Editing Cowboy (section)

==Etymology and mainstream usage==
[[File:The Cow Boy 1888.jpg|thumb|American cowboy, 1887]]
[[File:King of the Plains.jpg|thumb|upright|"King of the Plains" postcard, 1898–1924]]
The English word ''cowboy'' has an origin from several earlier terms that referred to both age and to cattle or cattle-tending work.

The English word ''cowboy'' was derived from ''vaquero'', a Spanish word for an individual who managed cattle while mounted on horseback.  ''Vaquero'' was derived from ''vaca'', meaning "cow",<ref>{{cite web |last1=Asale |first1=Rae |title=vaca |url=https://dle.rae.es/ |website=«Diccionario de la lengua española» – Edición del Tricentenario |access-date=July 28, 2019 |language=es}}</ref> which came from the [[Latin]] word ''vacca''. "Cowboy" was first used in print by [[Jonathan Swift]] in 1725, and was used in the British Isles from 1820 to 1850 to describe young boys who tended the family or community cows.<ref>{{cite web |title=On the History of the Word "Cowboy" |url=http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2012/01/on-the-history-of-the-word-cowboy.html |website=JF Ptak Science Books |access-date=July 23, 2019}}</ref><ref name="cowboy">{{cite web |title=Definition of cowboy |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cowboy |website=Dictionary.com |publisher=[[Dictionary.com]]|access-date=July 23, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Originally though, the English word "cowherd" was used to describe a cattle herder (similar to "shepherd", a sheep herder), and often referred to a pre-adolescent or early adolescent boy, who usually worked on foot. This word is very old in the English language, originating prior to the year 1000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of cowherd |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cowherd |website=Dictionary.com |access-date=July 23, 2019}}</ref>

By 1849 "cowboy" had developed its modern sense as an adult cattle handler of the American West. Variations on the word appeared later. "Cowhand" appeared in 1852, and "cowpoke" in 1881, originally restricted to the individuals who prodded cattle with long poles to load them onto railroad cars for shipping.<ref name="Etymology-cow">{{cite web |title=cowboy |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=cowboy&searchmode=nl |work=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |access-date=July 23, 2019}}</ref> Names for a cowboy in American English include ''buckaroo'', ''cowpoke'', ''cowhand'', and ''cowpuncher''.<ref name=Vernam294>Vernam, p. 294.</ref> Another English word for a cowboy, ''buckaroo'', is an [[Anglicisation|anglicization]] of ''vaquero'' ({{IPA|es|baˈkeɾo}}).<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Cassidy |first1= F.G. |last2= Hill |first2= A.A. |year=1979 |title= Buckaroo Once More |journal= American Speech |volume= 54 |issue= 2 |pages= 151–153 |doi= 10.2307/455216 |jstor= 455216 }}</ref>

Today, "cowboy" is a term common throughout the west and particularly in the [[Great Plains]] and [[Rocky Mountains]], "buckaroo" is used primarily in the [[Great Basin]] and [[California]], and "cowpuncher" mostly in [[Texas]] and surrounding states.<ref>Draper, p. 121.</ref>

[[Equestrianism]] required skills and an investment in horses and equipment rarely available to or entrusted to a child, though in some cultures boys rode a [[donkey]] while going to and from pasture. In [[ancient history|antiquity]], herding of sheep, cattle and goats was often the job of minors, and still is a task for young people in various [[Developing country|Developing World]] cultures.

Because of the time and physical ability needed to develop necessary skills, both historic and modern cowboys often began as an adolescent. Historically, cowboys earned wages as soon as they developed sufficient skill to be hired (often as young as 12 or 13). If not crippled by injury, cowboys may handle cattle or horses for a lifetime. In the United States, a few women also took on the tasks of ranching and learned the necessary skills, though the "cowgirl" (discussed below) did not become widely recognized or acknowledged until the close of the 19th century. On western ranches today, the working cowboy is usually an adult. Responsibility for herding cattle or other livestock is no longer considered suitable for children or early adolescents. Boys and girls growing up in a [[ranch]] environment often learn to ride horses and perform basic ranch skills as soon as they are physically able, usually under adult supervision. Such youths, by their late teens, are often given responsibilities for "cowboy" work on the ranch.<ref>{{cite web|author=Amanda Radke |url=http://beefmagazine.com/blog/value-growing-agriculture |title=The Value Of Growing Up In Agriculture |work=Beef Daily |date=2012-05-16 |access-date=2013-02-28}}</ref>

===Other historic word uses===
"Cowboy" was used during the [[American Revolution]] to describe American fighters who opposed the movement for independence.  [[Claudius Smith]], an outlaw identified with the [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] cause, was called the "Cow-boy of the Ramapos" due to his penchant for stealing oxen, cattle and horses from colonists and giving them to the British.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wanted: Claudius Smith |url=http://www.northjerseyhistory.org/history/smith/claudius.htm |website=North Jersey Highlands Historical Society |access-date=July 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228100042/http://www.northjerseyhistory.org/history/smith/claudius.htm |archive-date=December 28, 2008}}</ref> In the same period, a number of [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] bands operated in [[Westchester County]], which marked the dividing line between the British and American forces. These groups were made up of local farmhands who would ambush convoys and carry out raids on both sides. There were two separate groups: the "skinners" fought for the pro-independence side, while the "cowboys" supported the British.<ref name=HoranSann>''Pictorial History of the Wild West'' by James D. Horan and Paul Sann, {{ISBN|0-600-03103-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-600-03103-1}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Results for: cowboy |url=http://www.answers.com/topic/cowboy |website=Answers.com |access-date=July 11, 2019}}</ref>

In the [[Tombstone, Arizona]], area during the 1880s, the term "cowboy" or "cow-boy" was used pejoratively to describe men who had been implicated in various crimes.<ref name=linder2005/> One loosely organized band was dubbed "[[Cochise County Cowboys|The Cowboys]]", and profited from smuggling cattle, alcohol, and tobacco across the U.S.–Mexico border.<ref name="stone">{{cite web|url=http://www.discoverseaz.com/History/TStone.html|title=History of Old Tombstone|access-date=2011-02-07|publisher=Discover Southeast Arizona}}</ref><ref name="skeleton">{{cite web|url=http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/skeletoncanyon.html|title=Skeleton Canyon |access-date=2011-02-07|publisher=Ghost Towns}}</ref> ''[[The San Francisco Examiner]]'' wrote in an editorial, "Cowboys [are] the most reckless class of outlaws in that wild country&nbsp;... infinitely worse than the ordinary robber."<ref name=linder2005>{{cite web |url=http://www.law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/earp/earpaccount.html |first=Douglas O. |last=Linder |year=2005 |title=The Earp-Holliday Trial: An Account |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205102621/http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/earp/earpaccount.html |archive-date=2016-02-05 }}</ref> It became an insult in the area to call someone a "cowboy", as it suggested he was a horse thief, robber, or outlaw. Cattlemen were generally called herders or ranchers.<ref name="stone"/> Other [[synonym]]s for cowboy were ranch hand, range hand or trail hand, although duties and pay were not entirely identical.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Pej4eIprCYC&dq=140&pg=PA140 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press (Norman) |edition=4 |page=140 |date=1977 |access-date=2022-10-26|isbn=0806114282 |last=Haley |first=James Evetts |title=The XIT Ranch of Texas and the Early Days of the Llano Estacado }}</ref> The Cowboys' activities were ultimately curtailed by the [[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral]] and the resulting [[Earp Vendetta Ride]].<ref name=linder2005/>