very few buckaroos use spade bits even on finished horses

[@rickcharlespersonal]

I've heard the term buckaroo used as a jovial nickname plenty of times in my life, and I'm glad I looked it up out of curiosity because I had no idea there were two distinct cowboy cultures in America.

[@ethanperez4774]

Can we just take a second to appreciate the name "Cow Puncher" for a minute?

[@broomtailcountry]

Maybe you should take it up?

[@ethanperez4774]

@@broomtailcountry Maybe, but I appreciate the name "alive" much more 😂

[@tinoyb9294]

Hard and fast refers to the rope being tied to the saddle horn by cowpunchers. Vaqueros didn't do this because they used rawhide reatas that would break if not allowed to slip when dallied around the horn. Vaquero horns are wrapped in hide to slip easily whereas team ropers use rubber to grab a synthetic rope to stop a calf quickly.

[@willswope2204]

Team ropers rope steers not calfs

[@robertfranklin4479]

Interesting video. The term buckaroo is a corruption of the Gullah-Geechee term “Buckra” which was what they called the itinerant cow hunters in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Ponce de Leon first introduced cattle into what is now the USA during his exploration of Florida in 1513 and 1521. They became what we know now as the cracker cattle and pineywoods cattle. Both have the same blood as longhorns, but the pinewoods cattle have a little more English breeding. When the English began settling the southeast coast, they brought cattle and pretty much let them forage in the longleaf pine forests and canebrakes that dominated the region. The animals quickly became feral and the herders became cow hunters who would search for the animals on horseback and with cow dogs. Since they were operating in forested terrain, they didn’t use ropes, they used whips to drive the cattle and specially trained “catch” dogs to catch them. The cow hunters and open range grazing of cattle moved west through the pineywoods into southeast Texas where they met, mingled and merged with the Spanish vacqueros in Texas. That’s where cowboys, cow punchers and buckaroos come from. All were cattle herders. Their equipment and methods were developed and adapted from the landscape they worked in; pineywoods, brush country of sagebrush. Read Terry Jordan’s Trails to Texas: Southern Roots of the Western Livestock Industry. It’s a very well researched and documented work about this.

[@C.J.Traylor]

best of friends after a fight or two. but never the less

[@broomtailcountry]

That’s right. I know two that are best of friends and they make videos together. Look up Elliston Equine Solutions and see.

[@rezlogan4787]

There’s a cultural difference too. In the Union states, there’s a difference that carries to the modern day between ecofriendly somewhat progressive, yet libertarian buckaroos and the Confederate rebel authoritarian character of the cowpunchers. As a kid, I got lumped in with Texans since I was white and worked outdoors. But we almost never saw eye to eye, despite having parents from similar backgrounds. Those kids wanted to join the Marines to fight overseas. I wanted to work with the Coast Guard helping disaster areas. Ironically, they got stationed in Haiti passing out blankets, and I ended up guarding hardened criminals. Life is funny that way.

[@broomtailcountry]

I had a general idea of that philosophical difference between the two, but wouldn’t you say that the individual has more choice in what they believe? I also see that buckaroos are in the army/air force and hard core punchers tend to go marines…

[@rezlogan4787]

@@broomtailcountry They’re generalizations, so I’m sure some folks differ. One thing I’m curious about is whether cowpunchers tend toward more ornamental displays like big belt buckles, 10 gallon hats, and fancy stitched shirts. Whenever I worked the desert, I tended toward utility gear and work clothes. I’ve had the same oilskin broad brim hat for 8 years. It’s changed from dark green to dust brown. I can’t stand the look of a brand new untarnished hat.

[@broomtailcountry]

@@rezlogan4787 That's actually a really interesting point. A lot of people say the buckaroos are the shadowriders (fancy dressed riders), but I never thought of how the punchers care about what they look like as well. Considering the big belt buckles, gallon hats, and even their spur straps. Thank you! I will definitely look into that.

[@HumbertoRodriguez-rh9gk]

It is definitely a generalization, but a very fair one, and having worked ranches all over, the buckaroos are definitely a bit more "liberal", for lack of a better term. Usually they are non religious and like mentioned, libertarian in so much as you'll never hear one say who can or can't get married, what women should do with their bodies, etc. The southern cowboys may care to some degree how they look, and they certainly have their own traditions and styles, but in my experience, it's drastically different Buckaroos put much more into appearance and silver everything. It's not enough to have the perfect silhouette.

