Workin’ From Can’t to Can’t: African-American Cowboys in Texas
While not well-represented in Hollywood depictions of the Old West, it is estimated that one in four cowboys was Black. Some of their legacies live on today as larger-than-life figures like Nat Love, Bill Pickett, and Bass Reeves (all of which have been depicted in recent Western films: 2019’s Hell on the Border and 2022’s The Harder They Fall). Others’ stories have been lost to time. Many historians have attempted to uncover these lost histories, such as Zaron Burnett III’s podcast “Black Cowboys”, while others have interviewed living cowboys about their work and lives.
Within the Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC)’s Audiovisual Production Department Records is a small collection of videocassette (VHS) tapes. In celebration of February being Black History Month, we would like to highlight one of these programs produced by ITC back in 1995. Workin’ From Can’t to Can’t is a 27-minute documentary that features interviews with the following African-American cowboys aged sixty to ninety in Texas:
- Willie Brown
- E.J. Garza
- Toney Lott
- K.J. Oliver
- Reverend Mack Williams
- Nathaniel Youngblood
The title refers to the long days these cowhands worked, typically from dawn to dusk, or, as Reverend Mack Williams puts it, “Can’t see when you get up and can’t see when you lay down.” The entire documentary has been digitized and posted over on the Texas Archive of the Moving Image website. Accompanying this documentary is a curriculum guide, which is available in the UTSA Libraries Special Collections’ Digital Collections.
In addition to this documentary, UTSA Special Collections is home to a number of other items related to the history of African-American cowboys. In the Reflections on Texas Video Collection is a 1976 short program on Bill Pickett, the first African-American inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. In 2001, fourth-generation Black cowboy Leon Coffee was interviewed on his family history, how he was raised, as well as his life as a rodeo clown and bullfighter and the result is a 68-minute oral history that covers Coffee’s five decades of life up to that point. Finally, within our General Photograph Collection are several images of African-American cowhands in the early 20th century, including Can’t to Can’t interview subject Reverend Mack Williams.
Bibliography entries
Henderson, K. (1995). Workin’ From Can’t to Can’t: African-American Cowboys in Texas. Institute of Texan Cultures, https://utsa.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01UTXSANT_INST/15julip/alma99618603904621.
Nodjimbadem, K. “The Lesser-Known History of African-American Cowboys,” Smithsonian Magazine February 13, 2017, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lesser-known-history-african-american-cowboys-180962144/.
The Top Shelf 
I’m a farrier here in Southern California, and I’ve worked for an awesome black cowboy and his family for about twenty years. Good post! Dawn https://soulhorseride.wordpress.com/