The Lesser-Known History of African-American Cowboys

If this sort of thing is of interest, check out John Ware.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ware_(cowboy)

Ware started life as a slave in the American South and ended as a respected rancher and member of the community in Calgary, Alberta. There would probably be movies about this guy if he'd stopped at Montana instead of crossing into Canada.

The term refers to a black person. The word is "cowboy" due to slavery when all black men were called "boys" like they were on the plantations. For example, "n***** boy". So the history of "African-American Cowboys" cannot be "lesser known" unless the word's meaning has been rewritten.