- National Geographic HISTORY & CULTURE
Mexico’s cowboys struggle to maintain traditional lifestyle
Baja’s vaqueros are battling against the encroachment of the modern world, climate change, and COVID-19.
Photographed by Balazs Gardi
Photo Edited by Jamie Wellford & Maya Valentine
Eleonary “Nary” Arce Aguilar drives his mules home to Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Eleonary "Nary" Arce Aguilar lights a fire while driving his animals around in search of feed near Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Left: Eleonary “Nary” Arce Aguilar drives his mules home to Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Right: Ignacio “Nacho” Arce Arce rides along El Camino Real near Rancho Aguajito de las Mujeres in Santa Martha Valley, Baja California Sur, México.
Right: Ignacio “Nacho” Arce Arce rides along El Camino Real near Rancho Aguajito de las Mujeres in Santa Martha Valley, Baja California Sur, México.
Eleonary “Nary” Arce Aguilar ropes his pet deer at Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Left: Petroglyphs are scattered around Eleonary “Nary” Arce Aguilar's ranch in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México. Before COVID-19, he would lead visitors on pack mule trips to the more prominent sites in the region, but the impact of the pandemic has brought tourism to this remote pocket of Baja to a standstill.
Right: A collection of arrowheads made by Indigenous peoples from another era found at Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Right: A collection of arrowheads made by Indigenous peoples from another era found at Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Erlinda "Linda" Arce Arce works in the kitchen at Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, Mexico on April 30, 2021.
Eleonary "Nary" Arce Aguilar gets a hug from his daughter, Guadalupe, at Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Left: Ricardo Arce Aguilar uses the bark of the palo blanco tree to tan leather at Rancho El Datilito in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Right: Ignacio “Nacho” Arce Arce adjusts his riding boots and leather at Rancho Aguajito de la Tia Adelaida in Santa Martha Valley, Baja California Sur, México.
Right: Ignacio “Nacho” Arce Arce adjusts his riding boots and leather at Rancho Aguajito de la Tia Adelaida in Santa Martha Valley, Baja California Sur, México.
Eleonary “Nary” Arce Aguilar drives his mules home to Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Left: Saddles are among the many works with leather made by Baja cowboys, or vaqueros, in Baja California Sur, México.
Right: Rancho Los Naranjos in Baja California Sur, Mexico on April 28, 2021.
Right: Rancho Los Naranjos in Baja California Sur, Mexico on April 28, 2021.
Eleonary Arce Aguilar's daughter, Guadalupe, prepares to milk cows at Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
A starving calf tries to eat burning palm fronds from a fire at Rancho Mesa de San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Left: Trudi Angell, a Loreto-based guide and backcountry outfitter, says Baja’s cowboys, or vaqueros, are struggling with the encroachment of the modern world, changing economics and the intensified effects of climate change. “All these forces seem to be piling up against” the vaqueros, she says. “We can say that it’s a dying culture.”
Right: Eleonary “Nary” Arce Aguilar and his daughter, Guadalupe, take a break after hard work at Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Right: Eleonary “Nary” Arce Aguilar and his daughter, Guadalupe, take a break after hard work at Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Eleonary “Nary” Arce Aguilar and his daughter, Guadalupe, harvest a barrel cactus to feed their mules and horses at Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.“If we buy cow feed, we won’t eat—it’s that simple,” says José María “Chema” Arce Aguilar, a lifelong rancher and trail guide.
Eleonary "Nary" Arce Aguilar drives his mules home to Rancho Mesa San Esteban in the Sierra de San Francisco of Baja California Sur, México.
Mexico's cowboys struggle to maintain traditional lifestyle | Photographs by Balazs Gardi
Maya Valentine
Photo Editor
based in Washington, DC
Public Story
Mexico's cowboys struggle to maintain traditional lifestyle | Photographs by Balazs Gardi
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