DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Texas Cowboy Reunion Oldtimers' Association, right here in Jones County. Now, picture the year 1930. The open range is a memory, barbed wire has long since carved up the old frontier, and a handful of men decide that somebody had better remember how it used to be before the last of them are gone.
So they founded the Texas Cowboy Reunion Oldtimers' Association — jointly with the Texas Cowboy Reunion itself — with a purpose stated plain as a branding iron: to hand down to posterity the customs and traditions of the early cattle people. And who were those cattle people? Folks who lived in dugouts.
Who fought drouths, die-outs, heat and freeze-ups. Who raised the longhorns that finally brought settlement to the southwest. That's not romanticizing — that's just what the record says.
In that founding year, 1930, three hundred and thirty-five men gathered here who had each been cowboys prior to 1895. Three hundred and thirty-five. Let that number sit with you a moment.
These weren't hobbyists or enthusiasts. These were the actual last riders of the open range. Now, the membership had some names you might recognize.
Will Rogers was there — ex-cowhand, internationally famous entertainer and columnist. Musician Paul Whiteman. Editor Amon Carter.
And Ranger Captain Tom Hickman. The first president of the whole outfit was Colonel R. L.
Penick. In 1932, somebody donated a bull — just a bull — and that donation started the building fund for a bunkhouse and roundup hall that still stand nearby. The site itself was donated by a ranch.
And here's a detail that'll stick with you: the interior and exterior of that bunkhouse are covered in the ranch brands of the members. Not painted decoration. Actual brands.
The whole building is a register of who these men were and where they came from. Every year, for three days — including the Fourth of July — the Oldtimers' Reunion and Rodeo rolls out: chuckwagon meals, square dancing, oldtimers' memories and songs. The town celebrates with a cowboy parade.
Thousands come from all over to see what's called the world's largest amateur cowboy show — with actual cowhands performing. Not actors. Cowhands.
The marker puts it about as well as anything could. These oldtimers, it says, represent the end of the open range and the beginning of the era of barbed wire. They opened Texas' last frontier.
And then they came back, year after year, to make sure nobody forgot what that cost and what it looked like. That's not a small thing. That's a whole world refusing to be swallowed by time.
What the marker says
Founded 1930, jointly with Texas Cowboy Reunion - to "hand down to posterity, customs and traditions" of early cattle people who lived in dugouts and fought drouths, die-outs, heat and freeze-ups, raising the longhorns that finally brought settlement to the southwest. Here (1930) were 335 men who had been cowboys prior to 1895. Besides regular cowmen, early members included musician Paul Whiteman, editor Amon Carter, Ranger Captain Tom Hickman and Will Rogers, ex-cowhand, internationally famous entertainer and columnist. Colonel R. L. Penick was first president. In 1932, donation of a bull started building fund for bunkhouse and roundup hall standing nearby. Ranch donated site. The interior and exterior of the bunkhouse feature ranch brands of many members. Oldtimers' Reunion and Rodeo held 3 days annually (including July 4th) features chuckwagon meals, square dancing, and oldtimers' memories and songs. Town celebrates with cowboy parade and thousands come to see what is called "world's largest amateur cowboy show," with actual cowhands performing. These oldtimers represent the end of the open range and beginning of the era of barbed wire. They opened Texas' last frontier. (1969)