• Two years of oil changes, tire rotations, and multipoint inspections.
The Gilchrist Valet Service:
• Online or over-the-phone sales purchase and delivery
• Service pick-up and delivery
Experience the Gilchrist Difference:
• Family owned and operated
• Purchase process tailored to your needs
• Three stores to choose from where each General Manager personally assists you
• Customer relationships do not end with the sale
• Each experience is special when you work with Gilchrist Automotive
Left to Right: Stephen Jimenez, General Manager – Spur Chevrolet Buick GMC Justin Rudd, General Manager – Platinum Chevrolet
Stephen Gilchrist, Dealer Operator – Gilchrist Automotive
Gary Walker, General Manager – Pegasus Chevrolet
THE FORT
14 City Dweller
City’s live music scene is in the weeds.
20 Calendar
Josh Abbott, Mozart, Robert Earl Keen, oh, my.
22 Fort Worthian
Erin Davis-Heineking’s life in horses has been one jump for joy after another.
26 History
From its origins in Hereford to home in Fort Worth, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.
32 Resident Art
“If you don’t have a Jack Daw piece in your house, are you even from Fort Worth?”
34 State Lines
The Norwegian character still in the air of the Bosque County destination of Clifton.
38 The Reverie Musings, commentary, and insights about the people, places, and things that make our city.
Cowboy for Life
My mom likes to joke that I was barely born in Texas. That you could throw a rock in two of three directions and hit either Mexico or New Mexico. But I was, in fact, born in Texas — El Paso, that is — and lived there a whole three months before the fam moved somewhere that was not Texas. And in notTexas we would remain for many years.
During these 10-or-so odd years of my life, I took great pride in being a natural-born Texan. You see, I was the only one within my immediate family born in the Lone Star State, making a sense of self-worth over my provenance a birthright. So, despite my mere few months of Texas residency and never having technically stepped foot in our nation’s 28th state, I had already determined that it was the Promised Land, and I leaned in. Like, really leaned in.
I believe I was 4 or 5 when I decided I wanted to be a cowboy. After all, nothing is more fitting a profession for someone who by chance was born where all the cowboys live, Texas. I wanted to ride a horse. Heck, I wanted to own a horse. I wanted to own a horse the same color as Kevin Costner’s ill-fated equine in “Dances with Wolves” — a golden hue with a black mane. I wanted to wear a ten-gallon hat and boots and wooly chaps and a shiny sheriff’s badge while also being an outlaw. I wanted to say “Howdy” instead of “Hello.” And I wanted to be the quickest draw.
It was a life, for a brief moment, I romanticized — partly because of my place of birth and partly because I spent a chunk of my youth watching John Wayne movies on loop. It all seemed so attainable.
Of course, like all innocent dreams, I grew out of it. By the time my family ended up back in Texas, I was more interested in beat poets and smoking hookah than having a natural drawl and chewing tobacco. Though wearing plaid pearl snaps never faded.
Eventually, things came full circle. I, of course, would eventually move to Fort Worth, where the West begins. And I’m now the editor of the city’s magazine, writing stories about legitimate cowboys at this year’s Stock Show and Rodeo. Of course, I’m not branding any cattle or attempting to tame any bucking broncos at Fort Worth Magazine — at least not literally — but I do get to experience these things in my own air-conditioned vantage point. I guess dreams, in some ways, do come true.
Before I say adieu, I also wanted to point out some changes we’ve implemented starting with this issue. You’ll notice a few design tweaks — one could probably characterize them as more than tweaks — courtesy of an incredible job done by our creative director, Craig Sylva. And we’ve also started a new department called “Chowtown” devoted solely to Fort Worth’s dining scene. Here, you’ll find phenomenal articles by our food writer, Malcolm Mayhew, starting on page 75. A little change isn’t such a terrible thing. I hope everyone has had a wonderful beginning to their new year.
Brian Kendall EXECUTIVE EDITOR
ON THE COVER:
Few things say rodeo more than a bronco in full bucking motion. This phenomenal shot was captured by local rodeo photographer Click Thompson (Instagram @clickthompson) and, we contend, is one in a million. We also had help with this issue’s cover and feature design from the talented Lauren Deitzer, whose work you can find at laurendeitzer.com.
CORRECTIONS? COMMENTS? CONCERNS?
Send to executive editor Brian Kendall at bkendall@fwtexas.com.
NEXT MONTH
Don’t Cali Our Cowtown
Jazz in the Fort
The Iconic Foods of Texas
If your job were an event at the Stock Show and Rodeo, which event would it be and why?
I’m gonna go with the low-hanging fruit, editorial is riding a bucking bull — I don’t know where it’s taking me, ever, really, but I stay on ’cause a good story might come out of it.
Two actually. Barrel racing: always a sprint to the finish. Calf roping: I’m the calf.
I’m apprehensive about your publishing this, but here’s mine: Sales is like roping a steer. We rope our prospects by cold calling before they get away. When the rope is secure around their necks, we move into the sales pitch. If they fight to get loose, we break out another rope and tie their feet.
Escaramuza charra because marketing requires multiple parties working independently to create campaigns that are intentional, aesthetically pleasing, and perfectly synchronized.
owner/publisher hal a. brown
coo mike waldum
EDITORIAL
executive editor brian kendall
contributing editor john henry
digital editor stephen montoya
contributing writers shasta haubrich, malcolm mayhew, michael h. price, charlotte settle, shilo urban copy editor sharon casseday
ART
creative director craig sylva
senior art director spray gleaves
advertising art director ed woolf director of photography crystal wise
additional graphics lauren deitzer
ADVERTISING
sales director andrew yeager
advertising account supervisors gina burns-wigginton x150 marion c. knight x135
Mutton bustin, a fan favorite. You only have 6 seconds to figure out what you are doing. Demands resilience and a firm grip. Equipment includes a helmet and a strong poker face. Close your eyes hold on tight and enjoy the ride.
My job would be the Best of the West Ranch Rodeo. Just as a rodeo cowboy skillfully maneuvers through the chaos of bucking broncos and wild bulls, effective data collection and organization require a strategic and agile approach to navigate through the vast and dynamic landscape of information.
If my job were an event at the rodeo, it would have to be tie-down roping because I’m always in a hurry roping down fellow co-workers to get what I need!
DIGITAL EDITION:
The virtual editions of both current and previous issues are available on our website. Flip through the pages to read more about the great city of Fort Worth by visiting fwtx.com.
FortWorthMagazine(ISSN 1536-8939) is published monthly by Panther City Media Group, LP, 6777 Camp Bowie Blvd., Suite 130, Fort Worth, TX 76116. Periodicals Postage Paid at Fort Worth, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send change of address notices and undeliverable copies to Panther City Media Group, PO Box 213, Lincolnshire, IL 60069. Volume 27, Number 1, January 2024. Basic Subscription price: $23.95 per year. Single copy price: $4.99
November 1999
Early days are difficult for magazines. And this statement isn’t exclusive to financial woes, as there are editorial woes, too. Publications, when they first launch, create a general plan for their editorial — they know their target demographic, and they have an idea of what might interest that target demographic. But, during these adolescent stages, the magazine is still getting to know its readers and vice-versa; they’re still feeling each other out. Thus, the magazine, like a preteen, is
still figuring out who and what it is. What was then Fort Worth, Texas Magazine hadn’t even been around a full year — the magazine’s first issue ran in December 1998 — when, on Sept. 15, 1999, 47-year-old Larry Gene Ashbrook opened fire at a Christian youth rally at Wedgwood Baptist Church, killing seven people, four of them teenagers, and wounding eight others before taking his own life. With the horrific Columbine High School shootings occurring only five
months prior and the phrase “mass shootings” slowly becoming a bigger part of the cultural lexicon, the shock and despair throughout the city were understandably palpable. But how should a brand-new magazine that advertised itself as the “City’s Magazine” react and respond — even if its concentration was lifestyle content that focused on recipes, things to do around town, positive human interest stories, and “society” coverage? Do you stick to your initial editorial calendar and go to press with a cover story on brunch spots?
The tragedy occurred one month before the magazine would go to press with its November issue, giving it time to pivot and produce a story on the shooting and its aftermath. A few weeks later, the publication went to press with a cover story, “The Better Angels of Our Nature.” Written by Mark Parks, the story elected to avoid commentary — no Monday morning quarterbacking for solutions — and, instead, focused on the community’s response, and how it came together, following the devastating event. The eight-page feature also included moving photography by Rhonda Hole of a community mourning the tragic and unnecessary loss of life.
It was a defining moment for the City’s Magazine. When confronted with such an event, the publication, whose biggest strength is the stories it tells, wouldn’t sit idly by. No, it would tell the story that was in front of it.
photography by Rhonda Hole
RESIDENT ART
THE FORT
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AND THE THINGS YOU NEED TO DO
From portraits of Willie Nelson and Big Tex to calaveras wielding corn dogs, the twists and turns of Jack Daw’s linocut prints make him one of the area’s most celebrated artists.
by
Stephen Montoya
The Sounds of Silence
The recent shuttering of Lola’s Saloon along with two other music venues marks the end of an era. So, where does Cowtown’s music scene go from here?
Afew days after Thanksgiving, a silence overtook the once bustling stages of what were some of the last bastions of Fort Worth’s local music scene. In late November, three of the city’s major venues, Lola’s, Twilite, and the Isis Theater — all music incubators that developed local talent — suddenly and unexpectedly closed within three days of one another.
It’s not an overreaction to say the news marked the end of an era, and serious questions are now being raised about the industry’s future in Cowtown and what these struggles mean for the city’s creative class.
But, to put it in perspective, this is
not solely a Fort Worth problem but part of a nationwide trend. According to a study conducted by CNBC, many smaller venues have yet to see business return to pre-pandemic levels.
Since COVID, the rising cost of living has shrunk disposable incomes, and money for entertainment and leisure has dwindled. Venue owners, of course, have not been immune to their own escalating expenses. Couple this with the fact that venue attendees aren’t spending as much, and venues continue to close shop despite the lifting of COVID restrictions.
“Post-pandemic, a lot of people were just scared to go out,” says Jon Carney,
former co-owner of M.A.S.S., a once popular venue. “To top that off, costs went way up. It was always expensive to run a live venue. However, COVID made it very difficult to continue.”
According to Carney, who also owns the Near Southside bar Chat Room, the model of running a live venue versus a regular bar are completely different. A live venue will generally charge a cover at the door, and this fee will cover the costs of the show, including paying the band, sound engineer, and even the guy collecting the cover.
“In the end, a live music venue just wants to sell alcohol,” he says. “This is where the profit sits.”
Yet another obstacle venues are facing could be generational. Since the COVID shutdown, Carney says younger people — those defined as Gen Z — appear to be pivoting away from live music in favor of entertainment on at-home devices.
That’s a trend, Carney says, that is devastating for live venues. Those in their early-to-mid 20s, once the bread and butter for music venues, have, according to Carney, largely abandoned attending shows.
“Social media is huge and it’s free,” Carney says.
While many agree with Carney, a recent study conducted by Live Nation contends the opposite — 94% of those interested in live music are more likely to be Gen Z. Yet, concurrent studies have also discovered that Gen Zers consume substantially less alcohol than their Millennial counterparts — 28% might not drink at all. Whether via ticket or alcohol sales, the music venues are still losing out on revenue.
Older audiences, meanwhile, have amassed too many responsibilities — family, kids, in-office work at 8 a.m. — to attend Tuesday night shows and are left with an ailing sense of nostalgia. It’s a nostalgia that might explain why the shuttering of Lola’s, long considered the elder statesman of live Fort Worth venues, resulted in panic and protestations from local musicians and music fans alike.
“Lola’s shutting down is devastat-
photos provided by Sean Russell
ing,” says Sean Russell, frontman of local band Cut Throat Finches. “I mean, in my opinion, Lola’s is the music mecca, at least the rock ‘n’ roll music mecca of Fort Worth. It’s a big cultural piece of the fabric of the city.”
Lola’s rose from the ashes of the Wreck Room, a rowdy rock club that was owned and operated by Brian Forella. For 10 years, the Wreck Room, located on West Seventh Street, was at the epicenter of Fort Worth’s rock scene at its zenith in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Soon after the Wreck Room closed in 2007 to make room for development of the corridor, Forella opened the first iteration of Lola’s on West Sixth Street where Birdie’s Social Club now resides. In August 2022, Forella moved the venue to Berry Street, where it remained until its closure on Nov. 29.
The tally of live venues that support local music in Fort Worth has dwindled. Some of the faithful few venues left to keep the beat of local music rolling include The Cicada, The Post at River East, Magnolia Motor Lounge, and Tulips — though the latter’s event calendar contains mostly national indie acts.
John Stevens, co-owner of The Cicada, one of only a handful of live venues left, says he’s alarmed by recent closures but also understands the increased importance that now rests on his venue.
“We are trying to provide a service, more than anything else,” Stevens says. “I’ve been a musician in this town since I was teenager, and I just want to provide the same place where I was able to get my start and learn my craft.”
The Cicada inhabits the former Carney-owned M.A.S.S., which is to say there is still a silver lining to the cloud hanging over the Fort Worth music scene.
“People will always find a way to new music, and music will always find a way to survive,” Stevens says. “There’s always people who want to play it, and equally there’s always people who want to hear it.”
Dickies Arena’s Greatness Now WorldRenowned Billboardranks
the four-year-old arena as a top venue in the world.
