Buckaroo John's Blog — History

The Lassos were used by Vaquero’s to hunt wild cattle. Until the late 18th century, the Vaquero tied the lariat to the horse’s tail. But the development of heavier, more substantial saddles changed this technique. Vaquero’s began wrapping the end of the rope around the horn of their heavy saddles. This wrapping technique called “Dar la Vuelta” ("take a turn" in Spanish) passed over to the American cowboys, who corrupted the Spanish term into “dally” or “dally welter." Vaquero’s and the cowboys who copied the practice could slip the rope against the saddle horn and gain leverage against a roped...

Cowboys of the old west were referred to as "vaqueros." (The Spanish word "vaca" means cow.) The term "cowboy" was rarely used back in the old west. It is more commonly used today. The word vaquero pronounced by American cowboys, was "bukera" and finally "buckaroo." For a period of time anyone working cattle, whether in Texas, California, or elsewhere was known as a "buckaroo". It wasn't until the late 1860's when the Texans began to drive their cattle north to the new railroads in Kansas that the term "cowboy" came into widespread use. Vaqueros were poor, owned no land, probably not even...