According to legend, the cemetery's name refers to a cowboy who died while passing through the area and may have been the first person buried there. It is known that W.G.S. Hughes (1851-1925) and his wife Sarah (1854-1945) donated the land for the site, likely after the 1882 death of their four-year-old son William, the first recorded burial there. They gave an additional acre for a school in 1932, and Sarah Hughes and her family deeded another 4.65 acres to the Cowboy Cemetery Association. Since then, the association has overseen many improvements and cared for the burial ground, which preserves the heritage of the Deep Creek community.