Henry Harris 1865 * 1937: Legendary Black Vaquero

In 1884, John Sparks brought a young black kid of about 19 years of age, to northeast Nevada, from Georgetown, Texas, to work for the Cattle empire of Sparks & Tinnin and later Sparks & Harrell. That black kid was Henry Harris.Within a few years he was given a crew and made wagon boss. By 1900, except for his 2 brothers, Henry had an all white crew. Cowboys would seek employment with the Cattle Emire just to work for the legendary Henry Harris. At the turn of the 19th century, Henry may have been the only black man, in this country, to supervise white men.