At the Crossroads: Charros, Cowboys, and Capitalists in San Antonio, Texas

This paper examines the practice of charrería (Mexican rodeo) among Mexican immigrant men in San Antonio from the late 1940s through the early 1970s. The charros claimed an active place for Mexicans in the history of the Southwest – as well as its future. At the same time, however, they reinscribed a gendered and classed vision of ethnic Mexican inclusion: one that privileged middle-class, socially conservative men while marginalizing other, more transformative visions.