Editing Cowboy (section)

===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/>