Hello equus216,
Thank you for your question.
The following article at About.com seems like a good place to start as
it notes the differences in these cowboys:
http://gosouthamerica.about.com/library/weekly/aa051302a.htm
Gauchos, Huasos and Llaneros
The cowboys of South America: alike, but oh so different!
"Wherever you have cattle, and cattle ranches, you have people on
horseback tending to them. They're called by many names: cowboy in the
US; gaucho in Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil; vaqueiro in
northern Brazil; huaso in Chile and llanero in Colombia and
Venezuela..."
This is an excellent article with links to pictures and more than what
I might expect to find in traditions and information. For example:
"...The men who work the cattle are called gauchos, from the Quechua
huachu, which means orphan or vagabond. Spanish settlers distinguished
the two by calling orphans guachos and vagabonds gauchos, but over
time the usage melded into gaucho.
Much has been written, fact and fiction, about the legendary Gauchos,
the wanderers of the Pampas. The early horsemen were skilled horsemen,
loners, scrabbling out a life on the sun-baked pampas, living off the
land and tracking down lost cattle for ranchers. Their clothing
reflected their life on horseback: a woolen poncho, long pleated
trousers and knee-high leather boots. They owned nothing of value but
their horse and the long knife, the facon, they kept sharp, and handy.
They had no way of preserving meat, and after butchering a cow, would
cook it immediately over an open fire. This was the beginning of the
asado, still popular today. This photo of a modern day gaucho and
friend in traditional dress, enjoying an asado and maté, portrays the
romance of the gaucho life..."
The article continues with a page on the Huasos:
http://gosouthamerica.about.com/library/weekly/aa051302b.htm
"...Like their colleagues east of the Andes, the Chilean are skilled
horsemen, honing their skills daily. Over the years, the huaso has
come to signify much of the Chilean folkloric culture, and he is a
vital part of parades, fiestas, and holidays.
Dressed in his best finery, a huaso is proud, confident and sure of
his place in Chilean history. He and his well-trained horse are
masters of the Chilean rodeo..."
And a page on Llaneros:
"...The llanos, vast plains extending from present day Colombia across
Venezuela almost to the Caribbean, are sparely populated, and
Venezuela's greatest repository of wildlife, especially birds, who
live here permanently or gather seasonally to breed and feed, coming
from as far away as Alaska & Canada. Add caimans, anacondas,
capybaras, deer, ant eaters, and fresh water dolphins, and the llanos
are a wildlife observer's joy...
...Llaneros display their skills in coleo competitions in which
cowboys try to rope cows by grabbing their tails, colas, and dragging
them to the ground.
Before the coming of the Spaniards in the mid-1500s, the llanos were
inhabited by various indigenous groups. When the Spaniards began to
colonize the area, a new population group arose: the first cowboy of
the Americas, the llanero..."
I think you will enjoy this article and the pictures it features.
Since you seem to wish to concentrate on cowboys of Bolivia, I started
to target in that direction a little more closely. As you can see from
the above, Bolvian cowboys are primarily, if not entirely, Gauchos
while Llaneros and Huasos are primarily in surrounding countries.
There is, or recently was a National Geographic documentary entitles
"Brazil's Vanishing Coboys". It first aired this January and may still
be shown on PBS and/or MSNBC stations.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/01/0110_030110_pantanal.html
"...National Geographic EXPLORER recently traveled to Brazil to
produce a new television documentary, Brazil's Vanishing Cowboys,
which examines cattle herders' lives in the Pantanal, particularly as
they drive their animals to high ground during each rainy season.
Along the way they encounter the hazards of floods, alligators, and
jaguars...
...What are the roles of cowboys, cattle ranchers, and other
indigenous people in the region?
Cattle ranching is the number one industry in the Pantanal, but many
diverse opinions arise regarding its impact. Some say that cattle
ranching has gone on for hundreds of years without degrading the
watershed, and the cattle should be allowed to roam free. Others say
cattle ranching is changing local species, that many species are
disappearing. Some say that if we remove the cattle, grasses will grow
taller, and fires could break out during dry season, destroying the
entire region. More research needs to be conducted."
