In the 19th century, literature about these Argentine cowboys was popular, with Jose Hernandez' "Martin Fierro" a classic
The Gaucho Martin Fierro  Jose Hernandez  Alberto Carlos  Frank G. Carrino  
LITERATURE  The classic 19th century epic poem about a savage way of life in
... [DOC] [TLE] Borges - The New York Times [PAR] The middle of the nineteenth century was then riven by frontier and civil wars, ... 
1829, being hunted down by Federalist gauchos (basically cowboys) and killed.