DUANE
Duane's take
Well, I'm going to tell you this one the way the official marker tells it — and friend, this story starts with a wedding and ends with a tradition that never quit. It was 1885, out in Anson, Jones County, Texas. A man named M.
G. Rhodes was hosting a wedding party and dance at his Star Hotel. Now, among the guests that night was a fellow named Larry Chittenden — a salesman and writer who'd come out to visit his uncle in Jones County.
Could've been just another dance. Could've been forgotten by Monday. But Chittenden watched those cowboys and ladies move across that floor, and something in him lit up like a lantern in a dark barn.
He was so inspired by what he saw that he sat down and composed a poem. He called it 'The Cowboys' Christmas Ball.' That poem first saw print in Anson's very own Texas Western Newspaper in 1890. Then in 1893 it showed up again in Chittenden's poetry collection, Ranch Berses.
And over the years, it got remembered and anthologized — set to print, set to song — more times than you can easily count. Now here's where the story takes a turn. By the 1930s, the ball itself had faded from living practice.
But in 1934, two women named Leonora Barrett and Hybernia Grace decided that was not going to stand. They revived the historic ball and its folklore. Their group was good enough — or maybe just bold enough — that they performed during the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition in Dallas.
And then in 1938, they danced at the National Folk Festival in Washington, D.C. On the White House lawn. Let that settle for a second.
Cowboys' Christmas Ball. White House lawn. Anson, Texas.
Annual interest kept growing, and the group copyrighted the event and named a board of directors for the Texas Cowboys' Christmas Ball Association. They needed a proper home for it all, so a new venue called Pioneer Hall was built — between 1938 and 1940 — with help from the Work Projects Administration. By 1940, the dance had become a three-day event.
The following year, an artist named Jenne Magafan painted a mural in the Anson Post Office depicting the historic Cowboy Dance. The town was putting the story on its walls. Now, what makes this ball more than just a good party is what Chittenden's poem actually contains.
He recorded real people and real ranches of 1880s Jones County. He noted the dress, the customs, the way things were done. And those observations still influence the formal rules and decorum of the ball today.
Ladies must wear dresses. Gentlemen must check their hats. Some attendees come in period clothing, looking like they stepped right out of that 1885 Star Hotel.
The dances themselves — the grand march, the waltz, the cotton-eye joe, the polka, the Virginia Reel, the Schottische — they're the same 19th century dances that kept cowboys and their partners moving across frontier floors. And here's the part that'll give you a little chill if you let it: some of the people who show up to dance today are direct descendants of the very people immortalized in Chittenden's poem. The poem called them to the floor once.
It's still calling their families back. The Cowboys' Christmas Ball draws national and international visitors now, but its roots go all the way down to one wedding night in 1885, one inspired guest with a pen, and two women in 1934 who refused to let it go. Anson, Texas keeps that frontier alive — three nights a year, on purpose, with their boots on.
What the marker says
In 1885, M. G. Rhodes hosted a wedding party and dance at his Star Hotel in Anson. One guest was Larry Chittenden, a salesman and writer visiting his uncle in Jones County. He was so inspired by the dance held that night for the cowboys and ladies that he composed a poem commemorating the occasion, “The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball.” The poem, first printed in Anson’s Texas Western Newspaper in 1890, also appeared in Chittenden’s 1893 poetry collection Ranch Berses. Over the years the poem was remembered and anthologized many times in print and song. In 1934, Leonora Barrett and Hybernia Grace revived the historic ball and its folklore. Their group performed during the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition in Dallas and at the National Folk Festival in Washington, D.C. in 1938, when they danced on the White House lawn. As annual interest increased, the group copyrighted the event and named a board of directors for the Texas Cowboys’ Christmas Ball Association. A new venue, Pioneer Hall, was built in 1938-40 with help from the Work Projects Administration. The dance has been a three-day event since 1940, and the following year Jenne Magafan’s mural in the Anson Post Office depicted the historic “Cowboy Dance.” Chittenden’s poem records real people and ranches of 1880s Jones County, along with observations of dress and customs which influence some of the formal rules and decorum of the ball today. Ladies must wear dresses and gentlemen must check their hats, and some attendees dress in period clothing. The event draws national and international visitors, while some participants are direct descendants of those immortalized in the poem. With such 19th century dances as the grand march, waltz, cotton-eye joe, polka, Virginia Reel and Schottische, this Anson tradition helps perpetuate an important aspect of life in frontier Texas. (2009)