You should enjoy this article and hopefully be able to find a
rebroadcast of this documentary.
Travelsur.net includes an article on the history of gauchos:
http://www.travelsur.net/gauchos.htm
"The Gauchos
They've been called the wanderers of the Pampas. Gauchos have been
known to wander the countryside as early as the 1600's, time in which
the 'flatlands' were overpopulated by 'cimarron' cattle, brought to
South America by Pedro de Mendoza in 1538..."
Although the images on this page are small, they will probably be of
interest to you. The article does presnt fascinating history.
Kelsey Orlando keeps a page on gauchos with interesting links as well:
http://staff.esuhsd.org/~balochie/studentprojects/gauchos/
:...Gauchos are South American cattlemen, much like the cowboys of
North America. They live in the pampas, hills, and mountains of South
America. They roam the pampas as horsemen and cowhands. They have
become romantic figures just as our cowboys. The classic gauchos were
mostly mestizos which are people of mixed European and Indian culture.
There are as many different gauchos as the many different terrains
there are in South America..."
This page discusses 19th Century Gauchos and class distinctions:
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/facstaff/Cleaver/357kgauchos.html
"Some Notes on Argentine Gauchos in the 19th Century and the Question
of "Class"
The case of the Gauchos raises interesting questions about the nature
of the working class. As the material in Ricardo Salvatore's
dissertation on Argentine trade in the late 18th and early 19th
Centuries shows, the Gauchos made up a self-constituting "class" drawn
from many different parts of society. They were part of the "working
class" in-itself only to a limited degree because they only worked for
a wage a small part of the year and spent no special time reproducing
the talents required for those jobs. Similarly, they constituted a
part of the "working class" for-itself only to a limited degree in so
far as they struggled for higher wages etc. and avoided work. Because
they spent most of their time as they pleased, mostly independent of
capital accumulation they were only marginally incorporated into that
accumulation, they were only partially accumulated.
As a largely self-reproducing group of people, living a relatively
free life on the Pampas and in the cities, mostly wandering and
hunting for fun and to survive, it almost seems odd that we should
look at them as part of the working "class," given their success at
avoiding incorporation into that Atlantic body..."
You might be interested in viiting BoliviaWeb.com:
http://www.boliviaweb.com/
I searched this site for "gaucho" but, unfortunately the search times
out. You might have better luck than I.
Pictures:
Pantanal Wetlands:
http://www.livinglakes.org/pantanal/
Argentine Gauchos
http://www.artareas.com/ArtAreas/home.nsf/Item/NT0001B4DE
********A site about gauchos:***********************
http://gosouthamerica.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.soygaucho.com%2F
Here you are greeted with a welcome movie. Choose chapters and select
links for a very through collection of photos on clothing, habitat,
food, beliefs and much, much more. This will be very helpful for you
in garnering unique information not available on most sites on
gauchos. This is a great resource!
I also searched Google Images for more pictures for you:
Gaucho
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=gaucho
More than 5,000 images on this search.
Huasos
http://images.google.com/images?num=50&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=huasos&sa=N&tab=wi
63 images
And Llaneros
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=llaneros
107 images
Search Strategy:
Bolivia +Cowboys
gauchos
gauchos +bolivia
"south american" +cowboys OR gauchos
I trust my research has provided you with interesting articles, images
and links and answers your question. If a link above should fail to
work or anything require further explanation or research, please do
post a Request for Clarification prior to rating the answer and
closing the question and I will be pleased to assist further.
