Before the Civil War, a quarter of Texas cowboys on cattle drives were Black.

Like their white and Tejano counterparts, they had a singular perspective.

It was on horseback, 7 feet up.

Some of those Black cowboys were free; some were enslaved. Other Black ranch hands, including women and children, stayed home taming horses, tending livestock and repairing equipment.

 

Read more from Elaine Ayala with San Antonio Express-News here.