Dickies is a world-class venue. Hey, you never had to convince us of such a proclamation, but we thought Billboard might require a little persuading. Turns out, the fine folks at the weekly music pub — who also happen to be the authority when it comes to all things venues — needed no such nudging.
According to Billboard’s recent rankings of venues across the world, which the magazine published in early December, Dickies Arena took home top honors for venues with a seating capacity between 10,001 and 15,000. The four-year-old venue edged out Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin and our in-state rival theater (if there is such a thing), the Moody Center in Austin.
“Fort Worth is a wonderfully unique and diverse market with a passion for entertainment, and it is wonderful that our Cowtown-Funky Town is being recognized on the international stage,” says Dickies president and general manager Matt Homan. “It is a tremendous honor to
be named Billboard’s No. 1 venue in the world, and we will continue to bring an array of top-notch entertainment to the city of Fort Worth.”
Between Nov. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2023, Dickies played host to 110 shows and had a total gross of $70.3 million and total attendance of 929,000. And, according Pollstar Magazine, the venue also finished the year ranked seventh worldwide in total ticket sales.
This year’s headliners included such heavy hitters as George Strait (who sold out back-to-back performances), Shania Twain, The 1975, Sam Smith, Arctic Monkeys, Kenny Loggins, Dave Chappelle, Paramore, and KISS.
“Dickies Arena is focused on bringing diverse events to the city of Fort Worth, including sports and concerts and everything in between to reach and entertain all the residents of Fort Worth,” Homan says. “Keep a look out for 2024 announcements as we continue to strive to entertain Fort Worth.”
Voted
by John Henry
A Day at Canyon Ranch
The
Hungarian Mud Wrap Ritual comes highly recommended.
At first sight, “Hungarian Mud Wrap Ritual” might remind some longtimers of the days of yore when the boorish brutes of World Class Championship Wrestling roamed the Cultural District looking to cause harm to Von Erichs.
Certainly, the Hungarian Mud Wrap Ritual was something the late Bruiser Brody whipped out of his can of whoop ass, right?
Think again, and within range of a more orderly and civilized society.
The Hungarian Mud Wrap Ritual is all part of the potential experience of Canyon Ranch Fort Worth, the company’s inaugural wellness club that is attached to John Goff’s $250 million development just west of downtown that includes the grand Crescent Hotel Fort Worth. In 2017, Goff’s Crescent Real Estate became the principal owner of Canyon Ranch, and Mark Rivers is the company’s newly appointed CEO.
“We couldn’t wait to bring it here,” says Deirdre Strunk, Canyon Ranch’s senior vice president of Wellness Clubs and Spa Operations, with more than 30 years in the industry, including as an instructor. “What I think I’ve loved most about [opening] is that people are so excited for us to be here. The community support, curiosity, love for the
brand has really come through. And I think it’s a really good reminder of what we as a brand bring to people and have brought to people for 44 years.” Earlier this year Canyon Ranch announced a long-term partnership with VICI Properties, the New Yorkbased entertainment company that owns Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, among others. VICI is making a $150 million investment in Canyon Ranch in addition to the $200 million VICI invested last year to build a Canyon Ranch spa resort in the Texas Hill Country.
New Canyon Ranch Wellness Clubs are planned in more than a dozen locations, along with additional resorts in Florida, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southeast. In addition to the club in Fort Worth, a Houston location is opening this summer, and the Canyon Ranch Austin resort will open in 2025. The club in Fort Worth includes state-of-the-art fitness and spa facilities, lounges, and coworking spaces. The club is said to be introducing many “firsts” for the Fort Worth area, including North Texas’ only Vichy Steam Table, a multisensory experience spa amenity that is used in the, yes, Hungarian Mud Wrap Ritual.
Around Cowtown in 8 Seconds
A smattering of things you might’ve missed
1. Shotgun Wedding Soon after Fort Worthian Madelaine Brockway’s $59 million Parisian wedding went viral, her new groom appears in a courtroom facing a potential life sentence for opening fire on Westworth Village police officers months prior.
2. Fort the Birds FWISD students will help the city choose an official bird by researching and giving presentations on six designated candidates, including the Carolina chickadee, at the district’s annual science fair.
3. X Marks the Jurisdiction Elon Musk’s X Corp. elects to file its defamation lawsuit against Media Matters in Fort Worth, where, according to UT law professor Stephen Vladeck, Musk will “draw a judge likely to be sympathetic.”
4. Horned Frogskins Numerous local publications report that TCU’s tuition is likely to increase 7.9% for the next academic year, which puts annual tuition cost at $61,643 — over $7,000 more than Harvard’s tuition.
5. Big Apple, Small Tree After erecting the 80-foot Christmas tree in Sundance Square, Sasha and Edward Bass donate a 30-foot tree to Madison Square Park in New York — across from a monument for our city’s namesake — to pay tribute to the cities’ historical ties.
6. It’s Not Santa, It’s a Drone A Keller family gets national recognition after winning a televised Christmas lights competition on ABC, thanks to employing 400 drones that create holiday-themed images that can be seen five miles away.
7. The Kimbell Gets Jaded In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Renzo Piano Pavilion, the Kimbell Art Museum acquires a renowned jade sculpture that dates back to ancient Mesoamerica and was previously on display at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
8. Trouble in Paradise, or, er, Yellowstone Local rancher and showrunner Taylor Sheridan sues actor Cole Hauser’s coffee company over trademark infringement, claiming similarities with his own coffee brand’s logo.
January
5–6
Josh Abbott Band
With a new single making the rounds, the sextet brings its fiddle-laden brand of Panhandle country to the world’s biggest honky-tonk.
Billy Bob’s Texas billybobstexas.com
5–7
Mozart and Stravinsky
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra reaches across the metroplex to partner with the Dallas Black Dance Theatre for a balletic take on classical numbers by the famed composers.
Bass Performance Hall fwsymphony.org
12–Feb. 3
Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo
From bucking bulls to jumping mules and prized rabbits, the Stock Show brings three weeks’ worth of can’t-miss events.
Will Rogers Memorial Center and Dickies Arena fwssr.com
13
Robert Earl Keen
One of Texas’ greatest country songwriters will strip it down (the music, that is) for an intimate solo acoustic performance at Bass Hall.
Bass Performance Hall basshall.com
17
Bulls’ Night Out Rodeo Pre-Party
The Amon Carter hosts a pre-party with live music and libations for the Stock Show’s biggest event — both literally and figuratively.
Amon Carter Museum of American Art cartermuseum.org
18–Feb. 11
‘Marjorie Prime’
An 85-year-old Marjorie receives assistance from a handsome young robot to recover some of her lost memories.
Stage West Theatre stagewest.org
19–21
Elton John and Billy Joel Tribute
Vocalist Ron Spigelman links up with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra to explore the songbooks of a couple of revered piano men. Bass Performance Hall fwsymphony.org
27–28
Fort Worth Opera: ‘The Tragedy of Carmen’
An adaptation of Georges Bizet’s 19th-century French opera, “Carmen,” about a cigarette factory worker whose seduction of a soldier leads to tragedy. I.M. Terrell Academy fwopera.org
31–Feb. 4
Disney’s ‘Aladdin’
The big blue genie with a sharp wit grants an orphaned thief three wishes and belts out a couple of Academy Awardnominated songs.
Bass Performance Hall basshall.com
Jan. 26
Elle
King
The soulful crooner of the Billboard-topping “Ex’s & Oh’s” stops by Cowtown in support of her latest
Robert Earl Keen
photos provided by Billy Bob’s Texas // Bass Performance Hall // Amon Carter
Museum of American Art
Josh Abbott Band
Erin Heineking
Equestrian and
entrepreneur
By Charlotte Settle
Photo by Crystal Wise
Erin Davis-Heineking has been around horses for as long as she can remember. Her father taught her to ride for fun, and at 8 years old, she started training in English show jumping. “I never stopped,” she says. “By the time I graduated high school, I was competing at some pretty big competitions and winning.”
Born and raised in Fort Worth, Heineking attended TCU. She continued to compete throughout her education and later moved to California to start her own horse-trading business. “I would train the horses, travel with them, compete with them, and then sell them,” she says. When she turned 30, Heineking moved back to Texas and started running her operations out of October Hill Farm — a horse breeding and training facility that she co-founded with her sister in the ’90s.
A few years ago, after a hiatus from competing, Heineking started riding and training a horse named Leonie. “That mare is amazing,” says Heineking. “She brought me back. She’s not easy to ride, but we really clicked.”
In 2020, Heineking competed with Leonie at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. The pair took home first place and a $137,000 prize in a Grand Prix — the highest possible level in competitive show jumping.
“When I realized what I had done, it was surreal,” says Heineking. After the win, many encouraged her to continue traveling the world and competing — but she had big dreams of hosting an international show jumping event in Cowtown. “I’ve been a lot of places, but I have never seen a facility like Will Rogers,” she says. “I wanted to show the world Fort Worth.”
Heineking recruited Derek Braun of Split Rock Jumping Tour to help bring her dream to life. He encouraged her to think even bigger and placed a bid to host a World Cup Qualifier for the International Federation of Equestrian Sports (FEI). Since they hadn’t yet hosted their first show, Heineking was
skeptical, but she agreed to place the bid — and she won.
In December of 2021, Heineking and Split Rock debuted the Fort Worth International Horse Show at the Will Rogers Coliseum with participants from around the world. The event was a resounding success and inspired yet another big idea from Braun — to place a bid for the FEI World Cup Final. “I told him he was crazy,” says Heineking. “We had only run this qualifier for one year.” Nonetheless, Braun and Heineking convinced the city of Fort Worth to place a bid with Split Rock.
“The day they made the bid, we were on the bottom floor of Dickies Arena on a Zoom call with people from all over the world,” says Heineking. Despite the odds, Fort Worth won the bid. Thanks to Heineking’s vision, the FEI World Cup Final — one of the world’s biggest show jumping events — will take place at Dickies Arena in 2026.
“I saw the dream, and I made it happen,” says Heineking. “It’s been a lot of time and money, but I’ve had sponsors help me, as well as the community of Fort Worth, friends, and family.”
Heineking is always dreaming up more ideas — though she’s not willing to share them with the world just yet. “When I start talking about something, it usually happens,” she laughs. “Maybe I’ll write a book one day. We’ll see.”
BY THE WAY....
What is a fun fact about horses that most people don’t know?
“International show horses are required to have passports! Horses frequently travel on airplanes all over the world.”
Favorite things to do in Fort Worth?
“I love taking my daughter to the zoo and to the Japanese Garden to feed the fish. I also love visiting the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo and watching all the different events and animal shows.”
1. Heineking competing in California. 2. Heineking winning the $137,000 Grand Prix in Wellington with her daughter by her side. 3. Competing in a major league Grand Prix in Traverse City. 4. Heineking’s daughter at a show in Illinois. 5. Heineking taking home a win in Santa Fe. 6. Heineking and Leonie. 7. Heineking with her husband, Christian, after he won a Grand Prix.
You can dream it Together we can do it
Welcome to the world of Expressions Home Gallery, powered by Reece Bath+Kitchen. laundry,
Our Fort Worth showroom lets you experience the bath and kitchen brands we love, while our expert consultants provide the right amount of guidance at every step. We offer plumbing fixtures, appliances for kitchen and laundry, outdoor grills, and door and cabinet hardware.
by Michael H. Price
Enshrining the Cowgirl
The Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame never got too big for its britches, but it did get too big for Hereford, Texas.
Imay have been the first working journalist outside Hereford, Texas, to publish a word or three on the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame.
It’s not a contest, of course. Nobody’s keeping score. Scarcely matters as to who got there earliest on that front, but my longtime station as city editor of the Amarillo Daily News & Globe-Times makes it likely that my initial daily-paper and Associated Press reports
during the middle 1970s served to tell the rest of the world that something monumental was happening in that remote cattle-raising town in Deaf Smith County. The modest beginnings carried large implications.
Hollywood cowboy Gene Autry, a champion ticket-seller of the last century, was developing his own signature museum in Los Angeles during this period. Autry visited my newsroom
office during the 1970s to consult with the paper’s film critic and Western-art historian, George E. Turner, and me about his ambition to make that showplace into a half-and-half combination of frontier history and Western pop-cultural mythology.
George and I had been the first published cowboy-movie researchers to place Autry’s eventual major-league credentials in context with his modest beginnings in the movie racket, pinpointing his instant transformation from a chump-change, bit-parts actor (in 1934s “Mystery Mountain”) to the star player of 1935s “The Phantom Empire” (an indescribably strange science-fiction/cowboy/musical adventure). Autry had the museum-making advantage of a fortune in movie-and-television royalties, and he had chosen his location as L.A.’s Griffith Park. The site lay within shouting distance of the futuristic Griffith Park Observatory, which Autry remembered fondly as a shooting location for “The Phantom Empire.”
So, George Turner, Gene Autry, and I toured the Cowgirl Museum’s location in nearby Hereford, and Autry came away impressed with its small-scale authenticity: “This place has the makings of something big,” said Autry, who remained a small-town Texan at heart. “Y’know, cowgirls have contributed as much as us cowboys to the heritage, and Hollywood had its singing cowgirls, like Dorothy Page and Dale
The Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame owes its design to the worldrenowned architect David M. Schwarz.
The museum contains over 5,000 items in its artifacts collection.
Evans, around the same time as me an’ Roy Rogers. It’s the balance of nature.”
(Autry’s Western Heritage Center would open in 1988.)
