When people picture the American cowboy, the image is usually fixed: white hat, white face, wide-open plains. History tells a different story. After the Civil War, as many as one in four cowboys were Black. Some historians argue the number may have been even higher in certain regions. These men weren’t side characters. They were the backbone of the cattle industry that built the West. Many Black cowboys were formerly enslaved men who already knew how to handle livestock. They became: trail bosse

The idea of being a cowboy exemplified freedom for many Americans. Yet few of us know that the first cowboys were actually enslaved Black men who looked after cattle herds in the ranches of Texas. America's Hidden Stories: The Black Wild West premieres Monday at 9/8c. #BHM | Smithsonian Channel