HISTORY CORNER
Aptos Cowboys
MARCH 16, 2022 | APTOS LIFE
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here did These land grants expanded the original our cowboy tradition in California cowboys come from the early days of the from? When the missions. Mexican families raised Spanish came huge herds of cattle tended to colonize the New World, they by their children and Native established colonies from Florida Americans. The cattle were raised up to Georgia in the east, for their leather hides and across Louisiana, and tallow. These were Texas, New Mexico, traded to Yankees who Arizona, and California sailed up the coast, and in the west. The soldiers were exchanged for and the missions that finished goods which were being established were not available locally. needed to supply their We don’t normally think own food, so the explorers of the Monterey Bay brought their horses and as cowboy country, but By John Hibble it was an important cattle with them, along Aptos History Museum part of our history. The with their herding and ranching expertise. The word “cowboy” is from original cowboys, or the Spanish caballero (horseman). The Spanish word more correctly vaqueros, had to be for horse is caballo, and is expert horsemen and ropers, herd pronounced ka-by-yo, which cattle, brand them, breed and break sounds a lot like cowboy. horses, and protect the herd from In 1793, Captain James thieves and wild carnivores such as Vancouver presented King grizzly bears and mountain lions. Kamehameha of Hawaii with When Mexico gained six cows and a bull so that there independence from Spain, the might be beef to eat when they land was taken away from the returned. The herd grew so large missions and parceled out into that the king brought vaqueros large ranchos that were granted to from California to manage the prominent Mexicans as a reward cattle. Hawaiian cowboys are for their service to the country. In called paniolo, a Hawaiian 1833, the first private ownership version of the word español. of land in our community was When California became part granted to Rafael Castro by the of the United States in 1850, our Mexican Governor Jose Figueroa, Hispanic citizens and culture did as a reward for Castro’s military not disappear. Don Vicente Castro, and political service. The Aptos one of Rafael’s sons, continued Rancho spanned from today’s to raise cattle and to provide his Seascape Boulevard to Borregas services to the local ranchers such Gulch near Cabrillo College, and as John T. Porter and Dr. August over two miles inland. Castro’s Liliencrantz, who owned the 1000sister was granted the Soquel acre Sand Rock Farm along today’s Rancho to the west, and their Freedom Boulevard. Vicente father was granted the San also owned a ranch in San Juan Andres Rancho to the east.
RANCHING FAMILY Above:
Rafael Castro expanded the cowboy tradition locally with his sprawling Aptos Rancho. Right: Rafael’s son Vicente Castro continued to raise cattle.
Batista. Often, cowboys would ride hundreds of miles to secure additional cattle stock or horses from other ranches in California. After the railroad was built, ranching gave way to the lumber industry, and Vicente headed south toward Santa Maria in 1900 to continue his trade, carrying on a tradition over 100 years old. The Aptos cowboy tradition continued at Sand Rock Farm for decades more and cattle ranching continues in the county to this day. As I was growing up, I watched plenty of cowboy movies. The shows were laced with a lot of colorful language. Maybe that’s where I first heard the word
“lingo,” which means the language and speech, especially the jargon or slang, of a particular group. Even though it was obvious that the occasional “adios” was a Mexican/Spanish word, it did not occur to me until later that most cowboy terms were anglicized versions of the original Spanish words, such as bandit, from bandido; barbecue, from barbacoa; boots, from botas, originated by Spanish vaqueros for protection of legs in saddles; rodeo, from rodear, to encircle the herd; spurs, from espuelas; and the uniquely cowboy exclamation “vamoose,” from vamos.