Regards,
-=clouseau=- |
Request for Answer Clarification by
equus216-ga
on
16 May 2003 13:31 PDT
Thanks so much for what you've given me; the only question I have is
which of the links you found - if any - talked about specifically
bolivian gauchos? Because mostly what I have found concerned those
from Argentina, some Brazilian. It seems like the only country in
South America that doesn't have loads of information on their cowboys
is Bolivia! Thanks....
|
Clarification of Answer by
clouseau-ga
on
16 May 2003 14:14 PDT
Hello again equus216,
Of all the sites I visited in this research, I was most impressed and
spent the most time at this one:
http://gosouthamerica.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.soygaucho.com%2F
Though, as you note, I could not find specific mention of Bolivia on
this site. As a matter of fact, rereading the links in my answer,
there is precious little directed at Bolivia, though surrounding
countries are well represented.
I searched a bit farther and found minor mentions such as:
http://www.explorebolivia.com/festival.htm
Explore Bolivia
"...Also worth visiting in Oruro, Tarija, Yotala, Potosi and Santa
Cruz. 15th & 16th Efemerides de Tarija - Tarija (Tarija).
Celebration of the towns anniversary, the battle of La Tablada, and
the gaucho roots during the "Rodeo Chapaco with horse races and
dancing..."
I also learned by re-searching that Bolivian Cowboys are also called
"vaqueros". I found a number of hits for this, but unfortunately most
were in Spanish and I did not have time to translate to see what links
might be helpful for you.
I'll continue to search this term as well, at your request, when I
return this evening.
Best regards,
-=clouseau=-
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
equus216-ga
on
16 May 2003 16:14 PDT
That (Info on Vaqueros) would be great; I hadn't thought of searching
under them. I'll do some digging around of my own; see if we end up
anywhere near each other. Thanks.
|
Clarification of Answer by
clouseau-ga
on
16 May 2003 22:39 PDT
Hello again equus216,
I searched for Vaqueros +Bolivia and ran quite a few pages through
Google's translator. But alas, little referring to cowboys. It did
lead me to searching for pantaneiros and that provided another clue:
http://mitglied.lycos.de/greentrack/eng/pantanal.htm
"...If you want to explore and experience the real Pantanal, then its
impossible to ignore the people who live here -- and their unique way
of life. The pantaneiros, as they are known, have become perfectly
adapted to the local environment. The most visible inhabitant is the
boiadeiro (cowboy) frequently seen riding along on horseback, guiding
and watching over his (or her) cattle. These are good-humoured people
of the land who enjoy life at its fullest. They are friendly, quick to
laugh, and enjoy nothing more than the time spent joking and swapping
tall-tales with friends. Most of their work is carried out on
horseback since this is still the easiest and most reliable way of
getting around -- particularly in the wet season and the roads turn to
mush or disappears entirely beneath the rising waters. However, there
eventually comes a time when even horses must be traded in for boats,
rafts, or anything else that floats. Not that this bothers the cattle
much, since they’ve also adapted to this seasonal life..."
I then searched for "boiadeiro". No luck.
I'm afraid I am coming up empty handed with more on Bolivian cowboys.
I have asked my colleagues "backstage" for suggestions on searches I
might have missed and will be happy to post if anything they suggest
is fruitful. I'll let you know tomorrow.
Ps. As I was about to close this for the evening, another researcher
pointed me here:
http://www.thewildwest.org/cowboys/badmen/cassidy.html
BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID:
"...In late 1901, Butch, Sundance and Sundance's mistress, Etta Place,
sailed to South America, where it is believed they operated a ranch in
Argentina before resorting to bank and train robbery. They ended up in
Bolivia in 1908 and legend has it that the men were killed by Bolivian
soldiers in either 1909 or 1911 after robbing a mine payroll.
Other versions maintain that both men returned to the United States
and lived out their lives separately: Butch was said to have visited
his family in Utah in 1925; another version claims he served as a
mercenary in the Mexican revolution and later lived in Spokane,
Washington under the name of William T. Phillips where he operated a
business and died in 1937. Sundance, according to one version, married
Etta and lived for years in Mexico and New Mexico and then died in
1957 at the age of 96. The film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"
depicted their deaths in Bolivia."
