Lavishly illustrated with photographs, paintings, and movie stills, this Western Heritage Award-winning book explores what life was actually like for the working cowboy in North America. "If you read only one book on cowboys, read this one".--Journal of the Southwest.

In American Cowboys, renowned French photographer Anouk Masson Krantz travels tens of thousands of miles from New York City across the United States to dive deeper into the world of the cowboy culture. Her photography reveals the real lives and communities of this largely overlooked and elusive part of the world.

“Thompson-Hernández's portrayal of Compton's black cowboys broadens our perception of Compton's young black residents, and connects the Compton Cowboys to the historical legacy of African Americans in the west. An eye-opening, moving book.”—Margot Lee Shetterly, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Figures “Walter Thompson-Hernández has written a book for the ages: a profound and moving account of what it means to be black in America that is awe inspiring in its truth-telling and limitless in its empathy. Here is an American epic of black survival and creativity, of terrible misfortune and everyday resilience, of grace, redemption and, yes, cowboys.”— Junot Díaz, Pulitzer prize-winning author of This is How You Lose Her A rising New York Times reporter tells the compelling story of The Compton Cowboys, a group of African-American men and women who defy stereotypes and continue the proud, centuries-old tradition of black cowboys in the heart of one of America’s most notorious cities. In Compton, California, ten black riders on horseback cut an unusual profile, their cowboy hats tilted against the hot Los Angeles sun. They are the Compton Cowboys, their small ranch one of the very last in a formerly semirural area of the city that has been home to African-American horse riders for decades. To most people, Compton is known only as the home of rap greats NWA and Kendrick Lamar, hyped in the media for its seemingly intractable gang violence. But in 1988 Mayisha Akbar founded The Compton Jr. Posse to provide local youth with a safe alternative to the streets, one that connected them with the rich legacy of black cowboys in American culture. From Mayisha’s youth organization came the Cowboys of today: black men and women from Compton for whom the ranch and the horses provide camaraderie, respite from violence, healing from trauma, and recovery from incarceration. The Cowboys include Randy, Mayisha’s nephew, faced with the daunting task of remaking the Cowboys for a new generation; Anthony, former drug dealer and inmate, now a family man and mentor, Keiara, a single mother pursuing her dream of winning a national rodeo championship, and a tight clan of twentysomethings--Kenneth, Keenan, Charles, and Tre--for whom horses bring the freedom, protection, and status that often elude the young black men of Compton. The Compton Cowboys is a story about trauma and transformation, race and identity, compassion, and ultimately, belonging. Walter Thompson-Hernández paints a unique and unexpected portrait of this city, pushing back against stereotypes to reveal an urban community in all its complexity, tragedy, and triumph. The Compton Cowboys is illustrated with 10-15 photographs.

The rolling prairies and ranch communities of the great heartland of America's West may be a long way from New York City, but renowned photographer Anouk Masson Krantz has clocked up many thousands of miles over several years exploring and capturing in rich photographic detail the compelling worlds of the American cowboy/cowgirl, championship rodeo arenas, ranch life and farming communities of this slice of the United States. Set out in a beautiful large-format book, the pages within are filled with Krantz's magnificent duotone images of the spirit of an extraordinary group of people and their lives, and in their own words, their great love of family, tradition and work ethic, and their great pride and affinity with their animals and the rich American rodeo championship sporting culture. Earning wide acclaim for her incredible fine art work exhibited in galleries and published in the bestselling Wild Horses of Cumberland Island ISBN 9781864707427 (2017), also by IMAGES, West: The American Cowboy is another artful, intimate study of the American character and their sense of place, and is a unique collection of works brought together by this award-winning photographer and storyteller. AUTHOR: Born and raised in France, Anouk Masson Krantz moved to the United States in the late 1990s. Living in New York, she completed her high school at the Lycée Francais and earned her bachelor degree while working for a lifestyle magazine. Following college she worked at Cartier's corporate office in New York that oversees the Americas. Anouk later studied at the International Center of Photography and has developed several notable bodies of work, including Wild Horses of Cumberland Island. Her work has appeared in prominent galleries and earned accolades from the International Photography Awards and International Monochrome Awards. Her first book Wild Horses of Cumberland Island (2017) became an immediate bestseller among the photography genre. The book and her art have been praised by international publications, such as Vanity Fair, Town & Country, Time, Harper s Bazaar, Daily Mail UK, and Garden & Gun among many others. SELLING POINTS: * Exceptional fine art photography - several years in the making - of the American cowboy/cowgirl and rodeo communities, the horse and cattle ranches, and the remarkable landscape of America's Wild West, by celebrated and award-winning photographer, Anouk Masson Krantz * Intimate explorations and portrayals of a society that honours historical traditions and practices a set of values that includes honesty, integrity, loyalty, work ethic, and dedication to family * A lavish tome filled with rich and awe-inspiring photography of mysterious and inspiring elements of American culture, accompanied by the author/photographer's unique storytelling 175 b/w photographs

"An awe-inspiring portrait of cowboys throughout the Americas in images and words and a passionate exploration of their bond with horses and the land."--

Who were the black cowboys? They were drovers, foremen, fiddlers, cowpunchers, cattle rustlers, cooks, and singers. They worked as wranglers, riders, ropers, bulldoggers, and bronc busters. They came from varied backgrounds—some grew up in slavery, while free blacks often got their start in Texas and Mexico. Most who joined the long trail drives were men, but black women also rode and worked on western ranches and farms. The first overview of the subject in more than fifty years, Black Cowboys in the American West surveys the life and work of these cattle drivers from the years before the Civil War through the turn of the twentieth century. Including both classic, previously published articles and exciting new research, this collection also features select accounts of twentieth-century rodeos, music, people, and films. Arranged in three sections—“Cowboys on the Range,” “Performing Cowboys,” and “Outriders of the Black Cowboys”—the thirteen chapters illuminate the great diversity of the black cowboy experience. Like all ranch hands and riders, African American cowboys lived hard, dangerous lives. But black drovers were expected to do the roughest, most dangerous work—and to do it without complaint. They faced discrimination out west, albeit less than in the South, which many had left in search of autonomy and freedom. As cowboys, they could escape the brutal violence visited on African Americans in many southern communities and northern cities. Black cowhands remain an integral part of life in the West, the descendants of African Americans who ventured west and helped settle and establish black communities. This long-overdue examination of nineteenth- and twentieth-century black cowboys ensures that they, and their many stories and experiences, will continue to be known and told.

Texas Jack: America’s First Cowboy Star is a biography of John B. “Texas Jack” Omohundro, the first well-known cowboy in America. A Confederate scout and spy from Virginia, Jack left for Texas within weeks of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. In Texas, he became first a cowboy and then a trail boss, jobs that would inform the rest of his life. Jack lead cattle on the Chisholm and Goodnight-Loving trails to New Mexico, California, Kansas and Nebraska. In 1868 he met James B. “Wild Bill” Hickok in Kansas and then William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody in Nebraska at the end of the first major cattle drive to North Platte. Texas Jack and Buffalo Bill became friends, and soon the scout and the cowboy became the subjects of a series of dime novels written by Ned Buntline.