no one knows how many cowboys are still working maybe between ten and fifty thousand it is also difficult to define a twenty-first century cowboy surely it can not be the big cattle owners who do business with a seventy - billion dollar beef industry? these modern ranches use the latest technology and employ accountants but even some of the old traditional cattle ranches make more money nowadays by offering holidays to tourists people come and stay for a holiday and live the cowboy is life (or a Hollywood version of it)