That was then, of course, and this is now — and the Cowgirl Museum has long since left Hereford for a greater prominence and a broader practical influence: The immediate linchpin is the Cowgirl Museum’s permanent landmark, a 33,000-square-foot interactive shrine within Fort Worth’s Cultural District.
True to its original mission, the Cowgirl has cinched itself as the planet’s most emphatic recognition of the women who helped to win the West, past and present, with gumption, graceful resilience, and independence of spirit. The shaping of the Western frontier as an outpost of civilization, of course, would alter the globe itself. Additional such pioneers and pacesetters are honored with each fresh year.
Each of the hundreds of honorees in the Hall of Fame — including physicians, businesswomen, artists, writers, ranchers, and even the late Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor — looked at social and economic obstacles as challenges in need of being lassoed and brought to bay. The common thread is that of lives well pursued in the frontier (literally and figuratively speaking), experienced at close range and usually on horseback.
The Cowgirl Museum traces its origins to 1975 and a cramped basement of the Municipal Library in Hereford, seat of Deaf Smith County in the Panhandle. The originator was Margaret Clark Formby (1929–2003), wife of the radio broadcaster Clint Formby. Mar-
garet Formby courted a larger city to take charge of the cornerstone exhibits, and Fort Worth proved the right place. A temporary 1990s headquarters in downtown Fort Worth — once an offshoot of the historic Woolworth Building — held the museum until the completion of its Cultural District shrine in Fort Worth in 2002. The Hall of Fame is central, showcasing photographs, artifacts, and biographical information on Cowgirl honorees. The rotunda bespeaks grandeur with its dozen Corinthian columns, but a down-home atmosphere prevails. Attractions have included a short film, “Kinship with the Land”; the Connie Reeves Discovery Corral, a play area for children; and displays covering the rodeo circuit, cowgirls in popular culture from music to movies and comic books; and an earphone jukebox whose selections include the famous recording of “My Adobe Hacienda,” by Louise Massey & Her Westerners.
Beyond cutting, trick riding, and bull-straddling, the cowgirls have emerged over the long term as role models for women and men alike. The jazz singer-turned-Hollywood cowgirl hero Dale Evans (a 1995 Hall of Famer) once expressed the interest in these terms: “Cowgirl is an attitude, really. A pioneer spirit, a special American brand of courage. The cowgirl faces life head-on, lives by her own lights,
and makes no excuses. Cowgirls take stands, they speak up. They defend things they hold dear.”
Founder Margaret Formby, daughter of a rancher, had built the original Cowgirl Museum from a personal collection dating from before her time, all the way back to the mid-1800s — photographs and artifacts of ranchland pioneers, artists, writers, tribal leaders, and rodeo contenders. Mrs. Formby wanted to share her collection with the world. Hence the starting point at Hereford, and hence the expansion to Fort Worth. (Hereford still boasts such signature attractions as a Municipal Museum and a prominent billboard touting a company called Deaf Smith County Hearing Aids.)
After considering proposals from 35 cities in six states, Mrs. Formby entrusted her collection to Fort Worth — itself a nexus of the Western way of life. The kinship of Fort Worth to the Texas Panhandle, after all, is as close as Col. Charles Goodnight was to the tribal leader Quanah Parker.
Once it had been situated in Fort Worth, the Cowgirl Museum raised the wherewithal to develop the landmark structure, designed by architect David M. Schwarz. The location is 1720 Gendy St. in the Cultural District, adjacent to the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History.
A young Sandra Day O’Connor
by Shasta Haubrich
Art for Whiskey Lovers
Jack Daw, a chicken-owning tattooed punk rocker, creates art that just about sums up Fort Worth — in the best ways possible.
In art — like most business — finding one’s niche and audience is imperative to success.
Luckily for Jack Daw, his audience is Fort Worth. In the words purportedly said by local content creator Josie Villa-Singleton, “If you don’t have a JackDaw piece in your house, are you even from Fort Worth?”
Working in linocut (a printmaking technique that involves carving designs in relief on a block of linoleum), Jack’s subject matter ranges from classic Texan fare (TCU, Big Tex, Willie Nelson) to popular culture (Star Wars, David Bowie, Pokemon). Weaved in with every piece is a hefty dose of humor — usually a combination of two subjects so
disparate one can’t help but chuckle at the juxtaposition. Whether it’s John Wayne wielding a lightsaber, Hank Hill riding a propane can in the style of Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove, or Jesus clad in a Whataburger hat turning bread into burgers and fries, Jack revels in depicting inside jokes for Fort Worthians and pop culture lovers alike.
The process of finding ideas is fairly organic. Jack says, “I’m all over the place with my own interests, so I have something for everyone.” Following through with what held his interest also led him to finding his medium and eventually his audience, after receiving an associate degree at TCC, where he
fell in love with printmaking. Instead of continuing the typical art journey, he used his financial aid check, one meant for attending classes at UT Arlington, to buy a stand-up bass and joined the Fort Worth “American ‘Gothic’ country band,” Whiskey Folk Ramblers.
Jack continued to play with the band — as well as other bands who might’ve required a bass player — throughout the next decade (he now plays with Crooked Bones) and continued to dabble in creating art and selling prints in various locations, including a self-funded residency at Arts Fort Worth and the beginning stages of ArtsGoggle.
In 2012, a friend invited him to set up a booth at Community Brewery in Dallas, where he sold “a ton of shit.” The success proved to Jack that his music-loving, whiskey-drinking audience understood his humor and art and would fork up money for his prints. Under the moniker JackDaw Folk Art, he continued to expand his work and eventually amassed enough original art to start the festival circuit, where he now travels to various larger festivals throughout Texas. In October, he became the featured artist at ArtsGoggle and partnered with its team to create branding and marketing materials — which included badges, posters, banners, and ads — for the massive arts festival. At one point, you couldn’t look at social media without seeing the pink-goggled panther Jack created for the festival.
You’d be hard pressed to think any level of fame or popularity would change the way Jack Daw approaches his audience and brand. Despite regularly being told he could raise the price of his artwork, he’s found his pricing sweet spot and is sticking to it. And his social media content — comprised mostly of photos from his favorite taco shops, pics of his pet chickens, and Texas travel adventures — skillfully advertises his work without being inundated with self-promotion. Despite his tattooed, punk-like demeanor of his social persona, he says, “I definitely will never have any kind of negative post. I’m a ray of sunshine.”
Jack Daw
by Shilo Urban
Clifton, Texas
Population: 3,488
Just as you approach Clifton from the north, the wide prairie begins to bend and buckle into gentle, rocky hills broken by rich farmland and spring-fed streams. The Norwegians that arrived here in the 1850s must have seen some glimmer of similarity with the countryside they left behind — enough to put down roots and beckon those back home to join them. Eventually, one-third of Norway’s entire popula-
tion would cross the sea to the New World. Thousands settled in the area between Clifton and Cranfills Gap, now known as the Norse Historic District.
Originally called Cliff Town — a reference to the city’s surrounding limestone cliffs — the Norwegian presence can still be felt in this slice of Bosque County, which is located about 90 minutes south of Fort Worth.
Freshly shorn sheep squint into the summer sun next to buildings (made of limestone, obviously) from the late 1800s, some crumbling and some kept. Two country churches, St. Olafs Kirke (built in 1886) and Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (build in 1875), watch over quiet graveyards with Scandinavian names on the stones: Olsen, Hanson, Canuteson.
So great is the city’s Norwegian influence that the Texas Legislature officially designated Clifton as the Norwegian Capital of Texas in 1997. The Norse Historic District is also home to the final resting place of Cleng Peerson, who is commonly referred to as the “Father of Norwegian Immigration to America.”
The 20-odd mile stretch of road that connects Clifton to Cranfills Gap, FM 219, was renamed the Cleng Peerson Memorial Highway in 1975. Along this picturesque farm-to-market road is the Ringness House Museum, a restored six-room “dobbelthus” built by early Norwegian settlers Jens and Kari Ringness in 1859.
Talk to a few locals, and you’ll soon meet descendants of Norwegian emigrants — like Angela Baumann, one of three dozen local artists who display their work at 219 Artisan Market. The gallery moved into its current home (a converted auto shop) just a few months ago, looking for a bigger space to host workshops and display oil paintings, ceramics, and hand-bound
The Cliftex Theatre is precious history. Built in 1916, it has been restored to glory and shows films Thursday through Sunday.
books. Clifton, which also serves as the largest city in the sparsely populated Bosque County, has long been an artistic hub, evident in the oversized stature of the Bosque Arts Center and the mural-strewn Art Alley. The thoroughfare’s whirling colors and brilliant blooms evoke the Norwegian folk art of rosemaling, a style of decorative painting inspired by flower motifs.
You can see rosemaling on delicate dishes and hefty trunks at the Bosque Museum, along with other handiwork by the early settlers: embroidered caps, carved wooden toys, simple yet sturdy furniture. Every brush stroke and stitch tell a story. But perhaps the most exciting tale is told in the museum’s Horn Shelter exhibit, which features a replica of a momentous Paleo-American double burial discovered in Bosque County.
Dating back almost 12,000 years, it’s one of only three Paleo-American sites ever found with grave goods, including seashell beads and a coyote tooth pendant. While the Smithsonian Institution in D.C. holds the original skeletons, the recreated Horn Shelter does a great job at setting the scene with interactive elements and a voiceover by the archaeologist who unearthed the Brazos River site in 1970.
From ancient Americans to pioneering Norwegians, the past is present in Clifton — and the town’s many artists are making sure that tomorrow’s travelers will hear the voices of today as well.
Explore Clifton
Savor: Corner Drug Café is THE local institution for down-home comfort food and is reputed to have the best espresso drinks around. Its blueberry maple breakfast sausage is strangely fantastic; for lunch, the grilled turkey and brie sandwich comes on a mini charcuterie board. Belly up to the old-fashioned soda fountain (complete with an Italian marble bar and stained-glass bar back) to order a Cherry Mash sundae or Big Red float. Breaking Bread Bakery & Deli is a friendly go-to for fresh sandwiches, salads, and decadent loaded Reuben fries. Ask for the scratch-made brioche for your three-cheese panini, and be sure to save room for a coconut macaroon. For dinner, Olaf’s creative flavor combinations include shiitake chipotle, pickled blueberry, and candied bacon — and the Sunday brunch is worth adding to your foodie bucket list.
Shop: Clifton’s quaint little downtown harbors several cute boutiques like Mazie Grace, which opened three months ago after the owner and her husband were called by God to Clifton. Shop an inspired array of rustic-plush housewares with a playful yet elegant vibe. Find Norse antiques (and a little bit of everything else) nearby at Bosque County Emporium, which connects to Olaf’s Restaurant — perfect for Sunday brunching and browsing. You’ll encounter a mix of old and new at Market at the Mill, a redeveloped feed mill that now houses an eclectic variety of goods from two dozen vendors. Grab a latte and a Norway guidebook at Tolstoy & Co. Bookshop, a welcoming hangout with comfy seating that’s inspired by the famous Shakespeare & Company bookstore in Paris.
Enjoy: Catch a new release at the oldest continuously operating cinema in Texas, the restored 1916 Cliftex Theatre. Tickets are only $5, and showtimes run from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon. The whole town comes out on the second Thursday of each month when food trucks set up shop and stores stay open late. October brings Clifton FallFest, a harvest celebration with a library book sale and classic cars. In November, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church hosts its annual Norse Smorgasbord, a
homemade feast of foods enjoyed by early settlers, such as caraway cheese, herring salad, and dark bread. Servers wear traditional Norwegian peasant costumes; call 254.675.3962 for tickets. If you’re interested in seeing the settlers’ limestone buildings in the countryside, you can pick up a map at the Chamber of Commerce or Bosque Museum.
Snooze: Tucked beside the whimsical murals in Art Alley, The Cell Block lets you sleep in the clink — and leave whenever you want. The 1930s city jail has been converted into an upscale micro-hotel with one bedroom and a rooftop patio with fire pit. Wooden dominoes and a vintage record player will keep you entertained. Right around the corner in the historic Brooks Building, the Screen Door Inn retains its early 20th-century charm with beadboard walls, pine floors, and claw-foot tubs. On short-term rental sites like Airbnb and Vrbo, you’ll find loft spaces (including an “art loft” with an indoor porch swing) plus cottages and farmhouses in and around the town.
How to Get There: Drive south on the Chisholm Trail Parkway to Cleburne and take the exit for County Road 1125. Turn left. Cross under the tollway and turn right on TX 171-S; drive for 1.5 miles, then turn right onto Main Street. In about 3 miles, Main Street turns into TX-174 S, which you’ll follow for 36 miles through Rio Vista and Morgan. In Meridian, turn right onto Farm Rd 2840/E Morgan St for 1.3 miles, then turn left onto Hwy 6 S. It’s 11 more miles into Clifton.
The Corner Drug Café is said to have the best espresso drinks around. Well, the sundaes don’t look all that shabby either. Holy sugar rush, Batman.
The best thing about sleeping in the clink at The Cell Block is you don’t need a judge’s order to leave.
Downtown Clifton offers an assortment of shopping options.
by John Henry
Will Rogers Stands as Monument to Love, Friendship
Since 1944, the year the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo moved permanently from the North Side Coliseum, the Will Rogers Memorial Center has been reserved for the three weeks in January and into February for the historic Stock Show and Rodeo.
The promoters don’t embellish when they say it’s legendary. The Will Rogers Memorial Center is a special place, named in honor of special person.
