Jason Griffin straps his right arm in bandages , preparing himself to grip the reins of a wildly bucking bronco . Tall , broad-shouldered , with a rough beard , he steps into his cowboy boots , fits a Stetson hat and heads out to meet his mount in the rodeo arena . Griffin is a four-time world champion bareback bucking horse rider -- competing in a sport that began in the 19th century heyday of the Wild West . With each victory -- he has also won three all-round rodeo championships -- the Texan raises awareness of a strong tradition which is rarely seen in the many novels , films and television series dedicated to the tales of the old West : The historic story of America 's black cowboys . On cinema screens and paperback covers , the cowboys of old were heroic , hard-bitten and -- almost always -- white . In reality , the American West of the 1800s was traversed by an assortment of black , white , Mexican and Native American cattle hands . Contemporary records are rare but historians now estimate that up to one in four Texan cowboys was African American , while the number of Mexican cowboys was even greater . Watch online : the video trailer for the documentary `` The Forgotten Cowboys '' John Ferguson and Gregg MacDonald 's documentary film -- and multimedia project -- `` The Forgotten Cowboys '' follows Griffin and other contemporary black cowboys as they gain a following competing at rodeos and go about their working lives . London-based photographer Ferguson first became interested in the group 10 years ago while watching a news report in New York about local black cowboys holding a parade . His interest was immediately piqued : `` It 's really nice to find something that 's new , is n't it ? They have been around for hundreds of years , but history has forgotten about them . '' Read related : 'Texas in Queens ' : Junior wranglers find refuge with black cowboys . During the 17th and 18th century , many slaves were displaced from areas of Western Africa where cattle herding cultures -- as depicted in 4,000 year old cave paintings at Tassili n'Ajjer , in the south of modern-day Algeria -- had existed for millennia . But historians say that those who became cowboys in the 19th century joined a new cultural tradition -- developed in the company of their European and Native American counterparts -- with different breeds of cattle and new techniques . Life for a black cowboy was tough , explains Michael Searles , Emeritus Assistant Professor of History at Augusta State University , who has edited an anthology of writing on the subject . `` Black cowboys were sometimes expected to do ... more than their white counterpart -- in other words , some of the roughest work . '' `` Breaking of stock ( taming horses ) and getting horses ready to ride each morning was often the work of the black cowboy -- where there were black cowboys -- and when they had to cross a swollen river to move cattle ... black cowboys were the first to cross that river . '' Searles -- known to his students as Cowboy Mike -- lectures in a check shirt , bandana and ten gallon hat . He explains that life as a cowboy was still preferable to other roles given to slaves and , later , free African Americans in the South , such as picking cotton on a plantation . `` Many black cowboys , when they were slaves , were n't treated as you 'd think a traditional slave would be treated , because a cowboy needed a lot more independence , '' said Searles . In America : Top-ranked polo players hail from Philadelphia 's inner city . Even after the abolition of slavery , prejudice and discrimination were still common -- but black cowboys could expect a better relationship with white Americans than many . Ferguson talks about a `` cowboy code '' of equal responsibility , teamwork and mutual protection binding today 's cowboys and their black and white ancestors . Mike agrees that a kind of loyalty developed between cowboys of different races -- but suggests that cowboys were initially united by necessity . `` If you 've got nine or 10 cowboys on a cattle drive , you are interdependent with the folk who are riding with you -- they can either save your life or they can let you die . `` There are times when you really need the assistance of another cowboy . That was not the place to be too prejudiced or too hostile to the cowboy riding next to you , '' says Ferguson , the filmmaker . Asked how the image of the black cowboy disappeared from popular culture , Ferguson points the finger at the Western movie business of the mid-20th century . `` Hollywood played a major part in dismissing the role of black cowboys . In 99 % of Western cowboy films , there is no black cowboy . '' `` America was a divided country -- segregation -- Hollywood played their part down . Compare Clint Eastwood or John Wayne to the black cowboys . It just does n't fit the image . Black cowboy . A hero . ''
Photographer John Ferguson documents the lives of modern-day black cowboys . Historians now estimate up to one in four cowboys in Old West were African-American . Historian : The black cowboy played a crucial role in taming the American West . Were cattle-herding slaves labelled `` cow-boys '' where the term originated ?