Cowboys aren’t just the guys with hats and guns that you see in movies in the American Wild West… there are cowboys all over the world!
Vaqueros
The first cowboys came from Spain, but then moved to Mexico when Spanish people settled there bringing horses and their cowboy skills. Mexican cowboys are called vaqueros! They worked on horseback taking care of cattle and moving them around from place to place.
Paniolos
Paniolos are Hawaiian cowboys! In 1832, Hawaiian King Kamehameha III invited some vaqueros from California over to Hawaii to teach people how to look after herds of cattle. Paniolo is the way Hawaiian people pronounced “espanol” or “Spanish,” and this is how paniolos got their name!
Stockmen
In Australia, cowboys are called stockmen, and they look after live cattle, sheep and horses on a large piece of land called a station. Stockmen also ride horses, and they sometimes have working dogs too!
Pretty cool, huh?? Which kind of cowboy would you like to be?
2 Comments
Paniolos!
I think I’d be a stockmen!