And a very interesting true life cowboy story:
http://members.tripod.com/~Simmental/True-Cowboy-Short-Stories-index-3.html
True Life Cowboy Stories
Welcome to my page of true life cowboy stories. I've been an
international beef cattle production and marketing expert, living and
working in Latin America for the past 28 years. During this time I've
had some very unusual and often dangerous experiences and as a hobby,
I've tried to record these experiences in the form of true short
stories. My stories are true and I hope you enjoy reading them as much
as I have enjoyed writing them. Oh, you will notice that I'm not a
gifted writer, but I do consider myself as a good story teller.
Several of my stories have been published and my hope is to have a
book published with all my stories...
You may enjoy his stories. (Thanks tlspiegel)
I'll be back with more findings if they are out there.
Regards,
-=clouseau=-
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
equus216-ga
on
17 May 2003 09:54 PDT
Thanks for all your work. But at least we're now getting to more
specifics... I think the pantaneiros are getting into it; I know
Bolivia is famous for having held on to its Indian cultures during the
all Spanish wars....they are probably the modern representation of
this. Thanks again - this is making the avalanche of information much
easier to sift through...
|
Clarification of Answer by
clouseau-ga
on
17 May 2003 11:23 PDT
Good morning,
Although there have been several suggestions from other researchers,
including one resident in Chile, there have been few clues to uncover
more information for you. I have a call into the US Bolivian Embassy
to se if they can assist in this search, but I suspect they will be
closed until Monday morning.
You might be interested in some of the following links:
The Pantanal of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay
Selected Discourses on the World's Largest Remaining Wetland System
http://www.pantanal.org/book.htm
Southwind Adventures
http://www.southwindadventures.com/br_panta.htm
DAYS 7-8 Continue exploring the world's greatest wetlands. Visit with
the pantaneiros or cowboys who work on the ranch, and look for
alligators, capybaras, tapirs, ocelots, crab-eating fox and other
nocturnal creatures on nighttime forays.
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/12/08/Travel/A_fragile_ebb_and_flo.shtml
The world's largest wetland, the Pantanal in South America, is home to
about 1,200 animal species. As development threatens them, the human
species turns to ecotourism to preserve life for all the residents...
...Generations of cowboys
Paulo Cesar Ledovino Marconde rides up in a clatter of hooves and a
cloud of red dust. Behind him a herd of gray cattle with massive humps
grazes listlessly. These are zebu cattle, brought from India because
of their ability to adjust to the heat, which can reach 115 degrees in
the summer.
Marconde wears boots, jeans, chaps, a broad-brimmed straw hat and a
purple shirt damp with honest sweat.
He dismounts, tethers his horse to a skinny tree and pulls a worn
leather bag from his saddle. From it he extracts a spoon, two small
jars and a cup. Carefully, he places in the cup four teaspoons of
sugar and one teaspoon of guarana, the caffeine-rich Amazon fruit that
is ground into powder and taken several times a day as a pick-me-up by
many Brazilians.
Marconde stirs the concoction vigorously and chugs it down in one
gulp. Then he pounds his chest triumphantly and breaks into a 300-watt
smile.
Like this father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather and his
great-great-grandfather, Marconde is a campaneiro, a cowboy. His
chocolate skin tells of more-distant ancestors who were Africans
brought over as slaves by the Portuguese to work in the gold mines.
For the past 27 years, since he was 12, Marconde has labored from 6
a.m. to 6 p.m. with a break for lunch. He works for 30 days and then
gets four days off to be with his wife and son. His wages are $100 a
month. Marconde does not want his 9-year-old son to continue the
family's cowboy tradition.
"He is going to school, and that is the door to a better life," he
says. "I have a hard life, and there is no future. The ranches are
shrinking, and the cattle are disappearing."
The cowboys have always been the economic backbone of the Pantanal,
moving cattle from place to place to adapt to the ever-changing
topography.
What gives the Pantanal its special character is the dramatic annual
cycle of massive flooding followed by receding water. Rain begins in
October and continues through April, leaving about 80 percent of the
land underwater..."
There is more on cowboys at this site.
Unfortunately, campaneiro did not turn up any additonal useful
information.