Will Rogers wasn’t from Fort Worth, but his could easily be the face of the city.
“I never met a man I didn’t like,” synonymous with Will, should be the city’s motto.
For this man of action, rodeo was his preference in sporting events.
When his death was inevitable, his companions all said at the time, Will Rogers was not frightened. “That word was not in his vocabulary.”
His favorite dish was chili con carne.
That about checks all of the boxes to being a Fort Worth citizen.
Will Rogers was a jewel, the philosopher from Oklahoma, who used his cowboy charm — his shows always included him twirling a rope — to captivate audiences and deliver witticisms and observations that are as relevant today as they were in the 1930s.
His was no Hollywood act, but genuine sincerity.
“We shouldn’t elect a President; we should elect a magician.”
“Remember, write to your Congressman. Even if he can’t read, write to him.”
“A fool and his money are soon elected.”
Sadly, many of his cultural contribu-
tions are long forgotten. Like Plato, he should live forever.
After his death in a plane crash in Alaska in August 1935, the testimonials came pouring in. Rogers’ life was, one wrote, “unsoiled by the greed of profits. A life, unspoiled by the accumulation of the world’s appreciation. A life, based on the simple philosophy of fellowship and faith.”
More than a memorial to one man, the Will Rogers Memorial Center is a monument to something so much bigger and consequential: loyalty, love, and friendship.
“Your going to Seattle was the … most comforting thing of all the loving things that was done for him,” Rogers’ wife Betty wrote Amon Carter only weeks after Will’s death. The letter is among Carter’s papers stored at TCU. “No one but you could have thought of this and how I love you for it. All those long hours my thoughts were with you. I do want you to know how deeply touched we were and how each one of us appreciate your warm affection and sincere friendship for him.
“He loved you.”
Carter and Will had been intimates for more than 15 years at the time of death.
“I do not suppose there is anyone he really dislikes,” Carter wrote. “I am positive there is none he hates. Hate is absolutely foreign to his nature. That is the reason he can say such cutting things, point out such obvious truths, josh the biggest about their mistakes and frailties, without leaving a sting. The shots hit home, but they leave no sting, for those hit know there is no malice behind them.”
The Will Rogers Memorial Center was constructed for Fort Worth’s Texas Centennial celebration in 1936. The city, through Carter’s network, received Depression-era program funding for the project. Postmaster James Farley flippantly told President Franklin Roosevelt that Carter wanted a grant because “Amon wants to build a cowshed.”
It takes a politician to know bull leavings.
The complex was not built to be a memorial to Rogers, though it could have been in the back of Amon Carter’s mind. Who knows? The City Council had tossed around the idea of naming it for him.
To the president, probably Hoover, Rogers appealed for help for a former classmate who was in jail in Arizona. The classmate had been busted for possession of mescal, which Rogers called “the staff of life in that country.”
“I guess the usual procedure is to say that he didn’t do a thing in the world and shouldn’t be there. But I expect he did; it’s not a case of mistaken identity, as nobody else looks like him, but he is not a bad fellow. And like all fellows that get in trouble, he has a family, and they need him worse than the jail does.”
Moreover, this guy would actually be welcomed home by his wife, making him a bit of a novelty for a recent jailbird, Rogers continued. Furthermore, if his friend were released from the pokey, Will guaranteed that he would go on a “Coca-Cola diet and vote the straight Republican ticket.”
The Will Rogers Memorial Center was public money well spent, a worthy home for the Stock Show and Rodeo for almost 80 years.
We should never forget what it and “sweet, old Will” represent.
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WORDS BY SHILO URBAN AND BRIAN KENDALL
BY LAUREN DEITZER
JUST CALL IT THE STOCK SHOW
Wild horse races,
cowboy football, and dog-riding monkeys all have a place in the history of this
By Shilo Urban
illustrious event
ONCE UPON A TIME IN 1896, TWO DUSTY TEXANS MET ON A SIDEWALK IN THE FORT WORTH STOCKYARDS. CATTLE BELLOWED IN THE WOODEN PENS BEHIND THEM, AND A BEASTY BOUQUET OF MANURE WAFTED THROUGH THE AIR. THE TWO MEN SQUINTED INTO THE SUN, KICKED THE DIRT, AND SPAT. ONE WAS CHARLES FRENCH, AN INDEFATIGABLE PORK-LOVING MOVER AND SHAKER WHO HAD COWBOYED IN THE DAKOTA TERRITORY IN THE 1870S. THE PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR FOR THE STOCKYARDS, FRENCH WAS QUITE THE TALKER — AND RIGHT NOW HE WAS CHATTING UP ANOTHER CHARLES: CHARLES MCFARLAND. A CATTLE RANCHER FROM WEATHERFORD, MCFARLAND WAS A VISIONARY WHO HAD INTRODUCED SEVERAL NEW-AND-IMPROVED BREEDS TO THE STATE. CATTLE WERE ALREADY BIG BUSINESS IN COWTOWN, BUT BOTH MEN’S DREAMS WERE EVEN BIGGER.
McFarland and French concocted an idea to promote purebred cattle with a Stock Show that would educate breeders and buyers — and generate opportunities all around. Cattle had defined Fort Worth ever since cowboys on the Chisholm Trail began stopping here to buy supplies, get sauced, and shoot guns in the street for fun. After the railroad arrived in 1876, the livestock industry took off, and businessmen began building pens north of the city to create the Stockyards. But the idea of purebred “fat stock” (animals specifically raised to eat) was relatively new to Texas, then known for its wild-eyed, rough-and-tumble longhorns. Purebred beef tasted better and was essential for attracting major meatpackers to Fort Worth, a priority for both French and McFarland.
STRANGERS TO THE COMB
They set a date for mid-March and invited Texas ranchers, local bigwigs, and VIPs from railroad and meatpacking companies. They planned to show the cattle on the banks of Marine Creek, just east of Main Street, approximately where Saunders Park is today (between Lonesome Dove and Mule Alley). When the morning of the Stock Show rolled around, it was cold, snowy, and sleeting. There were no enclosures or buildings, just a handful of oak trees for shelter and a rickety grandstand in the mud (which a steer later charged and destroyed). A “few animals,” somewhere between 20 and 100, shuffled together “pitifully” in the frigid air. Most were bulls, many were purebred shorthorns and Herefords, and all were crusted with a thin coating of ice. “A rough lot,” recalled French, “strangers to the comb” that engendered “dis-
gust.” The event was tiny and uncomfortable, with nary a funnel cake or Ferris wheel to be seen. It didn’t even have a real name — but it caught on.
The second Stock Show added a parade to kick things off, a tradition that continues today. While sources are sketchy for the early years, the parade marched down North Main Street with a brass band, mule-drawn floats, and whooping cowboys firing six-shooters from horseback. Ranchers hitched their cattle to hotel fences, and merchants donated prizes for the show, including saddles, spurs, and random merchandise like windmills. One rancher was particularly confused by his award, a wooden bathtub. After all, who on earth needs a special tub for bathing when you have a perfectly good horse trough and a nearby creek?
COWGIRLS
AND COMANCHES The Texas Fat Stock Show (its first official name) expanded quickly from an informal exhibition of bulls to an all-out celebration of agriculture. Its founders achieved a significant goal in 1903 when two major meatpacking companies opened their doors in the Stockyards. Swift & Company and Armour & Company represented a huge boost to the Fort Worth economy, bringing in $6 million during the first month of operations alone.
Now a bona fide success, the Stock Show’s festive atmosphere and fantastic shopping attracted people who knew little about the cattle industry — they just wanted to have a good time. And, boy howdy, they did, watching dramatic sideshows of trick roping and riding, cutting horses, and bronc busting. Cowgirls rode wild steers, and Comanches appeared in full war paint. Mules vied with horses in pulling contests. You could rent an automobile for an hour, listen to a Mexican band, and catch a vaudeville production in one afternoon. But the main attraction was still on the hoof. Countryfolk and city slickers alike climbed catwalks in the livestock tents to view prize cattle, horses, mules, sheep, and swine.
Modern Fort Worth was being born, but the city wasn’t quite out of the Wild West just yet. Streetcars ran from downtown to the Stock Show all day long, but many people came in wagons or on horses, trotting over from Mineral Wells, Alvarado, and Weatherford. Most animals arrived by train, but some herds were still being driven in on cattle trails. Saloons, brothels, and gambling parlors did brisk business; gunshots weren’t uncommon.
LAVISH FANCIES AT THE NORTH SIDE COLISEUM The Stock Show took a substantial step forward in 1908 with a new indoor judging arena, the North Side Coliseum (now the Cowtown Coliseum). Hailed as the “most opulent and dynamic livestock pavilion in the Western
hemisphere,” the venue brandished broad skylights and elegant incandescent lighting.
With the new home came a new name, the National Feeders and Breeders Show. The name change was a necessity because many of the newly accepted animals (like poultry) no longer qualified as fat stock. Cattlemen had vehemently opposed letting chickens into the show for years, but they could no longer fight the tide. “We can’t have some six-bit rooster waking up my $1,000 bull,” grumbled one old hand.
But six-bit roosters weren’t the only things stirring up the bulls. Nightly revels kicked off with a 36-piece band marching into the coliseum playing “Dixie” and the packed house going wild. A 60-person choir sang to the rafters. Flashy diversions like fashion shows and automobile exhibitions captivated the 50,000-strong crowd. Guests could watch a Civil War battle reenactment or a fascinating demonstration of “fireless cooking” on a newfangled electric stove. Outdoor vendors fueled the masses with coffee, beer, and corn on the cob. The aroma of barbecued ribs and fried meat drifted through the air.
High-society types dressed to the nines to nibble hors d’oeuvres and sip champagne at the Kirmiss beauty pageant, which saw the coliseum decked out with elaborate decor. Each year had a different theme, such as Ancient Rome or Persian Garden. Dancing,
theatrical numbers, and “lavish fancies” ensued. The horse show was another chance for the wealthy to see and be seen, and the newspaper published guidelines for proper behavior: Don’t hiss at the judge’s decisions; don’t call a private city stable a barn.
Events expanded every year, from a sing-along breakfast with Teddy Roosevelt to a live panther riding on horseback. Chief Quanah Parker led dozens of Comanche and Kiowa braves in the 1909 parade, then set up an “Indian village” nearby. The “electric tandem” featured a rider draped in hundreds of red, white, and blue lights — and carrying a 225-pound battery to power them. But the best addition was yet to come.
THIS IS MY FIRST RODEO
Trick riding and roping had long been part of the sideshows with sword swallowers, acrobats, and dancing “hoochie” girls. In 1904, Black cowboy Bill Pickett introduced bulldogging: biting a steer on the lip and manhandling it to the ground (later to become steer wrestling). Through the years, cowboys and cowgirls performed bronco bustin’, hurdle jumping, and shearing wild mules. In the potato race, riders competed to move the most spuds across the arena, one by one.
It all came together in 1918 with the world’s first indoor rodeo at the rechristened Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show
Clockwise, from left, steer wrestling at the rodeo in 1956; the fair in the Stockyards, 1938; a group of cowgirls at the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show in 1940
(name No. 3). Organizers weren’t sure what to call this new competition — maybe jaripeo? But they settled on the Spanish name for a cattle roundup: rodeo. Most people had never seen that word before, however, so promoters decided to pronounce it phonetically: rodee-oh instead of ro-day-oh … and a Texas legend was born. This was no mere spectacle but an official, tooth-and-nails competition with bucking bronco (men and ladies) and steer riding (men and juniors). There was also a wild horse race: A herd of unbroken horses was let loose in the arena, and cowboys had to jump on one and then leap to another without touching the ground — no bridles or saddles allowed. Most contestants were Wild West performers who competed for a share of the $3,000 prize. Fort Worth’s population had grown younger in previous decades, and the rodeo caught the imagination of those who idealized the now-closed Western frontier. It was a smashing success, with 250,000 people attending the six-day Stock Show that year.
FROM THE WHITE HOUSE TO WILD COW MILKING By now, the Stock Show was big news not only around Texas but across the country. President Woodrow Wilson launched the event from Washington, D.C., in 1919 by pushing a button in the White House to turn on the coliseum’s electric lights. The addition of bull riding in the Roaring 20s gave crowds the thrills they craved, as did another new attraction: the Midway. Rodeoers could ride the Ferris wheel and merry-go-round or admire the Follies, pretty young women posing against a painted backdrop. Rides were lit with kerosene lanterns, and calliope music filled the air.
When the Great Depression arrived in the early 1930s, the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show (name No. 4) reduced admission prices and added novelties to attract the crowds — like cowboy football. Teams of mounted riders tried to move a 20-foot-diameter ball to the arena’s end zones, playing with the same basic rules as regular football but far more broken bones. Tackling your opponent meant throwing him off his horse. In another competition, cowboys had to rope a wild cow, milk it, and carry a bottle of milk to the judges.
a devastating flood on the North Side and the outbreak of World War II before the Stock Show decamped to its new digs. Following a hiatus in 1943 (the only one until 2021), the event returned in fine form with Gene Autry on stage in the opulent new venue. With war on everyone’s minds, displays included jets, heavy military machinery, and even the bulletproof limo owned by Nazi war criminal Hermann Göring. To highlight Fort Worth’s role at the forefront of aviation, a live hog was delivered to the Stock Show by helicopter. The city was eyebrows deep in the war effort, with many citizens working overnight at aircraft factories and unable to attend the evening rodeo. Special performances were held at odd hours so that everyone could enjoy the show. Without enough structures to house the animals, 28 big-top tents were erected, tents that recalled the earliest days of the event.
