Winning back the west Black cowboys and cowgirls reclaim their place in history

When Larry Callies went to the movies as a boy in Rosenberg, Texas, the heroes riding horses and wearing 10-gallon hats were all white men. But the real cowboys Callies knew were Black.

- Maria C Hunt

His great-grandfather Lavel Callies was an enslaved cowboy who worked with horses professionally after emancipation. "We were cowboys for three generations back," says the 71-year-old, who runs the Black Cowboy Museum in his hometown.

Historians estimate that 20% to 25% of the people who settled the US west - a region from Washington state to Montana and New Mexico to California - were Black men and women. They moved cattle on horseback, settled towns, kept the peace and delivered the mail in the wild, wild west. The word "cowboy" was originally an insult reserved for Black men who worked with cattle.

We now know that the Lone Ranger, a travelling white hero who featured in movies, TV and radio dramas, was almost certainly inspired by the legendary Black lawman Bass Reeves. In his 32-year career, deputy US marshal Reeves fought crime with several Native American partners.

"Bass Reeves is the closest person to resemble the Lone Ranger," says Art T Burton, a western historian. "[He's] much bigger. He is undoubtedly the greatest frontier hero in US history." But Black cowgirls and cowboys have been pretty much invisible to most. For nearly 200 years, two separate cowboy narratives, one Black and one white, have trotted side by side. The two have rarely crossed paths. Until now.