Texas Cowboy Reunion Is Still Going Strong
Published Mar 19, 2008
In 1935, legendary cowboy Will Rogers was spotted in the stands of an amateur rodeo in Stamford.
He wasn’t in the stands for long though. As soon as he was noticed, he was drafted to center stage of the Texas Cowboy Reunion, where he wowed the audience with his cowboy magic.
That was the last time Rogers performed publicly before he was killed in a plane crash, according to Gary Mathis, president and general manager of the Texas Cowboy Reunion, the world’s largest amateur rodeo.
More than 70 years after Rogers’ impromptu appearance, the Texas Cowboy Reunion is still going strong. The event draws between 650 and 700 cowboys and approximately 20,000 spectators every July. This year, the 78th annual reunion will converge on Stamford July 1-5.
“The cowboys come and associate with one another, and a lot of the fellows that come, of course they like to win in the competition, but if you don’t win, it’s still just like a family reunion,” says Mathis, a cowboy himself.
In addition to bull riding and barrel racing, the cowboys (and the cowboys at heart) enjoy chuck wagon cook-offs and rodeo dances.
The event, which brings cowboys together for friendship’s sake, also honors the traditions of their daily lives. Before one of the final events, the old timers’ calf rope, the crowd and cowboys observe a moment of silence.
“We start off by turning out what we call a memorial calf, and they just open the gate and let the calf go out into the arena and the whole audience is silent and it’s a way of honoring the old-time cowboys and the ones that’s been here and gone,” Mathis says. “It’s a pretty special event.”
Story by Michaela Jackson
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