Photographer captures what makes a cowboy

“The vaquero was in Texas before there was a Texas,” writes John Dyer. The original cowboys came north from Mexico with the big Spanish land grants of the 18th century. These expert horsemen can trace their ancestry back to the original mounted riders of Spain and Morocco. They passed on all of their skills and knowledge to the Anglo cowboy, but rarely received credit. Hollywood Westerns all but forgot these men.

Dyer’s new collection of stunning black and white photographs pays homage to the remaining vaqueros of Texas, and, in turn, to their forefathers of long ago.

Most of the men pictured in the book won’t call themselves vaqueros, because it’s a term of respect that is earned. “Don’t call yourself a cowboy,” says one young ranch hand, “Let someone else call you one.”

Their humble approach to a dangerous job is impressive, as is their dedication to keeping things simple even amidst all the technological changes in the world since the heyday of the trail rides. Dyer’s humility is similarly laudable. “I was determined to do two things: photograph the vaquero life as it is today, without gloss or retouch, and make photographs that didn’t repeat the beautiful clichés that we’ve all seen over and over.” He succeeds on both fronts, though neither was easy.

When he first approached some South Texas ranches about his project, he was met with some cynicism, or perhaps it was just a front for a “city photographer.” Mary Margaret McAllen quoted her father, saying to Dyer, “You’re 30 years too late.” Dyer found out he was right on some accounts and wrong on others.

The vaquero tradition lives on in places like Premont, Hebbronville, and Kleberg County among others. Men still rise early and throw a riata on their ride for the day. Cattle still need to be rounded up and branded. Gone may be the long trail rides north, but barbed wire still needs fixing. Vaqueros today might just as soon be seen talking on a cell phone miles from the ranch house, while a helicopter flies overhead to help herd the livestock.

The inherent pride in their work remains the same though. One vaquero says, “There are a lot of loafers with hats out there, but not many real vaqueros.”

It’s no wonder, though, because the work is dirty and dangerous, and the pay still low. One vaquero told Dyer, “Cuando pones la pata en el estribo, no sabes como vas a venir para atras (When you put your foot in the stirrup, you don’t know how you’ll come back).”

Many vaqueros today can point to their fathers and grandfathers as their heroes and mentors. At age 24, Candelario Aguilar III, or “Tres” as he’s known, is one of the youngest vaqueros on the King Ranch. His advice for aspiring vaqueros is predictably simple and modest. “You have to stay focused, always work hard and put in effort.”

The same could be said for Dyer’s workman-like approach to his photographs, which show vaqueros going about their business, rarely posing or posturing about their work. The tools of the trade are given their due respect too. The boots, the stirrups, the saddles are all shown in their own beauty. Dyer’s eye for detail is cinematic without being clichéd.

Noted Western author Elmer Kelton provides the introduction. The photographs are complemented with a collection of oil paintings by Lionel Sosa. If you long for the days when life was simple and you were at “home on the range,” go back in time with this purebred book.

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Martin Winchester is a book critic for The Monitor. He is an English teacher at IDEA College Preparatory in Donna. Send comments to mwinchester@ideapublicschools.org

Photographs by John Dyer

El Vaquero Real: The Original Cowboy

PUBLISHER: Bright Sky Press

PRICE: $34.95 / PAGES: 160

3 out of 5 stars