Following the American Civil War in 1865, rounding up wild cattle offered many formerly enslaved people, Mexicans, and Native Americans a new source of income. This is how they became cowboys. However, the invention and widespread use of barbed wire in the 1880s severely restricted their way of life. It was only through the shows of Buffalo Bill, also known as Bill Cody, that the figure of the cowboy became popular as a largely fictional construct. Since then, the cowboy has been continually re… more