02/02/2026
DAY 5 — Reclaiming Our History 🐎📜
(8 Years Strong | Anniversary & Community Roots)
The American West didn’t begin with erasure—but too often, that’s how it’s been told.
“People of African descent were present in California as early as the 1700s and made up a significant portion of Yerba Buena’s early population, contributing directly to the founding of San Francisco and the rise of its politics, land systems, and global trade—long before U.S. statehood.”
— Bivett Brackett, Founder
At Frontier & Field, we reclaim the full story of the West—one where wealth, power, and cities were shaped by cowboy cultures, horsemanship, and control of land and livestock.
The often-erased founding fathers and mothers of California’s frontier—including William Leidesdorff, Mary Ellen Pleasant, Pío Pico, Juana Briones de Miranda, Juan Bautista de Anza, and Manuel Nieto—amassed influence and wealth tied directly to land ownership, horse and cattle economies, trade routes, and port access. Their leadership helped transform Yerba Buena into San Francisco, a hub of maritime trade, global exchange, and frontier capitalism.
These Black leaders didn’t just ride alongside history—they rode at the front of it, shaping the economic foundations that made San Francisco a world-class city.
🐎 Frontier & Field: Black Cowboys from Gold Rush to Super Bowl LX
📍 Commonwealth Club of San Francisco
📅 February 4 | 5–8 PM
🎟 https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2026-02-04/frontier-field-black-cowboys-gold-rush-superbowl-lx-2026
To understand the future, we must reclaim who held the reins.
FOR A FREE COMMUNITY TICKET USE THE CODE: cowboyfree
