Nat Love, also known as Deadwood Dick (1854–1921), pronounced as Nate Love, was an African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 cowboy

Cowboy

A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...

 following the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. In 1907, Love wrote his autobiography, "Life and Adventures of Nat Love." In his autobiography, Nat Love explains that his father was a slave foreman in the fields, and his mother managed the kitchen. Love had an older brother Jordan and an older sister Sally.

Love was born a slave

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

 on the plantation of Robert Love in Davidson County

Davidson County, Tennessee

Davidson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 626,681. Its county seat is Nashville.In 1963, the City of Nashville and the Davidson County government merged, so the county government is now known as the "Metropolitan Government of Nashville and...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, in June, 1854. Despite slavery era statutes that outlawed black literacy

Literacy

Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...

 he learned to read and write as a child with the help of his father, Sampson Love. When slavery ended, Sampson attempted to start a family farm to raise tobacco and corn, but he died shortly after the second crop was planted. Nat then took a second job working on a local farm to help make ends meet. After a few years of working odd jobs, he won a horse in a raffle. He sold the horse for one hundred dollars and gave half to his mother, and he used the other half to leave town. He went west to Dodge City, Kansas

Dodge City, Kansas

Dodge City is a city in, and the county seat of, Ford County, Kansas, United States. Named after nearby Fort Dodge, the city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,340.-History:The first settlement of...

, to find work as a cowboy

Cowboy

A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...

. In Dodge City, he joined the cowboys from the Duval Ranch which was stationed in Texas. Because of his excellent horse riding skills, the Duval Ranch cowboys gave Nat the nickname "Red River Dick." Once he joined the Duval cowboys he left Dodge City and returned with them to the home ranch in the Texas Panhandle

Texas Panhandle

The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...

. Nat Love's autobiography tells of many adventures fighting against cattle rustlers and inclement weather. His many years of experience made him an expert marksman and cowboy. He entered a rodeo in Deadwood, South Dakota on the 4th of July

Independence Day (United States)

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...

 in 1876. He won the rope, throw, tie, bridle, saddle and bronco riding contests. It was at this contest that the fans gave him the nickname "Deadwood Dick

Deadwood Dick

Deadwood Dick is a fictional character who appears in a series of stories, or "dime novels", published between 1877 and 1897 by Edward Lytton Wheeler...

."
In October 1877, he was captured by a band of Akimel O'odham

Pima

The Pima are a group of American Indians living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona. The long name, "Akimel O'odham", means "river people". They are closely related to the Tohono O'odham and the Hia C-ed O'odham...

 (Pima) while rounding up stray cattle near the Gila River

Gila River

The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...

 in Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

. Love reported that his life was spared because the Indians respected his fighting ability. A while after being captured, Love stole a pony and managed to escape into West Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

Love spent the latter part of his life working as a Pullman porter. He died in Los Angeles at age 67 in 1921.

In 1969, a clothing company in Boston took the name Nat Love to pay homage to this 'groovy guy.' Nat Love, Inc. introduced hot pants to the United States at the first National Boutique Show held at the Hotel McAlpin

Hotel McAlpin

The Hotel McAlpin was constructed in 1912 on Herald Square, at the corner of Broadway and 34th street in Manhattan, New York City by General Edwin A. McAlpin, son of David Hunter McAlpin. When opened it was the largest hotel in the world. The hotel was designed by the noted architect Frank Mills...

in New York City.
Eventually Nat Love’s family was freed from bondage because of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. As he got off on his own, some of his associates were Billy the Kid, Bat Masterson, the James Brothers. He also was adopted by more than one Indian tribe.
As a young man he wanted to get into the west and start living on his own, and he knew he could find work as a cowhand. He started working in Dodge City, Kansas, but it was then when he started to become a really good cowboy- he could catch cattle and rope them very easily. Then, he was offered more money at the Pete Gallinger company, so he started to work there. When he was 22, Love entered in a Roping contest on the 4th of July in Deadwood, South Dakota. He impressed the crowd so much that he received the nickname, “Deadwood Dick.” He won many contests, and published two autobiographies- The Life and Adventures of Nat Love and Better Known in the Cattle Country. Nat rode through hailstorms so hard that "only men could withstand them."
Nat fought off attacks by Indians a lot, like many other cowboys. The first time he met a mean group of Indians he said he was too scared to run.
Nat found love at first sight by a Spanish woman when he passed by a house in Old Mexico. They got married, but she died the spring after because of sickness. Later, he married another woman in Denver, CO. Nat eventually gave up on being a cowboy for the railroad industry instead. In 1980, he got a job in the Pullman service on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.

Quotes by Nat Love:

"Mounted on my horse my... lariat near my hand, and my trusty guns in my belt... I felt like I could defy the world."

"Every time you shoot at someone, plan on dying."

"If a man can't go out in the blaze of glory, he can at least go with dignity."

External links

• Life and Adventures of Nat Love, Better Known in the Cattle Country as "Deadwood Dick," by Himself. Los Angeles, Cal.: s.n., 1907.