Equal in the Saddle

The ranch's cowboys lived in the bunkhouse and, at the end of a long day, spoke in many languages. Cowboys were a diverse group that included Americans and Europeans of Dutch, English, German, Scottish, and other backgrounds; about one-quarter were African-American, and many were Hispanic of American Indian heritage. As Conrad Warren recalled in 1980, Mexican vaqueros talked to the horses and dogs in Spanish, Menard in French, Johnnie in German, and everybody else in English, and they seemed to understand everybody.

Deer Lodge, Montana · United States