To better coincide with the national rodeo circuit and spring bull sales, the Stock Show moved from March to January in 1948 — the date of one of the worst winter storms in Fort Worth history. Thankfully, six recently built livestock barns kept man and beast warm; many more would be built in the decades to come.
FROM
Even with the Depression stunting attendance, the Stock Show was outgrowing its home on the North Side. Most visitors and animals now arrived by vehicle instead of rail, but there was precious little parking. Herds of horses and mules brought traffic to a standstill, and mounted riders befouled hotel lobbies with “horse apples.” Packs of wild dogs roamed dark alleyways, and families avoided the wild-and-wooly area at night. The fresh offal and manure dumped into Marine Creek didn’t help.
AIRLIFTED HAM HOCKS Still, the idea of moving the Stock Show to its current location on the West Side was highly controversial. Even after Will Rogers Memorial Center was built in 1936, it took
A COUPLE DOZEN ANIMALS TO 20,000 TODAY “Eat a pound of beef every day,” urged the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in the early 1950s, aiming to bulk up a slumping beef market. But the Stock Show was going strong, with celebrities like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans adding sparkle. Fifty million television viewers tuned in for the first national broadcast in 1958. The silver screen was America’s latest obsession, and the 1961 show featured a recreation of “Ben Hur’s” chariot race with the same teams of horses from the movie — complete with a dramatic staged crash. Delighting fans even more were dogriding monkeys dressed in tiny cowboy hats and chaps that herded sheep to much applause. With names like Zippy and Whiplash, these adorable little buckaroos rode from the 1960s to the 2000s. By that point, the event was called the Fort Worth Stock Show
and Rodeo (name No. 5) although the official corporate entity is the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show (name No. 6) — which is why for simplicity’s sake most people just call it the Stock Show, now and forever.
With Dickies Arena opening in 2020, another great era of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo has begun. In 2024, rodeoers will compete in 25 performances for a $1.2 million purse, and over 20,000 animals will strut their stuff for the judges, a far cry from the couple dozen cattle of 1896. While spoken in 1908, one stockman’s words ring ever true today:
“It is hard to imagine that from a few scrawny cattle, standing around a bunch of scrub oak in the snow, surrounded by mud, trash, and a handful of rough cowhands, that something like this could ever come about.”
Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show opening parade, 1940
THIS AIN’T OUR FIRST RODEO
(but what if it’s yours?)
The season for bull riding and swine judging is finally here, and we’ve got all the tips, tricks, do’s, don’ts, and what-have-yas to help you navigate our city’s flagship event. You’ll be saying “Howdy” in no time.
THE GREATEST SHOW ON DIRT
YOU MIGHT BE DISAPPOINTED TO LEARN THAT THE PHRASE, “THIS AIN’T MY FIRST RODEO,” HAS ITS ORIGINS TIED TO THE MOVIE “MOMMIE DEAREST” — LIKELY WRITTEN BY THE BROOKLYN-BORN-AND-RAISED FRANK YABLANS, ONE OF THE FILM’S WRITERS AND PRODUCER If you’ve ever stomached the Faye Dunaway-starring flick about the temperamental Hollywood icon Joan Crawford, you know few motion pictures have ever been put to film stock as un-rodeo as this Razzie Award winner. But in the popular phrase’s surprising etymology, we find a hidden message: If Joan Crawford’s been to the rodeo, then surely everyone is welcomed at the rodeo.
The rodeo — or, ahem, in our case, the Stock Show and Rodeo — brings the West, in all its grimy absence of pretention, to the urban-dwelling masses. For those who lack the daring, determination, or opportunity to drive cattle or bust a bronco, the Stock Show and Rodeo is where one comes for a taste of such a life. It’s the world’s fair of the West — a showcase of the cowboy lifestyle that happily lingers in Cowtown. And, yes, whether you’re a veteran of bull chutes or a sneaker-wearing Prius driver, all are welcomed to come and enjoy.
That being said, there are a few tips that might make your experience even more enjoyable.
How and Where to Arrive
Trucks and trucks and trucks: Like the old West, much importance is placed on the steed you ride in on. So, we leave you with this single tip: If you have a truck — drive it. If you’re considering buying a truck, get it before Jan. 14. Whether it’s blue, green, Ford, GMC, one-ton, or halfton, it doesn’t matter. Just remember a little dirt on the outside never did a truck any harm.
Parking Situation: The easiest thing to do — for those who aren’t cash-strapped — is to park in the lots and garages near the grounds, but it’ll cost you a few bucks ($17 last year). This includes the Farrington Field parking lot, Dickies Arena, and the orange, blue, and yellow lots.
If you choose to ride share, drop-offs are at 1911 Montgomery St. and pickups are at 3596 Harley Ave.
So What Do You Call It? Stock Show or Rodeo?
There are a couple quirks when it comes to the nomenclature of our city’s fine event. Though it is called the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, signifying its two main attractions — there’s a Stock Show (an exhibition of livestock judged by breed standards) and a Rodeo (the competition that includes bull riding, roping, etc.) — Fort Worth speak has reduced this mouthful to the simpler “Stock Show.” Thus, in Fort Worth, the word Stock Show is synonymous with both the Stock Show and the event, which includes the Rodeo, as a whole. Heck, you might even hear some call the Rodeo the Stock Show — not that we recommend this. We can only presume our residents value brevity above all else.
So, to sum it up:
Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo
When: Jan. 12 – Feb. 3
Where: The whole south side of the Cultural District — Will Rogers Memorial Center, Dickies Arena.
Cost: Daily general admission is $12 for adults and $6 for children at the door (you can’t purchase tickets online). This does not include ticketed events (almost anything held in Dickies Arena), which are sold separately. fwssr.com
1. When talking about the event, as a whole, it’s the Stock Show, not the Rodeo.
2. The Rodeo is the Rodeo, but it’s also the Stock Show.
3. The Stock Show is the Stock Show, but don’t you dare call it the Rodeo.
BREAKING DOWN THE EVENTS
When you enter Dickies Arena
for the nightly Rodeo,
you’ll wanna know what it is you’re cheering on. Here’s a handy guide to the eight official PRORODEO events to ensure you’ve got the basics down.
Roughstock The “hold on for dear life” events, these three contests require a cowboy to remain on an animal for eight seconds while gripping with only one hand. If the cowboy manages to pass the eight-second threshold, judges score a contestant on both the animal’s performance and their own. In other words, judges will ask themselves, “How ferocious was the animal?” and “How in-control was the rider?” Typically, two judges allot up to 25 points each for the rider and the bronc or bull for a maximum 100 points (a point total that has only been accomplished once in the history of any rodeo circuit).
Saddle Bronc
Before someone got the bright idea — or accepted the dare — to hop on the back of a bull, this was the rodeo’s marquee event. In this contest, a cowboy rides an untamed horse in a saddle with his feet in the stirrups while holding on to a bronc rein — a thick strap connected to a halter on the bronc’s head — with one hand. Cowboys must exit the chute (the place where contestants initially straddle the animals before the gate opens) with his spurs in contact above the horse’s shoulders. Riders are disqualified if they fail to do so.
Bareback Just like the above, only remove the saddle and replace the rein with a leather rigging that resembles a suitcase handle. There’s some debate over the most challenging and dangerous roughstock event, with many claiming bareback is the most physically demanding, saddle bronc the most difficult in terms of technical skill, and bull riding the most dangerous. We leave it to the pros to figure that out.
Bull Riding The most dangerous eight seconds in sports is also the rodeo’s most glamorous event. The rules, as one would suspect, are straightforward: Hop on a bull, and see if you can last eight seconds. Cowboys get extra points for spurring — as if the bull needed more motivation. As local bull rider Mason Taylor once told me when asked if he had any tips or tricks for riding a bull, he said, “Hold on.”
Timed Events
These contests are simple races against the clock. In the three roping and one wrestling events, riders start on horseback in a box — a three-sided fenced area with a rope barrier that’s fastened to the calf or steer. Once the animal leaves the chute
*[Editor’s note on animal welfare] We don’t recommend one attend these events if triggered or put off by seeing animals in distress. The Rodeo isn’t for everyone, and that’s OK. With that said, the PRCA enforces a plethora of specific rules with strict penalties to ensure the safety and well-being of all animals involved.
and reaches a certain distance, the rope barrier collapses and the contestant is free to leave the box, giving the calves and steers a slight head start. If the cowboy or cowgirl breaks the barrier early, it results in a 10-second penalty.
Steer Wrestling Also known as bulldogging, a steer wrestler and hazer — who’s charged with riding alongside the steer to ensure it runs in a straight line — begin on horseback in their respective boxes. The steer is released and the wrestler — who’s shadowed by the hazer — runs down the steer, slides off his horse, and grabs the horns of the sprinting steer. The cowboy then wrestles the steer to the ground; the clock stops when the steer is flat on the ground with all four legs facing the same direction.
Tie-Down Roping Once the rider’s rope barrier gives way, the contestant runs up from behind and lassos the calf from horseback. The rider then dismounts, lays the lassoed
calf on the ground, and ties three of its legs together with a rope called the “pigging string.” Once the roper raises his hands in the air, the clock stops. The calf must remain tied for six seconds for the ride to qualify.
Team Roping Two cowboys on horseback — a header and a heeler — begin on each side of a single steer. When the pair of rope barriers collapse, the header first ropes the steer’s head around either his horns, neck, or the neck and one horn. The heeler then ropes the steer’s two hind legs, with a one-legged catch resulting in a five-second penalty. Two horses then face one another to stop the clock.
Breakaway Roping A growing event that’s become popular among cowgirls, breakaway roping is similar to tie-down roping. Only, instead of dismounting, once the roper lassos the calf, he or she stops their horse and a nylon string that fastens the rope to the horse’s saddle “breaks away.” Once this occurs, the clock stops.
Barrel Racing Another event common among cowgirls, this is the ultimate test of speed and agility. Once the clock starts, a rider loops around three separate barrels set up in a triangle, each one requiring a 360-degree turn. If a rider knocks down a barrel, five seconds get added to their time. Though the barrels are only 90 feet apart, horses can clock speeds of 40 miles per hour
Mutton Bustin’
We’ll call this the Rodeo’s ninth event, as nearly every night has this popular contest on its schedule. Consider it the same as a roughstock event, only replace bulls with sheep and roughened cowboys with eager children. The objective is for the child (aged 4 to 7 and clad in a helmet and protective vest and chaps) to remain on the back of a sheep for eight seconds after it darts out of the chute. Thing is, these sheep have a better record of bucking unwanted weight than last year’s championship bull — no kid lasts eight seconds. But thankfully, the result is more of a humorous wipe out than a concerning fall. And since no ride technically hits the eightsecond threshold, every kid — even the ones who take a tumble before a clock could begin — gets a score. What does this score mean? And who the heck is giving this score? No one seems to know, and no one seems to care.
Barrel Racing Another event common among cowgirls, this is the ultimate test of speed and agility. Once the clock starts, a rider loops around three separate barrels set up in a triangle, each one requiring a 360-degree turn. If a rider knocks down a barrel, five seconds get added to their time. Though the barrels are only 90 feet apart, horses can clock speeds of 40 miles per hour.
YOUR DAILY MUST-LIST
There’s never a boring moment at the Stock Show, which is why we contend you should swing by every day.
*Can’t Miss
Friday, Jan. 12
“Best of the West” Ranch Rodeo
7:30 p.m. @ Dickies Arena
What better way to kick off rodeo season than with, well, a rodeo? It’s a twonight affair with seven events, plus a round of Mutton Bustin’ (see sidebar).
Saturday, Jan. 13
The “All Western” Parade
11 a.m. @ Downtown Fort Worth
The next morning, we recommend rubbing the sleep out of your eyes and heading downtown to catch this annual hoard of floats moseying along Main Street.
Celebrity Goat-Milking Contest
5:30 p.m. @ Cattle Arena
You read that correctly. It’s exactly what you think, and these celebrities take their goat-milking seriously. So, we ask ourselves: Why wouldn’t you go?
Sunday, Jan. 14
Best of Mexico Celebración
7:30 p.m. @ Dickies Arena
The first rodeo was in Mexico, so these vaqueros aren’t messing around. Events include charro exhibitions, trick riders, mariachis, and folklorico dancers.
Monday, Jan. 15
(Martin Luther King Jr. Day) Cowboys of Color Rodeo*
2 p.m. @ Dickies Arena
A full-day affair that features Black, Hispanic, and Native American cowboys and cowgirls — who made up nearly half of Wild West buckaroos back when Billy the Kid still had vitals — competing in all your favorite rodeo events, including bull riding, steer wrestling, and tie-down roping.
Tuesday, Jan. 16
Bulls Night Out*
7:30 p.m. @ Dickies Arena (Finals on 17th)
The biggest event at the FWSSR, this is two straight nights of witnessing 150-pound cowboys straddling ill-tempered, one-ton
bovines. It’s an early stop along the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association bullriding tour, which concludes at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
Wednesday, Jan. 17
Sip & Shop Wine Tasting
4 p.m. @ Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits
An afternoon of wine sipping and boutique shopping — that is, if one requires an afternoon off from livestock and failed attempts at controlling bulls and broncs.
Thursday, Jan. 18
Miniature Horse Show
9 a.m. @ John Justin Arena
An arena full of pocket-sized equines? Sign us up. The miniature horse, which was bred for mining, has been a staple at the Stock Show since the early 1980s.
