The Cowboys was a loosely organised confederation of cattle rustlers, robbers and outlaws operating in Pima and Cochise Counties, Arizona, during the late 19th century.
In the 1870s the term “cowboy” had not yet acquired its later association with legitimate ranch hands; in the borderlands of southern Arizona it was synonymous with cattle thief. The Cowboys initially rode into Mexico to steal livestock from ranches, driving the animals back across the border to sell in the United States. When the Mexican government responded by lowering tariffs and building forts along the frontier, the gang turned to American targets instead — rustling cattle and horses from neighbouring ranches and selling them to dishonest butchers. They also held up stagecoaches, seizing strongboxes and extorting valuables from passengers, sometimes killing drivers and travellers in the process. Some historians regard the Cowboys as an early expression of organised crime in America.
