Frank Jackson and Black Cowboys

In this historic photo from the early 20th century, Black cowboy Frank Jackson holds a large string of trout with his young friend Jack Williams, the fourth generation of the Herard family to live near the dunes. This photo was taken beside Medano Creek just above the dunes.

Great Sand Dunes Archives

 

Black cowboys were fairly common in Colorado in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, but their history is not well documented. After the Civil War, many young Black men had ventured into the territory that would later become Colorado. By the late 19^th century, a quarter of cowboys in the region were Black. They not only had to survive the harsh weather and rugged conditions of the Rocky Mountains, but also navigate the prejudices and social barriers that persisted.

Frank Jackson was a Black cowboy who worked for, and became friends with, the Herard family who lived in Medano Canyon adjacent to the dunes. The prominent dome-shaped mountain above the dunes is called 'Mt. Herard’ after this pioneering family who persevered here for four generations.Jack Williams, the last Herard family member to live in the canyon, recalls when Frank Jackson saved his grandfather Ulysses Herard’s life. Two area sheepherders had secretly poisoned Ulysses with strychnine. But Frank immediately knew what to do. He roped a cow, milked her, then forced the milk down Ulysses’ throat. Jack Williams concluded that, “The milk achieved the desired effect, and a friendship was strengthened which lasted until the old man died.”