The Churro and the Pastor: Sheep Herdings in New Mexico
Goodman then discusses the origins and history of the pastoral culture in New Mexico. Using research from Carey McWiliam’s North From Mexico, Goodman explains that the Spanish explorers introduced sheep to the region in 1598. They also brought with them a system of sheepherding that included fixed grazing rights and land grants, both of which the Anglos would later adopt. In the 19th century, New Mexico became the sheep nursery of the nation, and it boosted the U.S. economy by providing wool for textile mills and a market for the growing sugar beet industry. Sheepherding soon acquired an iconic status, complete with its own music and stereotypes, one of which was the solitary, superstitious and witless Mexican sheepherder. However, the job required a very particular set of skills and knowledge, as the pastores, or shepherds, had to be able to track wild animals, read the weather, train dogs and guide the sheep. Sheepherding culture had its own social divisions, with the sheepherder at the bottom, the sheepshearer in the middle and the owner at the top. As the sheepherding industry boomed in the wake of the gold rush, the owners often made large amounts of money, but the sheepherders rarely benefited.
KEYWORDS
Apache RaidsApaches
Barter Economy
Bartolomeo Cabeza de Vaca
Caporales
Carey McWilliams
Churros
Coronado
Don Jose Leandro Perella
Economy
Folk Songs
Gold Rush
Honorable Assembly of the Mesta
Indian Relations
Juan de Oñate
Kit Carson
Land Grants
Las Vegas
Lt. JH Simpson
Manuel Chavez
Mayordomo
Merino
Mexican Sheepherders
Migrant Labor
Mora
Music
Navajo
New Mexico
North From Mexico
Pastor
Pastoral Culture
Pastores
Patron
Santa Paula, New Mexico
Scrubs
Shearing
Sheep
Sheep Drives
Sheepgrazing
Sheepshearers
Shepherds
Sugar beet industry
Tapestres
Vaquero
Vihuela
Weaving
Wool