Project Description- 

A genealogy LibGuide dedicated to genealogy research of those with cowboy roots.

Role-

A partnered project with another student. For this work, I supplied the idea, performed much of the initial research, and formatting of the LibGuide. 

Methods- 

After doing an entire semester’s worth of research to complete my final project on my maternal family history– I was stumped and devastated by the lack of evidence to validate what I knew to be true. That my great-grandfather was a cowboy— and preferred the title bronco buster as he tamed wild horses for work.

This inspired the creation of a cowboy genealogy guide. Something effectively manages researcher expectations while balancing a complicated historical truth rooted in colonialism and racism. 

The research process for this LibGuide entailed gathering as many sources as I could to allow family historians, genealogists and novice researchers to make sense of their family lore with the evidence that exists in historical records. This entailed dividing the sources into the following categories: primary, secondary and genealogy. This then allowed me to construct a flow to our LibGuide. Researchers should be provided with both historical context and resources in one place. 

Learning Outcomes and Rationale- 

This is a project that undoubtedly ties with both creative and critical practice. There is an ethical lens applied to this research guide— as researchers must know how much of cowboy culture is tied to colonial expansion in the West. There’s also elements of professional practice as the guide structures family history research for the user. From gathering birth records to looking at land and military documents to assess the occupation and migratory patterns of cowboys/cowgirls. There is also the undeniable factor of race when it comes to this guide. The guide provides context and resources for those who have Asian, Indigenous, Mexican and Black ancestors who may have been cowboys. As users parse through this LibGuide they can formulate critical questions about American history, colonial echoes  and how their own genealogy plays into it all.