When most peo­ple think of cow­boys, they envi­sion rugged, gun-tot­ing fig­ures depict­ed in Hol­ly­wood West­erns. But the truth is far more complex—and much rich­er in his­to­ry. Many of the men respon­si­ble for set­tling the Old West in the late 1800s were peo­ple of col­or, with his­to­ri­ans esti­mat­ing that one in four cow­boys was Black.