LOS VAQUEROS: Our First Cowboys

A fictional narrator, Francisco, tells about life on his Texas ranch, and passes along the stories his grandfather told him about the vaqueros, the Mexican cowboys. Snippets of information--on Francisco's family history, changes in ranching over the centuries, the equipment used, and the origins of some words and traditions--are presented along with black-and-white archival photographs. It's a hodgepodge of interesting facts, although Munson glosses over history with some alarming results: Cort‚s is described simply as an explorer who raised cattle, ""the natives in Mexico worked for the Spanish leaders,"" and ""Catholic priests came from Spain to Mexico to teach religion to the natives."" While the Mexican influence on the origins of the cowboy is neglected, this book doesn't tend to the oversight.