The saddle, the rope and the boots: the vaquero's working kit came first.
A vaquero is a horse-mounted cattle herder from the Spanish-Mexican tradition, and the word comes from "vaca," Spanish for cow. Wikipedia says the vaquero became the foundation for the North American cowboy. The history is half the story. The other half is where a good boot comes from now: León, Guanajuato.
About 70 percent of all shoes made in Mexico come from León and the surrounding area, per Wikipedia. Alvies and Hevias boots are handcrafted there. León also has cattle history: Wikipedia says Spaniards introduced farming and cattle-raising to the area around 1546.
What does vaquero mean?
Vaquero is the Spanish word for cowherd or cattle-herder. Wikipedia derives it from vaca, meaning "cow," plus the suffix -ero, used for a trade or occupation. The tradition has roots in the Iberian Peninsula and developed extensively in Mexico, then called New Spain.
Where did the vaquero come from?
The vaquero came from Spanish cattle-raising carried to New Spain. Wikipedia says that in the 16th century, conquistadors and other Spanish settlers brought their cattle-raising traditions, horses and domesticated cattle to the Americas.
Sources differ on who the first vaqueros were. History.com says the original vaqueros were largely Indigenous Mesoamerican men trained by the Spaniards, who arrived in 1519. Wikipedia says that by the 1570s, mulattoes and Black workers were the overwhelming majority, citing a Mexican Mesta ordinance. The Bullock Texas State History Museum says most vaqueros were mestizo, American Indian, African American, mulatto or criollo. Read together, that is a mixed workforce.
History.com adds that historians estimate up to one-quarter of 19th-century cowboys were African American. Their story has its own page: Black cowboys.
What is the difference between a vaquero, a charro and a buckaroo?
A vaquero is a horse-mounted cattle herder, a charro is the ranchero of the Mexican countryside and the charreada tradition, and a buckaroo is the Great Basin cowboy's word for himself. The table gives what Wikipedia says about each word.
| Term | What it names | Where the word is used | Word history |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vaquero | Horse-mounted cattle herder | Many along the southern Rio Grande and the Llano Estacado prefer it | From vaca, "cow," plus a suffix for a trade |
| Charro | The horseman from the countryside, the ranchero, working mainly as vaquero and caporal | Mexico; charros compete in tournaments in Mexican states and in US states such as California, Texas and Illinois | Began in the 18th century as a put-down for rancheros, then became a synonym of ranchero |
| Buckaroo | The Great Basin cowboy's word for himself and his tradition | Great Basin | Generally believed an anglicized vaquero; first appeared in American English in 1827 |
Verdict: say vaquero for the Spanish-Mexican cattle herder, charro for the ranchero and the charreada tradition, and buckaroo for the Great Basin. Wikipedia says buckaroo may be a corruption of vaquero. It also lists caballero as a term used in Indigenous and Hispanic communities of New Mexico, without giving it a separate meaning.
How did vaqueros shape the American cowboy?
Anglo cowboys in Texas learned the trade from vaqueros. The Handbook of Texas says that between 1821 and the trail-driving era, many Spanish stock-handling techniques passed into the Anglo way of doing things. Rancher Richard King traveled to Mexico in 1854 to recruit entire vaquero families, per the Bullock museum, and they became known as Los Kineños.
The Handbook of Texas says that by the 1870s the vaquero's saddle, chaps, bandana, sombrero, lasso and spurs had spread so widely that they became simply "Texan." Artist Luis Jimenez, who titled his sculpture "Vaquero," said Mexicans "developed the whole notion of being cowboys," per the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The full arc is in the history of the cowboy.
What words and gear did cowboys take from vaqueros?
Cowboys took the lasso, the chaps, the reata and the rodeo. History.com says "lasso" comes from the Spanish lazo, meaning rope, and was coined in the early 19th century. The Bullock museum says the tan-galons, botas, chapareras, broncos, espuelas and reatas of today's cow folk are legacies of the Mexican vaqueros.