[@billarends2244]

Don’t ever refer to me as cowpuncher!! Southwest cowboys are cowboys, hands, waddie, or cowhands. In the days of shipping cattle by rail from the railheads of Kansas and mMissouri to the slaughter houses of Kansas City, St. Louis, and Chicago men were provided long poles to make sure cattle did not lay down in transit. When the steam locomotives stopped for water, coal, or wood, these guys would go along the train and poke any down cattle back on their feet with the long poles, therefore becoming “ cowpunchers”. Cowboys who chased wild cattle out of brush of the great Southwest were “brush poppers”. Not a puncher in sight.😊

[@seabeeswebuildwefight9723]

6:26, Great Basin Hat CO. I've got more than a few felt hats from them😂

[@broomtailcountry]

You have any pictures of the hats?

[@seabeeswebuildwefight9723]

@@broomtailcountry most of them are at my moms ranch, I have one I wear once in a blue moon when I need to clean up for dinner.

[@dorcasowens1210]

The term Buckaroo referred to the method of breaking horses... rope a horse, snub him to a post, blindfold him, saddle him! The cowboy mounted the horse and rode him til the horse "bucked out", or until he was thrown off. The horse was ridden like that by how many ever riders it took until the horse quit bucking. Thus the term "green broke" until the horse had further training. Most of that training was "on the job" while tending and herding cattle or doing ranch work. Not all horses were broken that way. My uncle was a foreman/manager for a ranch that was owned by my grandfather. They had over 3,000 head of cattle. Some of the best horses were brought up from Mexico. One dun stallion ran with the herd of mares and populated the area with the line back, black footed strong dun offspring. Noone every rode the dun stallion. Regards from Texas.

[@robertvose7310]

loved it...

[@broomtailcountry]

Thank you

[@bryanmontgomery4050]

Mesquite brush everywhere, 110° by noon, I’ll let you figure it out…

[@lmvath211]

Buccaneers, French Hunters and Marksmen (where we get the term Barbecue came from native term for smoking game meats, Baucca, the Buccaneers hunters were the know traders of. Maritime tradition and laws had a huge influence on cattle transportation, and all of the “shipping” industry and teamsters. Buckeye, buckwagon, buckaroo, terms for getting stock to buccaneers and swashbucklers. “Buck” in pirateering and wrangling was not for the buckles- it was for smoked meat and tanned hide, Buckskin.

[@broomtailcountry]

I took a history of barbecue class in college and I do believe that Barbeque comes from Barbacoa in the Caribbean.

[@broomtailcountry]

Overall great comment. Thank you for you information and wealth of response.

[@Luckyrowel.3]

No the first cows and Cowboys were in Florida

[@wensolitario3256]

Hello guys Iam Cory that's funny Tu intro me rrecuerda a un espisodio de padre de familia

[@Mike-xb8kq]

Main difference is cowboys ride double rigged saddles and tie their ropes. Buckeroos ride center-fire saddles and dally

[@walktalkit]

That’s not really true. You would have to look long and hard to find a center fire saddle in use. Single rigged maybe (although rare) but definitely not center fire. A 3/4 or 5/8 would be way more common, although in this day and age most people are riding double rigged 7/8 or 3/4.

[@Mike-xb8kq]

@@walktalkit go to northan Nevada

[@danielabilez3619]

It is all dissolving into the past. All things must pass and nothing can stay. Another will come

[@pauldennis3739]

I hate to be this guy but Mr you might want to talk and work with some buckaroos and pen riders up here in the nw also the buckaroo culture is actually growing has been for decades. the cowboy culture and use of equipment is very need based, so you'll buckaroos with batwings and punchers with wade trees rapped in mule

[@broomtailcountry]

I haven’t been up in the NW, I guess in Nevada alot of people ride in the traditional gear of Buckaroo. However, I have seen alot of Buckaroos use things punchers use on a needs basis. You bring up an interesting point with the need based equipment, thank you, I plan on making a video about it.

[@lmvath211]

I guess cow”Pokie” is the same as cow Poke.

[@Mike-xb8kq]

Th term hard and fast in reference to cowboys means they tie their ropes. Text me I'm a 73 year old ariz cowboy

[@broomtailcountry]

Whats your #

[@Bubba-k8p]

Its called tying off not tying on

[@biknjak]

Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall seeing many of the "buckaroo" styles in the Great Basin states until the 80's and 90"s. I don't remember flat hats, buckaroo style high top boots, chinks or wild rags. Maybe they were out in the remote ranches, but mostly I remember just ranch/PRCA type cowboy styles in the 70's and 80's growing up. In fact, I don't recall the term "buckaroo" being big until towards the end of the 20th century. I remember studying Charles M. Russell and Frederick Remington paintings of (mostly) Montana cowboys, and they wore "campaign" (drill sergeant) hats and wore wooly or batwing chaps. One explanation for the origin of chinks is the frequent getting in and out of a pickup truck in our modern times. Makes sense. Full length batwings would be in the way, as anyone who watches rodeo rough stock events has seen lots of guys stumble and trip on their chaps trying to get away from a bull or bronc once they're on the ground.

