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The rodeo clown incident that made the recent news, makes my heart cry. Both my great-grandpa and my grandpa were “real” cowboys. They would never have made degrading remarks about anyone, especially their president.
When Texas voted to leave the union and join the Confederacy during the Civil War, my great-grandpa moved his family from Texas to the territory of southern New Mexico where they joined the cattle drives headed north. Following the war, they returned to the Texas Panhandle where both worked as cowboys on the T-Anchor Ranch.
When the settlers began to arrive, the T-Anchor cowboys welcomed them with open arms and, soon after, the T-Anchor became the city of Canyon, Texas. The cowboys of the T-Anchor became the first elected officials. My grandpa first served as county surveyor and later as county clerk The following note sent to his funeral from “Old Bones,” a black cowboy, is strong evidence of the character and loyalty of those “real” cowboys who cared little about one’s racial background:
“This is the 351st white flower, a lone white flower, a guardian of honor, that I have been sending for past forty years in honor of pioneer men and women who had a part in the building of this Great Empire of ours here on the Plains.” Signed: Mathew Hooks, “Old Bones.”