Who We Are
By ken woodward
Rodeos in Early California

Racing headlong down a sagebrush-covered ravine, a Mexican vaquero (cowboy) chases three steers that are in full flight.

Attempts by the stampeding trio to scamper off in separate directions are quickly anticipated by the horse and rider, who make a series of skillful cuts that soon bring the four out onto the open plains at the base of the Southern California foothills. In the distance, a thin ribbon of the blue Pacific ocean stretches to the horizon and forms the backdrop to a grazing herd of more than 15,000 head of cattle milling around on the grassy slopes.

The three steers slow to a trot and soon join the herd, and the vaquero breaks off the pursuit and joins three compañeros who are busy building fires for the branding irons.

The "gathering" (rodear in Spanish) of this great herd is now complete. More than 100 vaqueros from the five ranchos, each with at least five extra horses, are spread out in their respective encampments; it is springtime and has taken three weeks to gather up this vast her. The rodeo is about to begin.

California is an open range, and once each year, usually in April, vaqueros are sent into the valleys and canyons to round up the wild range cattle and newborn calves. According to many observations by writers and accounts given by experienced European horsemen, the Mexican vaquero was the most skilled horseback rider in the world, and his use of the reata, or lasso, was unparalleled.

One writer wrote in 1873, "I have a hundred times watched the fling of the reata, and yet have never in a single instance been able to detect the precise moment of capture."

Now that the herd has been assembled, the vaqueros will begin a "parting out" of the calves and yearlings who will need branding. Each of the five ranchos has a distinctive identification mark or brand, such as the initials of the rancho or the owner, that have been configured into an iron stencil or stamp and affixed to a short iron rod. Heated over a fire to a bright red, the brand then sears its mark onto the left hip of the brand-new calf, yearling, or older unmarked steer.

With the co-mingling of the cattle from five different ranches, conflicts over the ownership of unmarked steers is resolved by an institution borrowed from the early Mexican common-law and custom, known as Judges of the Plains.

California became a state in 1850, and in 1851 the board of supervisors codified this practice by passing an ordinance dividing San Diego County into four areas: Coast Range, Temecula Range, Agua Caliente Range (Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ysabel), and the Southern District. Four judges were appointed for each of the districts, to adjudicate all general disputes over the ownership of stock and to be present at the rodeos to pass impartial judgment on the ownership of unbranded cattle. When individual stock or large herds were moved from one part of the county to another, it was the duty of a Judge of the Plains to investigate brand marks or bills of sale to determine ownership.

Sixty vaqueros are busy roping and rounding up the steers that belong to their respective ranchos. Many are engaged in an intentional display of their expert horsemanship, chasing down and roping the calves or yearlings, while others work in tandem, confronting large wild bulls with expertly thrown reata loops around the fore and rear legs.

The Judges of the Plains maneuver their horses through the herd and point out unmarked cattle to the vaqueros, who will herd them to a holding area.

At night, 15 to 20 mountain lions emerge from the canyons of the San Luis Rey River and do their own "parting out" of the herd.
This, to the delight of teams of vaqueros who, on this moonlit night, set off in pursuit and with great expertise launch several loops of their reatas. Within minutes, their snarling quarry is stretched out and trussed up, each horse expertly backing up to keep tension on the reatas.    

In early California, the rodeo was a grand and formal affair. The owners of the large estates and their retinues, all gaily dressed in traditional Mexican costume, are attended by the mayordomo of the rancho and escorted to the plains.

When the herd had been sorted out and the last animal branded, a day was set aside for the vaqueros to display their extraordinary skills in horsemanship. And finally, the event all had looked forward to, the fiesta, would soon conclude the rodeo season.

The Guy B. Woodward Museum located at 645 Main Street. For information call (760) 789-7644.