History Corner

Aptos Cowboys

Where did the original cowboys come from? When the Spanish came to colonize the New World, they established colonies from Florida up to Georgia in the east, and across Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California in the west. The soldiers and the missions that were being established needed to supply their own food, so the explorers brought their horses and cattle with them, along with their herding and ranching expertise. The original cowboys, or more correctly vaqueros, had to be expert horsemen and ropers, herd cattle, brand them, breed and break horses, and protect the herd from thieves and wild carnivores such as grizzly bears and mountain lions.

When Mexico gained independence from Spain, the land was taken away from the missions and parceled out into large ranchos that were granted to prominent Mexicans as a reward for their service to the country. In 1833, the first private ownership of land in our community was granted to Rafael Castro by the Mexican Governor Jose Figueroa, as a reward for Castro’s military and political service. The Aptos Rancho spanned from today’s Seascape Boulevard to Borregas Gulch near Cabrillo College, and over two miles inland. Castro’s sister was granted the Soquel Rancho to the west, and their father was granted the San Andres Rancho to the east.

These land grants expanded our cowboy tradition in California from the early days of the missions. Mexican families raised huge herds of cattle tended by their children and Native Americans. The cattle were raised for their leather hides and tallow. These were traded to Yankees who sailed up the coast, and were exchanged for finished goods which were not available locally. We don’t normally think of the Monterey Bay as cowboy country, but it was an important part of our history. The word “cowboy” is from the Spanish caballero (horseman). The Spanish word for horse is caballo, and is pronounced ka-by-yo, which sounds a lot like cowboy.

In 1793, Captain James Vancouver presented King Kamehameha of Hawaii with six cows and a bull so that there might be beef to eat when they returned. The herd grew so large that the king brought vaqueros from California to manage the cattle. Hawaiian cowboys are called paniolo, a Hawaiian version of the word español.

When California became part of the United States in 1850, our Hispanic citizens and culture did not disappear. Don Vicente Castro, one of Rafael’s sons, continued to raise cattle and to provide his services to the local ranchers such as John T. Porter and Dr. August Liliencrantz, who owned the 1000acre Sand Rock Farm along today’s Freedom Boulevard. Vicente also owned a ranch in San Juan 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.

By John Hibble

Aptos History Museum

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.