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The term “maverick” originally referred to a Texas cattle rancher who didn’t brand his cattle, allowing him to claim unbranded cattle as his own. The term later came to refer to free-thinking individuals who go against orthodoxy, including politicians who challenge their party’s ideas.
A maverick is someone who thinks independently, going against orthodoxy and regularly dissenting with popular opinion. Many people use the term specifically to refer to politicians, although in reality anyone can be referred to by this term. The origins of the word are actually quite fascinating, as are the roots of many words that come from the American West.
In the mid-1800s, a gentleman named Samuel Augustus Maverick settled in Texas with the goal of becoming a cattle rancher. Traditionally, ranchers branded their cattle with various brands to make them easy to identify, but he refused to do so. Some people have suggested that he was just lazy, but the real explanation is probably commercial in nature. Maverick knew that, by convention, unmarked cattle belonged to whoever could claim them first. Using his political clout, he made sure that any unbranded cattle were considered his, since he was the only rancher not to use brands, and in 1867, ranchers began calling unbranded cattle “mavericks.” .
It was a brilliant move. Fencing was not used much in the American West during this period, which meant that cattle roamed freely, often having calves away from the farm. By claiming all unbranded cattle as his own, this rancher undoubtedly acquired some cows that actually belonged to other people. Strangely, it was only through political power that he accomplished this, and many modern mavericks claim to go against the grain of politics.
As the slang term spread in the West, people also started using it to refer to free-thinking individuals, meaning such people were not “branded” with orthodoxy. The first written record of the word in this sense appeared in a San Francisco newspaper in 1886, in a discussion of a political independence.
Individuals may still hear people refer to unbranded cattle as maverick in parts of the West, but most people are more familiar with this term in the sense of a rebel. In the 20th century, self-identification with this term became quite popular, thanks to inspirations like James Dean, and some people actually worked to acquire that reputation. Politicians especially like to use the word in their rhetoric to suggest that voters will be their first concern and that they won’t be afraid to challenge the party line if they think the party’s ideas run counter to the people’s interests.
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