Friday, Jan. 19
PRORODEO Tournament*
7:30 p.m. @ Dickies Arena (Finals on Feb. 3)
The first night of the Stock Show’s 16-night main attraction. This PRCA tournament features 56 athletes, donning Wrangler and YETI patches, who compete in nine events — including bull riding, bronc riding, steer wrestling, and barrel racing — for a $1 million purse.
Saturday, Jan. 20
Coon Hunters Mule Jumping
3 p.m. @ John Justin Arena
Did you know mules, unlike their equine brethren, can jump from a standstill position? Prepare to have all perceptions of gravity proven wrong at this tense tourney.
Mustang Magic Finals
6 p.m. @ Will Rogers Coliseum
The must-see event for horse lovers. The program includes the top 10 competitors performing freestyle routines on horses that were deemed wild only four months ago.
Sunday, Jan. 21
Fiddle Showdown
2 p.m. @ West Arena
It’s an old-fashioned showdown — only replace that six-shooter with a bow and fiddle. It’s a competition among teens competing for $7,500 in scholarship money.
Monday, Jan. 22
Cowboy Campfire
Noon @ West Arena
An afternoon of Western music and poetry reading. Just ’cause one sports spurs and an oversized buckle doesn’t mean he or she isn’t artistically inclined.
Tuesday, Jan. 23 (Pink Day)
Women’s Breakaway Roping*
9 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m. @ John Justin Arena
Dust off your pink cowboy/ cowgirl garb and enjoy both the tie-down roping event and the women’s breakaway roping finals. Breakaway roping, which is a variation of calf roping, is exclusively a women’s event that has a growing base of involvement — rodeo ain’t just for the boys.
Summer Dean
9:30 p.m. @ Bud Light Roadhouse
We recommend taking your pink day into the night — a rodeo Tuesday is like a Saturday — to catch this local
songstress at the Bud Light Roadhouse next to Dickies Arena.
Wednesday, Jan. 24
Cowboy Mounted Shooting
10 a.m. @ John Justin Arena
Pack a couple earplugs and take in some pistol-wielding cowboys and cowgirls hurrying through a course while shooting balloons on horseback.
Thursday, Jan. 25 (TCU Day)
Varsity Equestrian Competition (TCU vs. Delaware State)
10 a.m. @ John Justin Arena
TCU is one of 28 colleges that competes in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association. Our beloved Horned Frogs take on Delaware State in the hopes of making the NCEA Finals in April.
Friday, Jan. 26 Rabbit Show
3 p.m. @ Poultry Building
The undisputed cuteness of hares reminds us that the Stock Show is going on in conjunction with the highoctane Rodeo. Every show is worthy of your attendance, but this one’s a must.
Saturday, Jan. 27
Escaramuza and Charro Cala Competition*
9 a.m. @ Will Rogers Coliseum (youth Saturday, adults Sunday)
The traditional Mexican competition described as “ballet on horse” features bright, ornate costumes and expert, choreographed horsemanship. The competition, which now includes a youth showcase on Saturday, has become a popular weekend event and a staple at the rodeo.
Sunday, Jan. 28
Lone Star Open Bid Calling Contest
4:30 p.m. @ Amon G. Carter – Round Up Inn
Yes, auctioneers — some
of the Stock Show’s mostheard voices over the loudspeakers — have their own tongue-tying competition. And you can bid on some items to boot.
Monday, Jan. 29 (Military Appreciation Day) Barrel Racing
7:30 p.m. @ John Justin Arena
It ain’t bull riding’s 8 seconds, but barrel racing is a similarly speedy sport. Cowboys and cowgirls complete courses in under 15 seconds and get their horses to clock 30 mph.
Tuesday, Jan. 30
Pole Bending
5 p.m. @ John Justin Arena
An event that isn’t in the nightly rodeo’s rotation, pole bending is a competition where the horse — and horseman — swiftly weaves through a half-dozen poles for the quickest time.
Wednesday, Jan. 31 Wine Camp
3:30 and 5:30 @ Cactus Room
It’s not all equines, swine, and bovines — there’s plain ol’ wine, too. This educational event is free with grounds admission and first come, first served. So, get there early.
Thursday, Feb. 1 Jr. Steer Show
8 a.m. @ Will Rogers Coliseum
You won’t wanna miss our future ranchers showing off their mighty steers. And, if you can’t make it to the coliseum, the Cowboy Channel+ app will be broadcasting it live.
Friday, Feb. 2 Quarter Horse & Palomino Horse Show
9 a.m. @ John Justin Arena
The Horse Shows portion of the Stock Show concludes with two full days of quarter horses and palominos, who will be duking it out for
numerous accolades.
Saturday, Feb. 3
Jr. Sale of Champions*
9 a.m. @ Watt Arena
The perfect endcap to the Stock Show, all of the champion livestock from the bevy of junior shows are auctioned for charity. Attendees place their bids for lambs, goats, hogs, and steers to benefit Texas 4-H and Future Farmers of America — raising a record $7.3 million last year. Hig ginbotham Insurance and Financial Services has made a tradition out of outbid ding everyone for the grand champion steer, which went for $440,000 in 2023.
PRORODEO Tournament
7:30 p.m. @ Dickies Arena
It’s the last night of the rodeo. You’ve made it this far, and you gotta see who will be crowned the champion of the tournament.
THE DUDS RANCH
Rodeo fashion. It’s a thing.
ON’T LET THE DIRT, THE GRIME, AND THE COW PATTIES FOOL YA, WHEN IT COMES TO RODEOS, FASHION MATTERS. While you might not be wrong in thinking denim and pearl snaps is all that’s required, Fort Worth isn’t big on the bare minimum. So, if you’re paying a visit to Dickies Arena, dress to the nines.
Photos by Crystal Wise
Stylist: Mamie Brown Mckee
Styling assistant: Helen Swearingen
Models: Lauren and Shannon Lowry
Finals Night FOR HER
Hat: Cavender’s
Jewelry: Mud Lowry
Fur: CB Collections
Tights: Gucci
Boots: City Boots
Top: Tucker Brown
Shorts: Tucker Brown
Pink Night FOR HER
Belt: Proper Supply
Boots: City Boots
All else Tucker Brown
FOR HIM
Hat: Western Legacy
Shirt: Proper Supply
Belt Buckle: Proper Supply
Scarf Slide: Proper Supply
TCU Night FOR HER
Boots: Proper Supply
Bag: Gucci
All else: Tucker Brown
FOR HIM
Hat: American Hat Co.
Ring: Mud Lowry
Jacket: Lucchese
Shirt: Brooks Brothers
Jeans: Kimes Ranch
Belt Buckle: Proper Supply
Boots: Proper Supply
Bulls Night Out FOR HER
Jacket: Proper Supply
Belt: Stingray with Boulin
Buckle: Proper Supply
Bag: Juan Antonio
Boots: Lucchese
Dress: Tucker Brown
Jewelry: Tucker Brown
FOR HIM
Hat: Western Legacy
Jacket: Shirt
Belt: Proper Supply
Ring: Mud Lowry
Jeans: Kimes Ranch
Boot: Lucchese
Finals Night FOR HIM
Hat: American Hat Co.
Jacket: Lucchese
Shirt: Lucchese
Bolo: Vintage
Ring: Mud Lowry
Jeans: Kimes Ranch
Belt Buckle: Proper Supply
Boots: Proper Supply
THE FARE
We get it — the Stock Show might have you licking your chops for some prime eats. And, thankfully, you don’t have to roam far to fill your gullet. From beef fajitas and funnel cakes to calf fries and cotton candy, these five main food vendors will satisfy even the hungriest of steer wrestlers.
Will Rogers Coliseum. Enjoy top-shelf treats like charbroiled rib-eyes and tenderloin tamales at the sit-down restaurant Reata, which overlooks the action on the floor (reservations recommended). Other vendors sell corn dogs, fajitas, nachos, and quesadillas.
Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall. Stop by the food court for pizza, barbecue, burritos, and baby Bundt cakes. You’ll also find grilled cheese sandwiches here plus corn dogs, ice cream, and Mexican fruit cups—along with Reata’s second Stock Show location.
Cattle Barns. Nosh on burgers, barbecue, sandwiches, cinna mon rolls, and funnel cakes. Walk east to the Moncrief Building next door for fastcasual Mexican café La Espuela.
traditional arena fare (hot dogs, burgers, popcorn) to tasty barbecue, Tex-Mex, and Asian cuisine — and plenty more.
Grub Outside the Stock Show
If the Stock Show grub didn’t subside your feeding frenzy, be thankful you’re in the foodie-friendly town of Fort Worth.
• Within walking distance: Taco Heads and the old-school diner Montgomery Street Café are both across University Avenue from Dickies.
• Within a five-minute drive: Grab burgers at Rodeo Goat, pizza at Fireside Pies, and a little bit of everything at Mash’D and Social House. Mexican food abounds, from casual (Velvet Taco and Salsa Limon) to sit-down (Pappasito’s and La Familia) to fancy (Don Artemio). Also, across the way is Emilia’s at The Crescent and Bricks and Horses at the Bowie House.
• Within a 10-minute drive: Check out South Main Street or Magnolia Avenue; both thoroughfares are lined with buzzedabout restaurants, coffee shops, and bars.
• Within a five-minute drive: Head to the Stockyards to eat at standout restaurants like Atico (rooftop bar), 97 West (in the stylish Hotel Drover), Cooper’s BBQ (red checkered tablecloths), or Provender Hall (upscale comfort food).
The Midway. Sate your carnie cravings with nachos, popcorn, funnel cakes, cotton candy, pizza, turkey legs, sausage on a stick, and corn dogs.
Dickies. Concessions are scattered around the main and upper concourses, from
Calf Fries: The Unofficial Official Food of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo
The State Fair has its corny dog, and we have our calf fries.
Can you call yourself a real cowboy or cowgirl if you’ve never eaten calf fries? Well, you can—but you’re missing out on the Stock Show’s most iconic bite: deep-fried bull testicles. Whether you call them Rocky Mountain oysters, Texas taters, swingin’ sirloin, or simply delicious—chickenfried cojones have a long history in the waste-not-wantnot heritage of the West. Beefy and a bit like breaded venison, they have a tender texture that melts in your mouth. And, unlike the mystery meat at the core of the State Fair’s ubiquitous corny dog, the Stock Show’s calf fries make no effort to conceal what you’re devouring. And by golly, we eat them with pride — snickers be damned. So, gut up for gonads and get your meat(balls) merit badge with an order of calf fries and cream gravy.
Make the Most of the Midway
With wild rides, deep-fried delights, and carnival games galore, the Midway is unabashed sensory overload. You won’t get out cheap — but you will have a blast. Here are a few tips to help:
• Make a loop first to check everything out before you decide what to ride, eat, and play.
• The Midway is 100% cashless. Hit the ticket booths or buy a reloadable Magic Money Wristband that includes 50 credits and admission to the FWSSR grounds.
• If launching your body up, down, and all-around on thrill rides gives you a headache (AKA you’re over 40), pop a couple of ibuprofens before you arrive.
• Is your heart set on winning a giant teddy bear? The balloon pop is the easiest game to conquer, and velocity is the key — throw the darts as hard as you can.
• For adrenaline junkies, the most heart-pounding rides are the Mega Drop, Big Kahuna, and The Beast — or go iconic with a whirl on the Giant Ferris Wheel.
• Satisfy carnival cravings with funnel cakes and giant corn dogs, but remember: The correct order of things is to ride then eat, not eat then ride.
• Kids in tow? Don’t miss the petting zoo, pony rides, and children’s barn with baby animals just west of the Midway.
• Foul weather will shut the Midway down (unlike many of the Stock Show’s indoor attractions), so keep an eye on the forecast.
TIP:
Wherever you eat, expect every barbecue joint, burger bar, and steakhouse within a five-mile radius of the Stock Show to be packed with hungry rodeo-goers. Choose restaurants that take reservations (like Wicked Butcher, Toro Toro, and The Capital Grille) or do something really crazy and go for sushi.
• The Midway opens at 4 p.m. most weekdays, 10 a.m. on Saturdays, and noon on Sundays — but it’s most magical after dark with all the lights aglow. Closing time is 10 or 11 p.m.
BEST IN SHOW
The Rodeo can keep its glitz and glamour while the Stock Show revels in its grit and grime.
by Brian Kendall
LOVE IT OR HATE IT, YOU CAN ALWAYS SMELL THE FORT WORTH STOCK SHOW AND RODEO WHEN IT COMES TO TOWN And, depending on the wind, sometimes you can sniff it clear to Montgomery Plaza. While a recent interview with Barry Corbin — where the actor admitted to finding this smell oddly pleasant and “clean” — has made the author penning this article reconsider his stance on the scent, for those unaccustomed, we will warn that it is an acquired taste.
The fragrance in question emanates from this massive event’s colloquial namesake, the Stock Show, where hundreds of both mild-mannered and ornery farm animals overtake the massive Livestock Barns. There, visitors can see rows upon rows of sheep, hogs, poultry, goats, a dozen different classes of cattle, and a heck of a lot more depending on the day’s scheduled events.