Case Study 1: Comparative Analysis of the Florida Everglades and the
South American Pantanal
http://www.oas.org/usde/publications/Unit/oea74e/ch06.htm
"...Beginning in the colonial period, and continuing to the present,
semi-indigenous uses of the Pantanal have included low levels of
subsistence farming, in addition to hunting and fishing. Closely
associated with the history of cattle ranching in the Pantanal are the
pantaneiros or Pantanal cowboys, many of whom support families. This
relatively small, semi-indigenous group, with its own rich cultural
tradition, has been an important part of the growth of cattle ranching
since its inception over 200 years ago. The economic viability of the
fazendas is closely related to the work done by pantaneiros, while the
viability of the pantaneiro culture itself is tied to the economic
fortunes of the ranches. Wildlife diversity is also related to the
health of pantaneiros and fazendeiros. Though hunting is illegal in
the Pantanal, pantaneiros often have an implicit understanding with
ranch owners that hunting their lands for caiman, jaguars and other
wildlife is acceptable. The practice gives the low wage pantaneiros
the opportunity to sell hides for money and takes care of what is
often seen as a wildlife nuisance..."
NZZ Online
http://www.nzz.ch/english/background/background2000/background0007/bg000715brazil.html
Its Brazil but seems very similar as relates to the Pantanal.
"Between Cowboys and Modern Agribusiness
A Visit to Brazil's "Wild West"
Angel Serna
...With increasing frequency, you also run into extensive cattle runs,
known here as boiadas or comitivas, in which herds of up to 1,500 head
are driven by the pantaneiros (the local cowboys) on marches of as
long as 30 days along the roads from one grazing ground to another, or
else to a new owner. The first sign that you are about to run into
such a cattle run is often the mules which trot on ahead of the
cattle; they serve the cowboys as spare mounts, in place of any horses
in use elsewhere and thus unavailable for this task. The cattle runs
often force car drivers into drastic slowdowns..."
Whatcom Watch Online
http://www.whatcomwatch.org/v9i12.html
A Visit to the Pantanal: The World’s Largest Wetland
by Barry Ulman
"...Cattle raising is almost as much a part of the Pantanal as the
wildlife. The Pantaneiros, as the local cowboys are known, have been
ranching in the Pantanal for over 200 years, and somehow the
coexistence with wildlife has been successful. Perhaps it is because
the number of cattle that can be raised is sharply limited by the
meager amount of land available for grazing during the wet season.
Indeed, the hyacinth macaws congregate in corrals to feed on a certain
kind of seed that turns up in cow dung..."
I hope this has been helpful, and, should the Embassy provide any
additional clues, I will be back to post on Monday.
Regards,
-=clouseau=-
|
Clarification of Answer by
clouseau-ga
on
17 May 2003 12:50 PDT
Our researcher in Chile has suggested the following for you (thanks
bobbie7!):
Maybe this book has the information hidden inside as it seems very
detailed.
COWBOYS OF THE AMERICAS
Richard W. Slatta
1994 American History
320 pp. 139 illus., 8 1/4 x 10 1/4
Paper ISBN 0-300-05671-0 $19.95
http://www.yale.edu/yup/books/056710.htm
The reviews don't mention Bolivia but there may be a mention of them.
"The cowboy has long been considered one of America's unique
contributions to popular culture, but rarely has the reality of cowboy
life been examined either as extensively or as widely as in this book.
Included is information on the cowboys of the Canadian West, as well
as on Hawaii's 'paniolo,' Mexico's 'vaquero,' Venezuela's 'llanero,'
Chile's 'huaso,' and Argentina's 'gaucho'. . . . In addition to the
details of roundups and trail drives, the harsh reality of frontier
life is vividly described. Academic in approach but appealing to a
wide audience."--Booklist
"Comprehensive and incisive, this is the definitive work on the world
of the cowboy."--Joe B. Frantz, Corpus Christi State University
Richard Slatta has done our research for us in this study of the
cowboys of North and South America and Hawaii--their origins,
character, equipment, work habits, lifestyle and, perhaps most
tellingly, the centuries long impact on history of their myth bound
culture. . . . He tells the story of these cowboys more
comprehensively than the novels of Zane Grey or the old Hopalong
Cassidy movies could ever hope to. . . . "--William Dieter,
Smithsonian.
