In Search of Cowboy Ground Zero

In the spring of 2013, I traveled to Spain to see if I could locate Cowboy Ground Zero. My theory was, if I could find the source of the Spanish conquistadors, I would find where the seeds of the American cowboy originated. The conquistadors, of course, conquered most of South America and North America, bringing both cattle and horses to the New World. (Christopher Columbus brought over the first horses and cows in 1493.) In my journey, I visited the hometown of Francisco Pizarro, the dude who conquered the mighty Inca Empire. His hometown is in Trujillo, Cáceres, in Extremadura (Land of Extremes), Spain. How fitting. So, in my humble opinion, that is the location of Cowboy Ground Zero.