All of these animals will be paraded and meticulously judged by experts in their given breeds and classifications. Think of it as a less refined, dirt-on-theground Westminster Dog Show. Despite
contestants typically being members of the Future Farmers of America and 4-H, the judges don’t go easy on them because of their youth. Each class has a champion, and that champion is sold at the Jr. Sale of Champions — the Stock Show’s grand finale — which takes place on the event’s last day. Last year’s grand champion steer went for a whopping $440,000 — sold to the Higginbotham Insurance who’ve made a habit of being the highest bidder on the champion steer. And every cent of the winning bids goes toward the college education of the students credited with raising the winning livestock.
It’s apropos that the Stock Show events dominate the morning and afternoon schedule — our typical work hours — end before sequin-clad city folk fill Dickies Arena for the nightly Rodeo. Theirs is the cowboy work that’s the most glorious one can do that nobody ever sees.
While the Rodeo, with its bucking bulls and daring displays of courage, receives all of the glamour, the Stock
Show is where one truly witnesses the fruits of a ranch hand’s labor. After all, Rodeo events are modeled after activities necessary for drovers and ranch workers to do their jobs (save for bull riding), all of which are geared toward the well-being of the animals under their care. And, given that the Stock Show competitors are overwhelmingly children and teenagers, the Stock Show is where one learns to care for these animals and to show off the return of their hard work. Ultimately, the Stock Show teaches these future ranchers and farmers the need for discipline, responsibility, perseverance, and the importance of sportsmanship.
Boiling everything down to its foundation, the Stock Show — the animals — is why cowboys do what they do. You Rodeo for show, but you Stock Show for that hard-earned dough.
Stock Show
Scavenger Hunt
Can you spot these animals when you go to the Stock Show?
• Longhorn
• Charolais
• Grey brahman
• Simbrah
• White dorper
• Hampshire sheep
• Nigerian dwarf goat
• Boer goat
• Berkshire gilt
• American fuzzy lop
• Lilac rabbit
• Pigeon
• Goose
• Bantam duck
• Asiatic class chicken
RODEO GLOSSARY
Do you know the difference between a hooey, a header, and a heeler? Learn to speak Stock Show and you’ll sound like a pro.
Barrel Man: An entertainer who distracts the bull with a barrel after a ride and works with the bullfighters; FKA rodeo clown.
Breaking the Barrier: In roping and steer wrestling, this is
the failure to give a calf or steer enough of a head start — a 10-second penalty.
Bronc: An untamed horse with a habit of bucking.
Bulldogger: Steer wrestler, AKA the cowboy that manhandles the steer to the ground.
Bullfighter: A person who diverts the bull’s attention after a ride so the cowboy can get to safety; FKA rodeo clown.
Chasing the Cans: Barrel racing.
The pen that holds back the animal before the rodeo
Cloverleaf: In barrel racing, this is the name of the pattern that the athletes ride.
Covering: Riding a bull or bronc for at least eight seconds.
Cowboy Poker: A bull with big, viciouslooking horns.
Double Grab: When a bull or bronc rider touches anything with his free hand, an instant disqualification.
Go-round: A rider’s turn
at a rodeo event; a round of competition.
Header & Heeler: The two partners in team roping. The header throws first to rope the steer’s horns or head, and the heeler ropes second and aims for the animal’s hind legs.
Hooey: The knot used to secure the tie in calf roping.
Hung Up: When a cowboy’s hand gets caught on a rope or handle and he cannot fully dismount his animal — a dangerous situation.
Low Time: The winner of a timed event.
Pickup Men: Two cowboys that help catch or direct the stock after a ride and guide them to the exit.
Piggin’ String: The rope used to tie the calf’s legs together in tiedown roping.
No Score: What happens when a rider misses the steer or calf in timed events or falls off the bull or bronc before eight seconds in roughstock events.
Re-ride: In roughstock events, riders that receive a low score due to the poor performance of the bull
or bronc are given the chance for a re-ride to try again.
Rank: A term of praise for an ornery bull or bronc that’s particularly difficult to ride.
Rope: Don’t call it a lasso, lariat, or riata — it’s a rope.
Roughstock Events: Bull riding and bronc riding.
Stock Show Weather: The bout of ice, sleet, and/or snow that always seems to arrive during the Fort Worth Stock Show.
Try: Synonym of perseverance, grit, stamina, determination, i.e. That cowgirl’s got a lot of try.
Timed Events: Events that are scored on the quickest speed, including team roping, tie-down roping (also called calf roping), barrel racing, and steer wrestling.
Do’s and Don’ts (CheatSheet)
Do: “Howdy.”
Don’t: “Salutations.”
Do: Cheap whiskey and Lone Star Beer
Don’t: Gin martinis and Stella Artois
Do: Felt cowboy hats
Don’t: Any other headwear
Do: Trucks
Don’t: Convertibles
Do: Calf fries and chicken-fried steak
Don’t: Mozzarella sticks and drunken noodles
Do: Plaid
Don’t: Argyle
Do: “Meet me at the Stock Show.”
Don’t: “I can’t make it to the Rodeo.”
Do: Boots
Don’t: Crocs
BUCKET LIST
Before-Ya-Kick-the-Bucket List (Stock Show Edition) Check all these off so you can greet your maker with zero regrets.
Chat up a bull rider.
Dance the two-step at the Bud Light Roadhouse.
Laugh as a child is dragged through the dirt during the Calf Scramble.
Ride the Ferris wheel with someone you love.
Have dinner at Reata and order the calf fries.
Watch the nonmotorized All Western Parade and experience one of the longest-running Stock Show traditions, with wagons, stagecoaches, and horses galore.
Attend a livestock auction and talk like an auctioneer on the way home. Fun (and eventually annoying) for the whole family.
Check out one of the museums on the Stock Show grounds: the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame & Museum, Fort Worth Museum of Science & History, or Texas Cattle Raisers Museum.
Say, “Aww,” at the baby animals in the Children’s Barnyard. (If you don’t say it, it doesn’t count.)
Sip a glass of fine Texas wine in The Corkyard.
Tiptoe by a cowboy sleeping in the straw next to his animal.
Stroll through the cattle or horse barns and choose your own “Best of Show.”
Scream with excitement when a rodeo athlete makes the winning run — or dodges catastrophe on a wildly bucking beast.
Choose a favorite and cheer for them wildly at a special contest like the Mariachi Competition, Fiddle Showdown, or Celebrity Goat Milking.
Watch the Grand Entry and imagine yourself on horseback leading the procession. Sequins optional.
Cast an eye toward the sky and say, “Yep … looks like rain.”
Munch on a funnel cake while you wander down the Midway.
Root for a lesser-appreciated breed at a show for pigeons, miniature horses, sheep dogs, dairy goats, rabbits, donkeys, or mules.
Pick up a Stock Show-themed souvenir or some goodies at the Go Texan Market.
Buy a Rodeo program from the Junior League ladies and thank them with a tip of your hat.
Listen to Western poetry and music around the Cowboy Campfire.
Go home with a spring in your step and a fire in your heart for Fort Worth.
IF A RODEO COULD TALK
keeps the fans engaged with a style all his own.
By John Henry
Bob Tallman
FROM A PERCH OVERLOOKING THE DIRT-FILLED ARENA ON WHICH COWBOYS AND COWGIRLS COMPETE FOR PRIZE MOOLAH AT THE FORT WORTH STOCK SHOW AND RODEO STANDS BOB TALLMAN, WATCHING IT ALL WITH THE SAME ENTHUSIASM AND ANTICIPATION AS THE PAID CUSTOMERS. “I’M STILL A FAN,” HE SAYS TO ME. BOB TALLMAN CHECKS ALL THE BOXES OF WHAT A PUBLIC ADDRESS ANNOUNCER IS SUPPOSED TO DO. HE TELLS US THE NAME OF THE COMPETITOR, WHERE THEY’RE FROM, AND, OF COURSE, THE IDENTITY OF THE COWBOY’S CHIEF RIVAL THAT EVENING, THE STOCK ANIMAL AND WHO BRED HIM TO BE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE BADDEST, BUCKINGEST BULL THIS SIDE OF THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS. HE DOES IT ALL WITH THIS RICH, RESONANT VOICE THAT TAKES OFF ACROSS THE ARENA THE WAY AN AMERICAN AIRLINES JETLINER SHOOTS OFF INTO THE SKY FOR, SAY, GUADALAJARA.
“Theeeey’re ridin’ bulls in Fort Worth,” he says over the PA system as a cowboy successfully sticks a perilous eight seconds aboard the formidable frame of the beast of bull, whose rippling muscles of energy work in concert in an effort to send his unwanted human passenger to the farthest reaches. Or where the sun don’t shine. The bull doesn’t much care.
Tallman will have something to say about it, to be sure. Tallman’s vocation extends far past the who, what, when, and where.
He is a captivating storyteller — who will spin a yarn intermixed with a little (or a lot) of bullshit — weaving engaging and entertaining anecdotes. It’s a glorious mix of Will Rogers and Paul Harvey, wit and wisdom and all.
Ultimately, it’s a Fort Worth-kind of conversation he keeps going with the arena over the show’s two hours or so. The first time you hear him, it’s as if you’ve known him your entire life.
“Bob Tallman is the Howard Cosell of rodeo,” says Brett Hoffman, an award-winning rodeo and Western writer. “He has this golden voice that carries you through the rodeo. Fort Worth was a long rodeo in the Will Rogers Coliseum. They had 36 performances. I used to sit by him during the rodeo. He could carry the rodeo for 36 performances; he could keep you entertained.”
Like the rodeo itself, Tallman is an institution. One of the last things W.R. Watt Sr. did before his death in 1977 was track down Tallman a year prior and ask him to become the voice of the rodeo in Fort Worth. Track down is not a misstatement. Tallman recalls working the PA at a rodeo — which one, I’m not sure — but Watt approached him and asked if he could have a word.
Watt, of course, became the head of the Stock Show after being called to a meeting with Amon Carter. Watt said he didn’t know anything about running a stock show.
“I didn’t call you up here to learn what you can and cannot do,” Carter said, as recalled by Watt. “I called you up here to tell you you’re going to run the stock show.”
No such arm-twisting or coercion by force of personality or leverage of power was necessary with Tallman.
Well, hell, yes, he immediately said to Watt’s overture. This was, after all, the rodeo in Fort Worth, Texas. The Capital of Cattle in the city where the West begins. The year 2024 will mark his 48th Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
“It was a big deal for me to get to go there,” Tallman says. “Fort Worth is a culture of its own that still remains the people’s rodeo stock show. From its ties to the North Side with its cultural belongings, it’s still small-town Cowtown. And it has value beyond the economic impact that it is on the city and North Texas.”
It’s a part of the fabric of the city in other words. And it’s unimaginable to think of a day he won’t be here.
“There’s not a more recognizable voice in rodeo which has played an important role in enhancing the Stock Show’s brand to multiple generations, whether they hear him on radio, television, or in the arena,” says Brad Barnes, president of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
Fort Worth is Tallman’s hometown rodeo. He and his wife, Kristen, own the 3T Ranch in Poolville, from Fort Worth about 56 miles northwest up the Jacksboro Highway and a turn south. Weatherford sits about 24 miles south. He is his family’s fifth generation rancher.
He does about 140 shows a year these days, including the 24 here and 20 in Houston. Since 1975, he also has been the voice of the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City and now Las Vegas. He maintains associations with other rodeos that span more than 40 years, including the Calgary Stampede.
“And dang it,” he somewhat feigns disappointment, “I booked two new rodeos for next year.”
Those are in Franklin, Tennessee, and Texas City down on the Gulf. He’s also confirmed for the biggest bronc riding in the world, in Pollockville, a small town in Alberta, Canada.
“Bob Tallman’s voice is rodeo,” says Chuck Morgan, the public address voice of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers, whose career has crossed over into the Western genre. “He is the common denominator across generations of rodeo fans.
“He knows his job; he knows what he needs to do to keep fans
informed and entertained. You can tell he comes to the arena or stadium well prepared for that night’s show. And to me one of the most important things, you can tell he enjoys his job. He has that ability to make a rodeo fan comfortable.”
In all, he’s called close to 18,000 shows over a career that began in 1970. Those include rodeos throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. I tell him that I assume he was 5 or 6 years old when he got his start.
“I was 4 1/2,” he rebuts. “And I had to take my diaper bag to the first one.”
In truth, Tallman is 76 years old today. In those days in late 1960s and early 1970s, he was actually competing in rodeo. During one on Labor Day weekend in 1970 in Fallon, Nevada, he judged the public address announcer to being inadequate that day. Rodeo performers get judged. Why not the PA announcer?
“I wasn’t happy with the stories that the rodeo announcer was telling,” he says. “So, I told the rodeo producer. He said, ‘Why don’t you go up there and help her?’ It was a lady I’d known for a long time. I said, ‘OK.’”
He put his rope and horses away and went up to the public address box. The next night, he was in the bucking horse contest.
“I thought, ‘God, let me get out of here before I get killed.’ And afterward I went up there again, and when it was over, the producer handed me $100.”
It was probably more than he made that weekend or hoped to make in a future as a contestant. The life of the West was innate. Born and raised in Winnemucca, Nevada — which sits about equal distance between San Francisco to the west and Salt Lake City to the east — he is one of these guys who thought about getting on a horse in the womb. He tried out for football in high school and “lasted three days.”
pated in growing up. “But I wasn’t going to be Jim Shoulders or Larry Mahan, you know, or Ty Murray or Trevor Brazile.”
He went to college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to study dairy manufacturing. His family had a dairy farm started by his grandfather. He later transferred to the University of Reno and switched to ag economics.
“I went to college for five years and never graduated,” he says. “But I had a good time.”
