A Fluid Frontier: Minority and Ethnic Groups and Opportunity in Oklahoma
Latinx on the Frontier
Hispanics make up the third-largest ethnic minority group in Oklahoma. Many Oklahomans can trace their ancestry back to the Latin American nations or Puerto Rico.
The Hispanic story connected to Oklahoma from the beginning, starting with early exploration into the lands now known as the United States. Expeditions from Mexico led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1541 and Juan de Oñate in 1601, each crossed into present Oklahoma territory, marking the beginning of Hispanic influence in the region. Interactions between the Spanish and the American Indian tribes produced lasting impacts, such as the introduction of the horse to the West.
Possible route of the Coronado expedition (2012.201.B0144.0284, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS).5
Cowboy Culture
Hispanic contributions to cowboy culture did not end with the introduction of the horse. Vaquero is the Spanish word for cowboy. The cowboy originated with Hispanic culture and vaqueros eventually transformed the American West.
The Spanish in North America first established ranches and tended to cattle on horseback. Much of what is now Texas was Mexican territory until Texas gained independence in 1836. Due to the strong Spanish influence in Texas, the state became an important spot for ranching culture.
In an effort to find the best markets for selling cattle, ranchers (often Mexican Americans known as Tejanos) traveled through different states with their herds. Ranchers often made more money per head of cattle in the northeast, which encouraged them to take their cattle to better markers. This travel established routes across the United States called cattle drives, which these cowboys journeyed along with their cattle.
Many important cattle drives along the Chisholm Trail, the Shawnee or Sedalia Trail, and the Great Western Trail crossed through present-day Oklahoma territory.
The Old Chisholm Cattle Trail with subsidiary trails in Texas, 1873 (HISMAP.0039, Oklahoma Historical Society Map Collection, OHS).6
The famous Pawnee Bill—his clothes show how Hispanic culture has influenced the making of the cowboy (2012.201.B0358B.0436, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS).7
Cattle From E. K. Giles Ranch Near Coalgate, Oklahoma, 1905 (49, Oklahoma Historical Society Photograph Collection, OHS).8
These cattle drives produced a cowboy culture inspired by Hispanic language, practices, and fashion, which Oklahoma quickly adopted.
Spanish-Mexican culture shaped the Oklahoma cowboy. Cattle ranching as an industry developed in Mexico and moved up through Texas. The movement of the animals north exposed others in Oklahoma to common vaquero practices and materials including a kind of lasso known as the reata, the use of silver as an accent on clothing and tools, and the roots of cowboy words and phrases in Spanish.
In both Hispanic and non-Hispanic communities, cowboy culture prevails and continues as a defining characteristic of Oklahoma and the West.
Other Involvement: 1890–1900
Oklahoma saw a major influx of immigrants fleeing the dangers of the revolution in Mexico in the early twentieth century. Oklahoma had only a small Hispanic population before the Mexican Revolution, which took place during the 1910s.
Mexican soldiers from the Mexican Revolution, 1911 (image courtesy of the Library of Congress).9
However, in the nineteenth century, a small number from the Latinx community found involvement in other areas of the frontier besides work as cattle hands.
A large number of those working in the mines and on the railroads were of Hispanic heritage. Mines and railroads provided opportunity to many seeking work on the frontier. Latinx are not the only ethnic group that found work in these positions.
Immigrant communities made up many of the hard, determined workers trying to provide for themselves and their families on the frontier as they crossed into the region that is now Oklahoma. These work environments created a place for cross-cultural interaction not seen in other parts of the country.
Railroad Depot, April 23, 1889 (21412.BH71.A, Z. P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection, OHS).10
