The Fort Worth Herd represents a time when millions of cattle drove through Fort Worth and made a significant impact on the economy after the civil war.
FORT WORTH, Texas — There are few places across the state of Texas that feel more truly Texan to a visitor than the Fort Worth Stockyards.
That feeling is based on an authentic history steeped in a cowboy tradition. The area, along the Chisholm Trail, was one of the last stops for rest and supplies for drovers, who once rallied nearly 5 million cattle from Texas to Kansas during the 1800s.
Now, more than 150 years later, the Fort Worth Herd is dedicated to preserving that rich history. The twice-daily cattle drive through the Stockyards is how they commemorate that time. Now, one woman’s name will forever be etched in “The Herd” history books.
Quinceola Reid, a TCU student and military vet made the trade from combat to cowboy boots.
“It feels really big,” Reid said. In The Herd’s 25-year history, she became the first Black female drover in 2021.
“I didn’t know when I first got the job,” she added. “I was just excited to be paid to ride horses versus paying an arm and a leg.”
Her role as a drover, one of the men and women on horses driving cattle as part of the Fort Worth Herd, is part of a attraction that has become a defining scene for the city. It’s the only place in the world where you can see a longhorn cattle drive down a public street twice a day.
“It was 2021 at the time, I guess I just never realized, and I was like okay, I guess that’s right and I’m just going to keep showing up as myself and do the things,” she said after finding out that she was breaking barriers in her new role.
The Fort Worth Herd represents a time in history when millions of cattle came through Fort Worth and made a significant impact on the economy after the civil war.
“Texas was a very poor state, and everybody was looking for a way to make a living,” said Kristin Jaworski, executive director of the Fort Worth Herd & Trail Boss. “So whether you were coming out of the war or you were a Mexican vaquero or a Black cowboy, you were looking for work and that was an opportunity to make a lot of money in a short period of time.”
Female leadership is front and center in the Herd. Jaworski leads the Herd and their longest serving drover of 24 years, is also a woman. But make no mistake, this is a male-dominated line of work – which for Reid makes becoming the first Black female drover in the program’s history even more special.
“I would think for this position especially to just be a part of representation in a space that I’m so passionate about, it’s so humbling,” Reid added.
Reid brought a very unique element to the Herd that helped the audience relate to the drovers, Jaworski said.
“Being a Black cowgirl was so important to this program,” Jaworski added. “You know having that diversity and reflecting that it wasn’t like the movies that you would see right, and I think just changing that mindset is so important.”
The diversity within the program signifies a shift in mindset regarding the portrayal of the western landscape — a history that diverges from more mainstream perceptions of western culture.
“This isn’t actually new,” Reid added. “There’s a rich history, especially in Fort Worth.”
She says cowboys of color have for decades been a mainstay in Texas history.
“If you’re just talking about Fort Worth, people of color were here doing the work and are part of the reason why this city is the thriving city that it is today,” Reid said. “If you just look at the history post-civil war, all the logic is there on why African Americans in general, the freedmen, had these skills, and they used those skills to then support their families on the trail.”
A history that gave birth to the city’s nickname “Cowtown” and a history that will forever have Reid’s name etched in The Fort Worth Herd history books.
“I know that there’s a resurgence of, you know, African American or people of color being equestrians and horsemen,” Reid said. “We’ve still got plenty of trails to blaze.”
If you’d like to learn more about The Fort Worth Herd, you can find their website here.
The organization is proudly celebrating it’s 25th Anniversary this year. Jaworksi said not only is it a milestone with The Herd, but also the growth they’ve seen in the stockyards.
Editor’s note: Drover footage of Quinceola Reid provided courtesy of Claudia Camargo.