You might wish to check your library or local bookstores for this
title.
-=clouseau=-
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
equus216-ga
on
17 May 2003 14:53 PDT
The embassy is a great idea. I'm going to look at the different cattle
& movement of the cattle in Bolivia - maybe that'll lead me to who's
working the cows! We'll see if we come up anywhere near each other....
|
Clarification of Answer by
clouseau-ga
on
17 May 2003 16:53 PDT
I just had a reply from Dr. Slatta that is most interesting:
I wrote:
"Hello Dr. Slatta,
I came across your web page and wondered if you or your books might be
helpful in my latest research. I've been tasked with uncovering all I
can about Bolivian Cowboys. It seems easy to find copious amounts of
information on Argentinean Gauchos, or even Llaneros and Huasos, but
there appears to be precious little information on the cowboys of
Bolivia.
Do they go by a particular term? I have tried pantaneiros, vaqueros
and others to no avail. Any pointers would be sincerely appreciated
including a list of which of your books may address these cowboys.
Thanks in advance for your assistance."
His reply:
"Dear Clouseau,
Your appraisal is correct. In 25 years of research I've never
encountered a single article nor primary source on Bolivian cowboys.
Perhaps they exist-- but if so no body has bothered to document them.
Suerte! "
Richard W. Slatta
Professor of History
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-8108
Home Range: http://www.cowboyprof.com
So, I think we are reaching the limits of available information.
Should the embassy have anything more, I'll be posting those results
on Monday.
Regards,
-=clouseau=-
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
equus216-ga
on
18 May 2003 15:31 PDT
Wow - well, I guess that pretty much puts an end to that....If the
embassy knows anything else, let me know, and I can ask me to send it
over. I've gone to extreme measures - I'm consulting the Library of
Congress via the connections there. If all this turns up nothing, I'm
going to be reverting to my second choice (researching in Bolivia) of
llamas. I know that there is information out there on llamas! So
tomorrow I guess I'll be posting a second question, in the same topic
& subtopic, on Bolivian Llamas....if you want to keep an eye out for
that. Thanks again - equus216
|
Clarification of Answer by
clouseau-ga
on
19 May 2003 09:58 PDT
Good morning equus216,
I spoke with the Bolivian Embassy this morning, however I think I
might have had more success if I spoke Spanish. The contacts there do
speak English, but I don't think we communicated well in understanding
that all South American countries except Bolivia seem to have
information on the history, customs, dress, habits, etc. of their
cowboys.
I was directed to http://www.explorebolivia.com/contact.htm where I
found absolutely nothing relating to Bolivian cowboys. It is posible
this tour operator may have a pointer to this information, but I would
strongly suspect not. However, they can be contacted here:
Explore Bolivia, Inc.
2510 North 47th St., Suite 207
Boulder, CO 80301
tel: (303) 545-5728
fax: (303) 545-6239
Toll Free: 877-708-8810
E-mail:tripinfo@explorebolivia.com
The Emabassy can be contacted at 202-483-4410 in Washington, if you
happen to speak Spanish and might have better luck than I.
I'm afraid, as I suspected previously and had confirmed by Dr. Slatta,
that there is little if any available information to be found other
than that above.
Best of luck finding more. I will keep an eye out for the llamas
question and see if there is beter luck to be had there. I hope my
research has been of value to you.
Best regards,
-=clouseau=-
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
equus216-ga
on
19 May 2003 12:29 PDT
Allright - Llama question posted (same category, $15 higher...) Thanks
again for all your help with this search - even if it did end up
rather futile....equus216
|
Clarification of Answer by
clouseau-ga
on
19 May 2003 12:35 PDT
My pleasure.
Sorry there was not more to be discovered for you.
-=clouseau=-
|
