Nat Love

Born into slavery in 1854 in Davidson County, Tennessee, Nat Love learned the skills of roping, herding, and branding cattle and horses as a young boy. At the age of 15, following the Civil War, Love left his family and moved to Kansas to find work as a cowboy. His skills paid off and soon he was driving cattle up the trails. Legend says that Love earned the title of "Deadwood Dick" after winning a shooting contest in Deadwood City. In 1890 he began working as a pullman on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Love's memoir, The Life and Adventures of Nat Love, published in 1907, tells the story of his life as a cowboy. It is believed that he died at the age of 71 in 1925.