OT- Old photo of tough looking cow boy.

[rangerider7]

[RIHMFIRE]

hes got a long barrel on that shooter

[kimwcook]

My vote is he's the real deal. Sorry, couldn't help it. Pretty well equipped. I think I have a pair of chaps just like that.

[pokey]

My vote is he's the real deal. Sorry, couldn't help it. Pretty well equipped. I think I have a pair of chaps just like that.

me too.

[Mutt]

Appears to be in his Sunday go to Meeting clothes . Even his chaps are cleaned up , as well as his ride is brushed and trimmed. The hat probably isn't the working hat either , not beat up enough for working head wear.
Great picture.................Mutt

[Ysabel Kid]

hes got a long barrel on that shooter

Or he's a short little fellow!

[kimwcook]

Appears to be in his Sunday go to Meeting clothes . Even his chaps are cleaned up , as well as his ride is brushed and trimmed. The hat probably isn't the working hat either , not beat up enough for working head wear.
Great picture.................Mutt

I agree, but he still appears to be the real meal deal.

[20cows]

The 7&1/2" barrel was real popular in Texas.

[Borregos]

Good one, thanks

[Borregos]

Another good one, thanks

[horsesoldier03]

IMO yes the real McCoy, however I beleive that the cleanliness more from the fact that he is a Mexican Vaquero from a prominent family. Nice Mustang he is riding there with hard hooves and sure feet and conditioned to ride all day long!

[SJPrice]

Yep, Vaquero for sure. Look at the saddle horn and cantle.

[COSteve]

hes got a long barrel on that shooter

Likely a cavalry model with 7½" bbl.

[Malamute]

"Yep, Vaquero for sure. Look at the saddle horn and cantle."


It looks like a pretty common old slick fork saddle to me, what am I missing?

7 1/2" Colts were pretty common everywhere, far as I know.

[redhawk]

Looks vaquero "ish". To me they had a certain mystic.

[Buck Elliott]

My bet is that his revolver is an 1860 Army conversion, with an 8" barrel.

Saddles of that style were made all over the western country, in that time period, from Texas and Arizona to Montana, by a host of makers.

The cuffs and chaps and flat-brimmed hat say Texas or south-west to me...

Old-time cowboys were not always the dirt-encrusted flea-bags so often depicted in modern presentations. Nor were they Roy/Hoppy clones, but real men, living in real conditions, who bathed when they could, and went without when they couldn't. Maybe he just came off the trail, and those duds are his new 'replacements' for the stuff that wore out on the trip...

At any rate, he is NOT old-school Vaquero, not in that get-up...

[.45colt]

Buck, If I ever get west of the Mississippi I sure would like to Buy You a Drink. .

[Buck Elliott]

Buck, If I ever get west of the Mississippi I sure would like to Buy You a Drink. .

I would consider that an honor, sir...

FWIW: If you go back through the host of pictures that have been posted lately, of cowboys of that era and even later, they show those boys to be ALL "tough" fellers.Maybe not the strongest, maybe not the swiftest, but TOUGH. Tough in mind, body and spirit; ready to take on the world at a moment's notice. They had to be, to live the lives they faced. If they weren't 'tough,' they either died, or migrated to easier work, if such was to be had. Too often, they cashed in from the game, many with their boots on.

Today, the story is very much the same. Those rare boys who continue to make their living from the saddle are still a breed apart. Cowboys, wranglers, packers, and outfitters. If you search them out, you can find 'em on remote ranches, or in the mountains herding horses, cows or dudes, but they rarely come to 'town,' and like the song says, "They're still out there ridin' fences. Still make their livin' with a rope. Long as there's a sunset, they'll keep ridin' for the Brand. You just can't see 'em from the road..."

It's been my privilege to know a good many of 'em, and an honor to have been among their number myself.

[pokey]

You just can't see us from the road..."

It's been my privilege to know a good many of 'em, and an honor to have been among their number myself.

couldn't have said it better.

[Rusty]

Well said Buck. thanks.

[Buck Elliott]

"Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever, Monte." (Chet Rollins, Monte Walsh)

[Joel]

Looks almost like a Gaucho, or a Caballero on a sunday

[kimwcook]

Nothing about that picture says vaquero to me. The tacks all wrong as well as the clothes. He is wearing very common cowboy clothing and accessories. He appears clean shaven and all cleaned up. He's very comfortable where he's sitting. His heals are down, saddle fits him right, holding the reins in front of the horn and resting his hands on the horn as if he's sat there many an hour and ready to go many hours more. Genuine cowboy.

[SoftwarePro]

Almost 30 years since I've been on a horse but I can tell that guy knows how to ride one. Reminds me of when my mom was teaching me, "get your heels down and your toes in and sit up straight in that saddle!"