cavarango

cavarango n Also sp caverango, cavvy-wrango, cavyrango [MexSpan caballerango groom, stable boy] West Cf cavvy n 1, wrango n

A ranch hand who takes care of saddle horses and sometimes performs other menial tasks.

1896 Windsor Mag. 4.514 West, The new cavyrango of the 69 hes just shot the Kid because he wanted to fetch his horses in to water. 1904 Steedman Bucking Sagebrush 106 West (as of 1870s), Just as soon as he can see to count his horses the “cavarango” or “horse wrangler” rounds up his bunch and brings them into camp. 1921 Furlong Let ’Er Buck 93 eOR, It seems likely that the term, “wrangler,” comes from caverango—the Spanish for the man who had the care of the saddle horses. East of the Columbia River the term “wrango” or “rango” was used. 1981 in Lib. of Congress Amer. Memory: Buckaroos in Paradise (Internet) nNV, [Sound recording:] Now in the earlier days when there was no fences and fields, the wrango was the man that took care of the horses and herded ’em out to graze. . . They also call ’em sometimes the cavvy-wrango. The cavvy-wrango means the fellow that runs in the saddle horses, because a cavvy is the Spanish word for . . a bunch of saddle horses.