Moments of Enchantment; 56; New Mexico Cowboys - Vaqueros

The Cowboy of the American West, known as the most American of characters, was instead born in Spanish territory, and cowboy words of this Spanish origin have made an important contribution to American ranch life in the Southwest. More in a moment. The original American cowboy was the Vicaro of the Spanish Missions of Southern California. In the 1830s, a half century before the era of the western cattlemen of American legend, these Vicaros, named for the vacas, the cows which they heard it, had developed a complete vocabulary of their own. This lexicon of cowboy words has become familiar to us all. The Spanish word Vicaro has, in a sense, been borrowed twice. It is, of course, a close Spanish equivalent to the word cowboy, and Vicaro is also the origin of the word Baccaru. The Vicaro rode through chaparral thickets and so wore Cheperas, which later became simply

chaps. Those early cowboys rode across the maces, and their roundups were called rodeos, which became the familiar rodeos of later years. The Spanish rancho became the western ranch, and from the Spanish word for watchfulness, vigilante, came the vigilantes. Local weed drove the cowboy's livestock crazy, domestic horses as well as wild Broncos. Another name for these small wild horses was Mistenius, which later became Mustangs. But if you're savvy, from the Verbe Sabe to know, you know that it's about time to Vamos, from the Spanish Bamos, meaning let us go. To learn more about the heritage of languages native to the Southwest, visit the New Mexico State Library in Santa Fe. Moments of Enchantment brought to you by the New Mexico Office of Cultural Affairs. For Moments of Enchantment, I am David Griffin.