Vaquero: Genesis of the Texas Cowboy

by William D. Wittliff, John Graves (Introduction)

In the early 1970s, noted Texas historian Joe Frantz offered Bill Wittliff a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—to visit a ranch in northern Mexico where the vaqueros still worked cattle in the traditional ways. Drawn to this land-out-of-time again and again, Wittliff photographed the vaqueros as they went about daily chores that had changed little since the first Mexican cowherders learned to work cattle from a horse's back. In the tradition of the great cowboy photographer Erwin Smith, Wittliff captured a way of life that now exists only in memory and in the pages of this book. Here you'll find photographs that reveal the muscle, sweat, and drama that went into roping a calf in thick brush or breaking a wild horse to the saddle. Wittliff's evocative text recalls the humility and pride of men who knew their place in the world and filled it with quiet competence. John Graves brings his own memories of the vaqueros to the text, writing about the kinship between the vaquero and the cowboy and about how "the old, old ways," which Wittliff preserves in these "lovely and meaningful photographs," still tug at the modern imagination.

176 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fine collection of 90+ sepia-tinted photographs was taken in the years 1970-1973 by American photographer Bill Wittliff on a ranch in northern Mexico where the vaquero traditions inherited by American cowboys still survived almost unchanged by the 20th century. Most of the photographs show the vaqueros working cattle and horses. Some show them around the morning campfire, their bedrolls still spread out on the stony ground. A few show them in the bunkhouse at the ranch. The most striking of the images are portrait shots of the vaqueros themselves, looking with smiles into the camera.

The book is introduced by Texas writer John Graves, who describes is own experiences with vaqueros and travels in ranch country south of the border. Wittliff's recollections of his visits to the big ranch, which was broken up soon after his pictures were taken, are a series of impressions like photo images in a scrapbook. Altogether, the book is a tribute to a time and a traditional life that existed for many generations, but for the most part exists no more. An excellent addition to any bookshelf of Western literature.