Cwboys came from all over, but the first in North America were the spanish. But cattle ranching in Lousiana were definately some of the earliest in the US.
It has been speculated that the cattle calls in the west had some origin in French Louisiana, but it is speculation. Thats one of those things no one can prove or disprove.
I thought hippytayo came from the name of two dogs... Hip and Tayo? Seriously... I'm not sure why I believe that but I remember reading that *somewhere*. Then again I'm never far from finishing off a 12 pack.
I have no idea where "yippie tajja jippie, Hip et taiee and Yippieajee" come from.
But the word "le bétail" (masculin) refers to "cattle" in French.
According to the book "Acadian Redemption" by Warren Perrin (http://www.atlasbooks.com/marktplc/01451.htm), Joseph Beausoleil Broussard who btw was a true Acadien hero (would be the equivalent of George Washington to the americans), go established in the business of raising cattle upon his arrival in Louisiana. That is why many of the largest cattle farmers bore the name Broussard.
It would worth noting that a lot of the French influences in the didn't necessarily come from the Acadians, as there was a very strong French presence (via Canada) all over what is now the USA (mostly East of the Mississipi).
In Louisiana, "la betaille" means "animal", I havent heard it used in the masculine, may have to ask dad about that. There is a very old song that has been recorded by Harrison Fontenot and by Isom Fontenot called La Betaille, "ils ont une betaille, alle a monté dans la tite arbe". Not sure what kind of critter that is refering to, but it had red hair and blue eyes. I asked Harrison if he knew what it was and he just gave me a puzzled look.
One little side about betaille, Maz maybe you know. We used a word "tataille", which apparently is only used in some areas of Louisiana, but I was wondering if in Canada too. It is used for kind of a monster, or mean person. May be one of those kid words, but I always assumed it originated from betaille.
Bryan, the Fontenot song made me think about it. So,
if it is La betaille (female/cow= La), could be pronounced like LáBéTaiéé,
Les Haricots also became Zydeco, so I'm puzzled.
I remember Alan Lomax saying that yippietaye (or something like that had a acadian/canadian origen.
I never thought about that, and I dont know the ins and outs of French grammar, but the ending has more of what I would consider a masculine sound. We pronounce it "la bétai".
Alan Lomax made a few speculations on his documentary that probably cant be proven either way, that's one of them. Still about my favorite documentary though.