Nat Love was born a slave but died a free cowboy and a legend of the Old West. After the Civil War freed Love from slavery, he walked to Dodge City, Kansas, and got a job breaking horses — after he could prove that he could rope a bucking horse, climb on its back without a saddle, and ride him without falling off. Thus began Nat’s life as a cowboy.

We don’t typically include Black cowboys as part of the American story of the West, even though 1 in 4 American cowboys is Black. Black cowboys are as American as baseball.

GUESTS:

• Zaron Burnett III - Host and creator of the podcast Black Cowboys
• Patricia Kelly - An African-American cowgirl and the founder of Ebony Horsewomen; she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 2015

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Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired June 7, 2021.