Pedro Torres - An excerpt from "Texas"

"The portrait...is of Pedro Torres, a cowboy, or a vaquero. He has been a vaquero since his teens and is a descendant of many generations of vaqueros.  Every basic skill the American cowboy uses was learned from the vaquero. The cattle culture in Texas came from Mexico in the late 1600s and was well developed long before any Anglo cowboy ever came on the scene to change the name vaquero to buckaroo, chapparreras to chaps, masteno to mustang, or rancho to ranch. After 300 years, the vaquero still rides on Texas ranches. Pedro Torres has worked on the Chaparrosa Ranch for Mr. B.K. Johnson since coming here from Mexico over 15 years ago." - Charles Beckendorf, Texas, 1984