Black cowboys in the American West accounted for up to an estimated 25% of cowboys "who went up the trail" to participate in cattle drives from the 1860s to 1880s, estimated to be at least 5,000 individuals. They were also part of the rest of the ranching industry in the West.

Typically former slaves or born into the families of former slaves, many African American men had skills in cattle handling and headed West at the end of the Civil War. Compared to other industries of the time, Black men in the cattle industry were able to hold a range of responsibilities and get paid relatively equally to White men, although racial discrimination persisted.

Black cowboys participated in the rodeo competitions that grew out of the cattle industry starting in the 1870s, but since they faced discrimination in most White-sponsored shows, many organized their own shows that traveled around rural communities up to the 1940s. The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo and other Black rodeo organizations continue to feature Black rodeo performers.

Many Western films and television shows have underrepresented the number of Black people who worked in the West, but some have featured or included portrayals of Black cowboys, including characters based on historical figures. In the 2010s and 2020s, musicians including Beyoncé and Lil Nas X created hit songs and award-winning albums that drew on the history of Black cowboys.

In rural communities in Texas, Louisiana, and neighboring states, African-American trail rides celebrate Black cowboy culture. Several cities also have horse riding clubs inspired by the history and traditions of Black cowboys, such as the Oakland Black Cowboy Association and New York City Federation of Black Cowboys.

Some men enslaved in the early United States likely had experience with animal husbandry from their homes in West Africa and contributed their skills to the early development of open range cattle ranching, blended with European and Native American practices.

As early as 1770, regulations in Louisiana required two slaves to manage 100 head of cattle. White ranchers could even win competitions based on the cow-handling skills of the Black slaves in their possession. In the first half of the 1800s, White Americans settled in Texas and brought many slaves to work on their cattle ranches. In Antebellum Texas, White ranchers referred to White workers as "cow hands," with Black people in the same position referred to with the pejorative "cow boy." Prior to the abolition of slavery, the cattle trade was considered to offer a high degree of relative freedom to slaves, who would be issued guns, often left unaccompanied on horseback for long stretches, and trusted to return.

After the Reconstruction of the South after the American Civil War, freed slaves were still denied land ownership and other rights in many states, and about 20,000 Exodusters headed west to Kansas between 1879 and 1884, with smaller migrations to other Western states. Many trained under Mexican vaqueros, cattle-raising Native Americans, or their former masters. They then worked as ranch hands for wages equal to their White counterparts, offering more opportunities than existed for freemen in the South.