Definition of "vaquero"

A day or two before a number of vaqueroes set out for the Santa Cruz Mountains and lassoed a very big grizzly.

1925, Quarterly of the Society of California Pioneers, page 232

Voices from the Wild Horse Desert is the story of vaquero families who have lived and worked on the prominent King and Kenedy Ranches of South Texas for six generations. Vaqueros (Mexican cowboys) are the highly skilled work force that cares for and works the cattle day by day.

1997, Jane Clements Monday, Betty Bailey Colley, Voices from the Wild Horse Desert: The Vaquero Families of the King and Kenedy Ranches, University of Texas Press, page ix

Of course the vaqueros do not help: because of his weight and his high voice they call him Don Castrado behind his back.

2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 11

Cattle drives became common between Mexico and California and Mexico and Texas. Vaqueros were the drivers. In time, as vaqueros worked for a particular ranch or within the confines of a particular territory, regional styles evolved. In essence, two types were prominent: that of the California vaquero and that of the vaquero from Texas.The Texas vaquero was identified as a free spirit, lived out in the open range, and went from ranch to ranch as work opportunities surfaced. The Californian vaquero remained loyal to a ranch or ranching family.

2015, Danilo H. Figueredo, Revolvers and Pistolas, Vaqueros and Caballeros: Debunking the Old West‎, ABC-CLIO (Praeger), page 50