What's a buckaroo?The Great Basin, which includes the region of northern Nevada, is wide-open territory primarily known as cattle country. Amid the desert and mountains is the Humboldt River, which begins in the mountain ranges and ends in the desert. This is the home of the buckaroos, cowboys who work on cattle ranches in Nevada. They get their name from vaquero, (pronounced bah-care-oh) the Spanish word for "cowboy," because the first buckaroos in the area were Spanish-speaking horsemen.
Buckaroos have developed many different special skills to work with the land and cattle. They run cattle drives, rope and brand cows, and shoe horses. They are most famous for breaking (making suitable for riding) horses, also known as "starting colts." But buckaroos also bail hay, mend fences, and haul trucks out of desert mud holes. They work long hours for low wages, but buckaroos are rugged independent people who choose to work close to nature.