[@KennethMcMurry-h9s]

Hay cowpuncher dude chill out

[@jasona.palmer6993]

Thank you! Its kind of a misnomer to attribute the cowboy to mexicans when its origins are from white spain the Spanish have red and blonde hair with blue eyes from their celtic and germanic warrior ancestor who invented amazing horse skills that spread out from the indo- Europeans who bred and raised horses the originals.They brought horses to America. And the anglos have had horses every since the indo-europeans first conqured northern Europe!

[@Mike-xb8kq]

Cowboys stop to piss. Biuckeroos stop to cinch up

[@apolloredux3161]

I want to appreciate your videos, but you are missing so much historical facts. You omit massive amounts of historical facts about Texas and its history, 1 hour of internet research can do amazing things for all your videos. First, The term Buckaroo was first used for the North and South Carolina ranchers that moved to Texas. American Cowboying is a blend/marriage of the East coast Buckaroos and the south west Mexican Vaquero. And if you researched your content properly. You would understand this. Also, Texas was not "Taken" from Mexico, The united states paid for Texas, with real money. Just admit, you have some kind of agenda or bias in making these videos. Please do your research. I feel like if I watch any more of your video I am going to have to put you in the same category of false hood as the people that say the Japanese Ainu where not native to japan since they were white, and in fact tried to take the land from the Japanese.

[@broomtailcountry]

Well, first thank you for your comment. I appreciate a differing opinion than mine. I’m pretty busy today, so please give me some time for my rebuttal.

[@apolloredux3161]

@@broomtailcountry My comment comes off harsher then I want it too, but I feel it's still warranted, you make a good video. It's the missing historical facts that just bother me, maybe more than it should. I know countless ranchers and cowboys, none of them are ignorant to the history of the American cowboy, and it's sad, truly sad, that Blacks in America don't acknowledge history their ancestors played in the roles of American Cowboys, that's not on the cowboys or the people that are apart of that way of life. That's society and the black community that turns away from that. The American Cowboy in modern terms would be like comparing modern day martial arts, You have Karate an east Asian fighting style, and Boxing western fighting style mixed with wrestling, and you come out with a sport/fighting style mixed of those best eliminates, like what you find in Israel. It is it's own thing, that stands on it's own. That is the American cowboy when it comes to ranching. From the methods used, the culture, tools, the breeds of horses. Everything is it's own, that did not exist until those two styles merged. Go back to Japan now, and you see the same thing with the Samurai, the first Samurai where white Ainu native to the Japanese islands. But it was a blend of the Japanese and the Ainu fighting style that created something new.

[@broomtailcountry]

I appreciate your comments. I think because I am in training right now and have a really hectic work/life balance it would be best if you and I were to talk on the phone rather than me write a history paper in response. So kind sir, here is my email [e-mail]. If you would like my phone number please send me an email and I’ll give you my number and we can talk. Just know that I really love how involved you got in these comments.

[@Trail42]

Apollo Google is your friend

[@cws4657]

“Cow punchers” actually work….. buckaroos dress talk and act like they “work”

[@enzomahalo2433]

Yup, get in and out. Get the job done. Don't concern yourself chrome or chime. "Chrome won't take you home, chime don't have the time."

[@broomtailcountry]

Playing devils advocate here, One could argue that the work gets done in buckaroo country and their horses are a little bit nicer too.

[@parkerhorton8318]

Buckaroos are some of the best horsemen and stockmen on the planet educate yourself before you make stupid comments

[@cws4657]

@@parkerhorton8318 depends

[@parkerhorton8318]

@@cws4657 no, no it doesn’t

[@JM-rp9qf]

Zzzzzz

[@theoakmanuscript3400]

Arizona seems to be an eclectic mix of both cow puncher and buckaroo style. Most parts of Southern and Central Arizona have heavy thorny brush and is similar to Texas. While northern Arizona has wide open prairie more similar to Nevada and Wyoming. Most cowboys in Arizona wear Texas style hats and buckaroo style chinks.