The Portal to Texas History 2021 Research Fellowship Awardee

Ronald W. Davis II

Project Title

From Round-Up to Trails End: Enslaved and Free Black Cowboys in Texas from 1840 to 1885

Project Description

This project examines the lived experiences of enslaved and free black cowboys in Texas. It argues that enslaved labor was integral to the formation of early Anglo-Texan cattle ranching. Finally, it will demonstrate that no geographical limit to slavery existed in the south and west.

Biography

Ron Davis is a Ph.D. candidate in the History Department at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is studying under the direction of Dr. Daina Ramey Berry. His dissertation project examines enslaved cowboys, labor, and resistance in antebellum Texas. He is a twenty-four-year veteran of the U.S. military and served in various capacities through five deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.