African American trail rides, or Black trail rides, are rural parade-like celebrations that commemorate the traditions of

Black cowboys Black cowboys in the American West accounted for up to an estimated 25% of cowboys "who went up the trail" from the 1860s to 1880s and substantial but unknown percentage in the rest of the ranching industry, estimated to be at least 5000 worker ...

and formerly enslaved African Americans who were skilled in caring for and training livestock. The tradition is found in the African American communities of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama. Creole trail rides in Louisiana and Texas typically feature a "procession,

zydeco music Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. ...

, dancing and feasting." The annual Step-N-Strut trail ride in St. Landry Parish has been described as "the Creole Woodstock." Trail rides are increasingly popular in Mississippi.

References

Further reading