History.com credits vaqueros with the lassoing tricks and roping competitions that became the foundations of the first rodeo. The Bullock museum says that by 1929 those games had become America's favorite riding, roping and racing event.
What did vaqueros wear on their feet, and how did that become the cowboy boot?
Vaqueros wore boots wrapped around the calves, and those boots influenced the cowboy boot. Wikipedia's "Vaquero" entry describes the 1840s outfit as leather or cloth pants with buttons on the sides, embossed deer or goat skin boots wrapped around the calves, large spurs and a wide-brimmed hat. Its "Cowboy boot" entry says the boots worn by Mexican vaqueros influenced cowboy boots, though the exact origin of the modern boot is unclear.
That entry names two older Mexican styles, botas de ala and botas de campana, and describes the botas de ala as heel-less. It says both were falling into disuse by the 1870s. It describes the original Texas boot as tight-fitting, with a narrow sole, an eight-inch leg and an extraordinarily high heel, partly to keep the foot from slipping through the stirrups.
Classic western boots have a tall shaft and an angled heel usually over one inch. The roper is a newer design with a short shaft and a very low, squared-off heel, usually under one inch. Pick a classic boot for the tall shaft and angled heel, and pick a roper for the short shaft and low heel. Our guide to roper vs cowboy boot vs western Chelsea compares them.
Where does a good cowboy boot come from now?
One answer is León, Guanajuato. Wikipedia says León has a large leather industry, making shoes, boots, belts, jackets and other leather accessories for national and international markets. Every Alvies boot is handcrafted in León, per the Alvies FAQ, and Hevias says it builds in León and owns its supply chain from material sourcing to final construction.
The house builds for the long run. Every Alvies boot and every welted Hevias boot is Goodyear welted: a leather strip is stitched to the upper and insole, then to the outsole, so the boot can be resoled. See Goodyear welt construction for how it works. Wikipedia says vaquero boots influenced the cowboy boot; today's Alvies and Hevias boots are their own designs. For a made-to-measure pair, the house's custom tier is Olsen-Stelzer, whose story starts in Henrietta, Texas: Olsen-Stelzer history.
Are there still vaqueros today?
Yes. History.com says vaqueros, or Mexican cowboys, are still doing this work, including on ranches in Texas and western Nebraska. The Bullock museum says you will find vaqueros still flinging a rope around a cow or horse in Texas, California and other parts of the U.S.
Quick answers
Was the vaquero older than the American cowboy?
Yes. The vaquero tradition developed in New Spain from Spanish methods, and Wikipedia says it became the foundation of the North American cowboy. Texas Anglo cowboys learned vaquero techniques by working alongside them, per the Handbook of Texas.
What is a reata?
A reata is a vaquero's rope. The Bullock museum calls it a vaquero's greatest source of pride and says it was made from strips of cowhide that were cut, shaved, wetted, stretched, dried, greased and braided.
Where does the word chaps come from?
History.com says chaps come from the Spanish chaparreras, rooted in the word for chaparral, the thick thorny brush of the Southwest. Wikipedia says Americans shortened the word because of its difficult pronunciation, and gives 1843 as the earliest mention historians have found.
What is charrería?
Charrería is the national sport of Mexico. Wikipedia says the first events were ranch-work competitions between haciendas, and UNESCO inscribed charrería on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.
Bottom line
The vaquero is the Spanish-Mexican cattle herder whose tools, words and boots shaped the American cowboy. His trade began with a mixed workforce in New Spain. A good boot today still comes from Mexico, from León, where Alvies and Hevias are handcrafted and Goodyear welted.
Where to go next
Sources: Wikipedia ("Vaquero," "Charro," "Charreada," "Chaps," "Cowboy boot," "León, Guanajuato"); History.com, "How Mexican Vaqueros Inspired the American Cowboy"; Bullock Texas State History Museum, "Vaqueros"; Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas, "The Vaquero"; Smithsonian American Art Museum, "Vaquero"; Alvies FAQ; Hevias, "Our Story"; Bespoke Western product pages.
