In the USA, the American cowboy is a quintessential symbol of America. However, few realize that the Baja vaqueros are the living link between the Spanish missionary soldiers that arrived in Baja California 300 years ago, and the American cowboy.

Long before there was the cowboy, there was the vaquero; an expert horseman and rancher who could deftly herd cattle and whose skills with a lasso were legendary. Derived from the word vaca (cow, in Spanish), the vaqueros would become renowned for their skills and adaptability.

The original vaqueros were largely Indigenous men who were trained by the Spanish missionaries to wrangle cattle on horseback, as the cattle imported from Spain often broke free. Indeed, the "American cowboy", as we know it, came from Mexico.

The Baja vaquero culture exists today, and many ranchero families maintain a subsistence-style livelihood with little outside influence. Leather hides from the cattle are cured, tanned, cut, braided, stamped and shaped into functional products such as lassos and chaps, saddles, bridles and more - using the same techniques that have been passed down through generations for hundreds of years.

It is our pleasure to work with the vaquero community to create a contemporary product line featuring leather coasters and leather trays rooted in traditional Baja leather-making techniques.