Thank you so much for commenting! I posted this article about 15 years ago when I had just begun my website. As I noted, my reference was a 1961 library book! Your point is well made, and after the holiday, I’ll go back and update. However, I will add that when I started to profile Black cowboys (Bill Pickett was my first), no one was writing about Black cowboys, despite the fact that at least one-third of “cattle handlers” were Black men. (You might like my write-up on Addison Jones, an early range boss. https://americacomesalive.com/addison-jones-ca-1845-1926-cowboy-and-range-boss/)
When I did a quick check on cowboys vs. cowhands just now, my sources were close to what you found. But it sounds like the work, to some extent, was different. Cowboys were more likely to manage the cattle on horseback. The “hands” were more likely to be ranch-bound and not riding for cattle management.
Thanks for encouraging me to take another look at the post!