Gauchos are the cowboys of the South American pampas (great plains) of Argentina, Uruguay, and the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.
They not just dress up cowboys. The ranching life still exists.
Gaucho Culture is Indigenous
Gaucho culture arose from Indigenous traditions during the colonial period when the land was still open. Later the land was managed as large ranches (estancias) left over from colonial times.
Gauchos fought in the wars of independence from Spain of 1810-1820. In the remainder of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th, the pampas of South America were a gaucho paradise.
After the 1850s, several decades of civil war, fences, railroads, and the imposition of modernity destroyed the lifestyle. Gauchos still exist as cowboys, but not in the old free way. A similar process took place in the American west.
