![]() The Spanish crown saw an opportunity in the growing number of cattle in the region. They worked as independent contractors, owning their own horses, saddles, and ropes but remaining unbound to a hacienda or a patron unless they chose to be. Most vaqueros were from lower castas - socio-racial classes used by the Spanish government - like mestizo (of American Indian and Spanish ancestry), mulatto (of Spanish and African ancestry), American Indian, or African. V aqueros were the first cowhands on these early ranches. By the mid-18th century, these were joined by competing private ranches. The earliest ranches were those of Spanish missionaries. By 1680, there were several thousand cattle recorded in the El Paso region. The first cattle raising in Texas appeared in the Rio Grande Valley. Through the 16th and 17th centuries, cattle ranching continued to spread north through Spanish Mexico and into the land now known as Texas. He brought with him the first Spanish cattle and the precursors of the famed Texas longhorn. In 1493, Christopher Columbus made his second voyage to the island of Hispaniola. The early roots of Texas ranching began with colonial conquest.
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