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Vaquero: The Forgotten Cowboy Press Review
The Vanishing Vaquero
Film pays tribute to a fading breed of traditional hero
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, November 7, 1987
by John Rosales
No old West legend has so captured the American imagination as the cowboy.
Ten-gallon hats, chaps and six-shooters are woven into the fabric of the Old West as are herding cattle and taming wild horses.
In the video documentary, “Vaquero: The Forgotten Cowboy,” we learn that American-blooded cowboy heroes were successors to a tradition started by Spanish-blooded vaqueros.
Producer-director Hector Galán introduced us to the current - and maybe the final - generation of the vaquero.
“I did this documentary to pay homage not only to the vaqueros of today, but also to those of the past who never received their due recognition,” said Galán, a native of Lubbock who now lives in Austin. “If we don’t capture the vaquero now, we never will, except in books.”
Mexican-American cowboys began their trade almost 400 years ago, shortly after the conquistadores from Spain brought horses to North America.
“This is a piece of Americana few even know exists,” Galán said. “It is important that we realize the contribution Hispanics have made to United States history and culture.”
The 28-minute video, premiering Sunday at the Guadalupe Theater’s CineFestival, includes interviews with several vaqueros, archival footage, old photographs and other materials.
The initial images and commentary help the saga of its subject - the fading West.
As if from a romantic John Ford western, ranch hands on horseback herd cattle from the prairie to the corral for branding.
But the talk from ranch bosses is that pickups and helicopters do the job faster and cheaper. “Roundups that took days can be accomplished in a few hours,” says one boss.
“What they’re doing is outliving their time,” said Chris Hellen, a ranch manager. “Their purpose and place in the cattle industry is fading.”
High labor costs, less demand for beef and low cattle prices have accelerated the process.
The screen is filled with visual pleasures, particularly the faces of Samuel Torres, Chanate and Wanche Alarcon, which are as dramatically contoured and weather beaten as the land that has sustained their livelihood.
Galán’s intent in the story was to focus on more than just the bond between vaqueros and their ranching skills.
“The land has its own beauty,” he said. “I wanted to make a portrait of the people, the work they do and the land, and the interaction of the three.”
Today, only a handful of vaqueros continue the tradition of ranching as a way of life, says narrator Henry Darrow, the actor who played Manolito in “The High Chaparral” television series.
Most of the video is shot “In the heart of cattle country - Hebbronville,” south of San Antonio and 54 miles from the Mexico border. The city is 90 percent Mexican American.
“In its heyday, it was the largest cattle shipping center in the country,” Darrow explains.
We visit El Sordo, one of the last traditional working ranches in the country, where a ranch hand apprentice earns $425 a month.
Here, the day begins with eggs and tortillas served at 4 a.m.
We meet three generations of the Alarcon family, including Rene and his brother Kiko.
Rene studies ranching science at high school. Kiko has opted to work in law enforcement because “the vaquero doesn’t have a future.”
What they both share, however, is compassionate respect and admiration for the vaquero.
Galán’s documentary is a work of cultural anthropology that took two years to research.