Gauchos are the nomadic horsemen who roamed the Argentine and Uruguayan pampas, or grasslands, in the late 1700's and early 1800's. Similar to North American cowboys, gauchos are celebrated in legends and heroic folklore.
Gauchos managed herds of wild horses and cattle on the South American plains and lived from what they supplied. Their traditional equipment included the chiripa, a wide belt worn around the waist, bombachas, pleated pants that bunched at the ankles and most famous of all, the boleadora, or bola, a device made of small, heavy iron balls attached together by leather strips that were used to trip up and immobilize cattle, similar to a cowboy's rope lasso.
The gaucho eventually lost his freedom of wandering the wild pampas and was forced to work on the massive estancias, or ranches, that cover the modern grasslands. Despite this, they are a continual source for advertisements, legends, books and movies, just like his counterpart in North America.
Today, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we recognize the gauchos!