He’s a funny sumbitch, this Bob Tallman.
“When I went to Cal Poly in 1966, I was surrounded by champions, champions, champions,” Tallman says. “And I wasn’t going to make a pimple on their butt because of the talent they had. So, I just started telling stories about my friends, and they’ve been paying me for it ever since.”
It gets easier to understand Tallman’s ability to communicate through a microphone when the genetics come into focus.
“I was 5-foot-1, 105 pounds … soaking wet. All my friends beat me to death,” he says. “I told the coach, ‘Here’s your helmet. If it fits, you know where to stick it.’”
Rodeo and ranching were what he loved anyway, but his career prospects in the sport weren’t great. He wasn’t going to be a pro football player, and he wasn’t going to be a professional rodeo performer, either.
Tallman was raised in buckaroo country of the Great Basin, which stretches from the eastern slope of California’s Sierra Nevada to southwestern Wyoming. Its center is northern Nevada. Lots of round hats and high-heeled boots, he says. And lots of miles on a horse. “You go do what you’re going to do on horseback every day.”
Rodeo was life.
“Oh, God, I loved them all,” he says of rodeo events he partici-
His grandfather was a politician.
A.V. Tallman — Aaron Vedder Tallman — was twice an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Nevada in the 1940s. He lost the general election in 1942 to Edward P. Carville, a Democrat who was later given the opportunity to appoint someone to the unexpired term of the late James Scrugham in the U.S. Senate. He believed himself presumably to be the best qualified and appointed himself.
The elder Tallman then lost in the Republican gubernatorial primary in 1946. His political career in Nevada included serving on both houses over a period of 12 years, including 10 years in the state senate representing Humboldt County, leaving office in 1951.
“He was quite the orator,” Tallman says of his grandfather who died in 1968. “He stood 6-foot-6.”
A.V. moved to Nevada in 1929 from Idaho where he had also been a state senator. Winnemucca, today a town of 8,600 in the northern part of the state, was his destination. A.V. had gotten a job as watermaster of the Humboldt River. In 1931, A.V. purchased the Lazy T Dairy.
That same year, A.V. and his son John — Bob’s father — helped chart the Humboldt River from its headwaters to the Humboldt Sink in a canoe. John went on to become a businessman and rancher, including owning and operating Scott Lumber Co. for more than 44 years.
John was an avid horseman and rodeo enthusiast and a leader in founding the Humboldt County Fair and Rodeo Association. He was also noted for his capacity to spin a tale, appreciated “as a storyteller for his insightful thoughts and colorful quotes.”
This sounds like someone I’ve gotten to know a little.
Bob Tallman loves everything about the Rodeo’s new home, Dickies Arena, except for the new-car smell. If it were up to him, there’d be a Will Rogers Coliseum manure candle.
Personality is at the core of Bob Tallman’s rodeo call.
There’s always places to be and people to see.
With former Fort Worth Police Chief Thomas Windham.
His 2007 obituary notes: “He had appeared on national television, including a segment on CBS’s ‘60 Minutes’ where he said, ‘The West was won in Nevada, and it wasn’t with a registered gun!’”
He ain’t wrong about that.
Tallman grew up on the family ranch. He went to school in a one-room schoolhouse that featured a big pot-bellied stove and a two-holer outhouse. Nothing distinguished which was for boys and which for girls.
He says he still has a copy of a picture of his first-grade class, whose enrollment included seven or eight kids, some Paiute Indian children — the Paiute reservation was nearby — and two Basque children.
“And there I am in a little flat shirt with a butch haircut with a rope in my hand,” he says. “The teacher lived at the ranch with my mom and dad and all of our people. In those days, everybody lived together regardless of race, age, creed, color, it didn’t make no difference. And you did everything on horseback.”
He was raised a Catholic. While on the phone, he motions to a red-beaded Rosary his Swiss-born mother, Irene, brought with her to Ellis Island. She gave it to him, and it sits near him every day. Today, though, he’s a dues-paying Baptist.
lady who suggested her husband take the matter no further.
Anyway, it was at the Cow Palace that his parents took him to see the rodeo, Tallman’s first real taste of the indoor rodeo. The smell, watching people ride under the bright lights, the livestock shows, he says.
The smell — repugnant to some, cologne to others — is what he misses most about Will Rogers Coliseum, which hosted the rodeo from the 1940s until the opening of Dickies Arena in 2019.
“I told Brad Barnes and Mr. Bass one time after building Dickies Arena that I need to get a pipeline and blow the smell out of Will Rogers Coliseum over into Dickies Arena.”
“I love the singing and the music in the Baptist church,” he says. His grandmother, he recalls, would drive an old pickup to church every Sunday.
“My mother and my grandmother sat in the same pew in that Catholic church. First pew on the left, first two seats, with me all my life.”
Faith was important. So was the life of the West.
A seminal moment — perhaps the seminal moment? — occurred as a 12-year-old.
The site was San Francisco’s iconic Cow Palace, opened in 1941. As its name suggests, the Cow Palace was built for the purpose of cattle expositions, but it’s been repurposed as a gathering place for politicos. Insert your own “bull” jokes here. The Republicans renominated Dwight Eisenhower for president in 1956 and in 1964 Barry Goldwater in a famously — an infamously — rowdy San Francisco convention. “Turn him loose, lady, turn him loose,” Rockefeller man Jackie Robinson said to an Alabama delegate who took offense to Jackie’s exhortation of “C’mon, Rocky!”
“Luckily for him he obeyed his wife,” Jackie said later of the
His work in rodeo has also included TV, as well. He’s been a commentator on ESPN, Fox Sports, and TNN. He is in just about every rodeo hall of fame, including the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.
Tallman also juggles professions in the ag and ag entertainment industries, including real estate and the beef industry. In September, California-based Cattaneo Bros. acquired the Bob Tallman’s Authentic Cowboy Beef Jerky brand. The product portfolio includes Sweet Smoked, Peppered Hickory, Sagrado Hatch Chile, and Brown Sugar BBQ flavors.
He also once was in the buck and bull breeding industry.
Tallman has not wasted his celebrity, which he has used to do good.
The Bob Tallman Charities, he says, has given close to $2 million over the past 24 years to the MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital in Houston, specifically today for a school on the campus for the children under the hospital’s care.
The day a child is admitted to the hospital, they are enrolled in class. The connection could be through Zoom, but they can go to class two hours, 10 hours, whatever they want. The important factor is the children don’t lose track of the important social touch with their family, classmates, and friends.
“They do so much better because the maintain a position in society,” Tallman says. “You don’t know what it’s like over the years of being able to go into the hospital to hold a child — 8, 10, 12 months old, 2 years old, with their big eyes, little baldheaded boogers — and then be able to see them at the age of 10, 12, or 20, and know that they came out of that program.”
It’s all part of a life as rich as the voice.
“In 50 years, I’ve been to a lot of rodeos, and what a blessing it is to be able to say that my family has been the recipient of income from doing it,” he says, pausing briefly. “I’m the most blessed man in the world.”
WE SPEAK FORT WORTH
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2024 Private School Guide
All Saints Catholic School, Fort Worth, 817.624.2670, ascsfw.org
All Saints’ Episcopal School, Fort Worth, 817.560.5700, aseschool.org
Anderson Private School for the Gifted, Talented and Creative, Fort Worth, 817.448.8484, andersonschool.net
Bethesda Christian School, Fort Worth, 817.581.5131, bcsfw.org
Brown’s Backyard Barbecue outgrew their food truck in mere weeks. One taste of their smoked meats and mouthwatering sides, and you’ll understand why.
Malcolm Mayhew
Photos by Crystal Wise
Au Jus Like It
Thanks to Portillo’s and ‘The Bear,’ a gloriously messy staple of Chicago’s culinary world, the Italian beef sandwich, is finally getting its due by
Two months ago, when Portillo’s opened its first Tarrant County location, on South Cooper in Arlington, many local foodie types didn’t exactly welcome the Chicago-born chain with open arms. Many went after, specifically, the restaurant’s signature item, the Italian beef.
“Why is the bun so soggy?” one person wrote in the Real Foodies of Arlington Facebook page, where
much of the hate for the Italian beef flowed. “This is just a cheesesteak without the cheese,” wrote another. Also: “This thing stinks.”
All Anthony “Hershey” Jones can do is chuckle.
“A lot of people just don’t know what it is,” Jones says of the delightfully sloppy sandwich, which he serves at his restaurant in Arlington,
Hershey’s Palace. “I had a customer come in not that long ago and order one. She immediately sent it back, saying, ‘How do you eat this? The bread is too wet.’ I told her how to eat it, she tried it, she loved it, and now she’s one of my regulars.”
Born in Chicago, reportedly during the early years of the Great Depression, the Italian beef is a mainstay of the Windy City’s culinary vernacular, as common there as barbecue is here. But unlike deep-dish pizza or Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beefs have yet to find a strong foothold in other areas of the country.
The continuing expansion of Portillo’s is, obviously, helping expose the unique sandwich to a wider audience. And many turned their attention toward the Italian beef in 2022, when it was practically the star of the popular FX television show, “The Bear,” about a fictional Chicago restaurant. After “The Bear” aired, Jones saw a big bump in business, he says.
In many ways, the sandwich does resemble a typical roast beef sandwich in that it’s piled high with thinly sliced roast beef, and its size and sub bread certainly bear a resemblance to a Philly cheesesteak.
But an Italian beef lives in a world of its own. According to The Chicago Tribune, a true Italian beef is the perfect, harmonious mix of thinly sliced roast beef, spicy giardiniera, and a French roll, preferably one from Turano Baking Co. Cheese is optional and so are sweet roasted peppers.
What makes the sandwich such an unusual, napkin-needing, culinary experience is how it is served. Most of the time, it comes one of two ways, your choice: wet or dry. Order it dry, and it’ll be accompanied by a side of au jus for dipping. Wet means the meat and bread will be dunked in the au jus, completely soaking the bread. Some restaurants find a middle ground between wet and dry and serve the sandwich dipped — dunked in the au jus just long enough to get it wet but not soak it.
Swoon city: Walloon’s Italian beef with a side of housemade chips.
“People absolutely love the au jus,” says John Kirkpatrick, a manager at Weinberger’s Deli in Grapevine, which serves an excellent Italian beef. “That’s what gives it so much flavor. What a lot of our customers do is order it soaked, then take it home and reheat it in their toaster oven. That makes the bread firm again, and now it has all that flavor from the au jus that it soaked up. It’s really good that way.”
The au jus is an important component to the Italian beef, says Jones, a Chicago native who has been in the restaurant industry most of his life, here, in other parts of Texas and in Chicago.
“Everybody’s is a little different, but it’s made the same way, with the juice from the beef,” he says. “I make ours by hand, every day, using a blend of secret seasonings and spices.”
For a topping, some restaurants offer a choice between sweet peppers or spicy giardiniera. The latter is the Chicago standard, Jones says.
For newcomers, the sandwich can be a challenge to eat, especially if it’s ordered wet. If you order it wet, the quicker you eat it, the better; the bread may soon dissolve. But if you order it dry, you’re missing out on some of the flavor that melts into the bread.
Jones serves his wet Italian beefs wrapped in foil, which locks in the juices and prevents the bread from falling apart — not to mention, it keeps the sandwich from running down your arms.
“That’s how I get people hooked on it,” he says. “If it’s served in foil, it’s a lot easier and less messy to eat. I’ll gladly serve it to anyone dry, with au jus on the side. But wet is best. That’s how we do it in Chicago.”
All the Beeves
Variations of the Italian beef sandwich aren’t difficult to find locally. But only a handful of restaurants in Tarrant County serve true renditions of this Chicago masterwork. They include:
Chicago Deep Dish Pizza: This tiny takeout-only pizza shop in south Arlington specializes in its namesake dish, but offers a solid Italian beef, topped with appropriately spicy giardiniera and a splash of au jus. More au jus comes on the side. 4407LittleRoad,Ste.610, Arlington,chicagopizzadeepdish.com
Hershey’s Palace: Run by Chicago native Anthony “Hershey” Jones, this small restaurant bounced around Chicago and Texas before it found a permanent home in a strip mall spot in central Arlington. Jones serves several iconic Chicago dishes, including deep-dish pizza, pizza puffs, and magnificent Italian beefs, which come wrapped in foil to seal in flavor (and to save you a huge dry cleaning bill). 1420 W. Arkansas Lane, Arlington, hersheyspalacemenu. com
Portillo’s: Arlington location of Chicago chain, at 4200 S. Cooper St., offers a standard rendition of the Italian beef in an upbeat, family-friendly environment. The menu also includes shakes, burgers, and Chicago-style hot dogs. Locations in north Fort Worth and Mansfield are slated to open later this year. portillos.com
Walloon’s Restaurant: Newly opened on the Near Southside, this cozy venture from local chef Marcus Paslay focuses on seafood, which makes the inclusion of an Italian beef sandwich, tricked out with braised sirloin and provolone cheese, a nice, flavorful surprise. 701W.Magnolia Ave.,walloonsrestaurant.com
Weinberger’s Deli: The Grapevine outpost of this long-running deli, whose roots date back to Chicago in the 1920s, serves excellent Italian beefs on freshly made Italian bread, wet or dry, with the option to add additional toppings, including hot, medium or mild peppers, mozzarella cheese, grilled onions, marinara sauce, and sausage. 601S.MainSt.,Grapevine, weinbergersdeli.com
Walloon’s in the Near Southside is one of the few local restaurants that serves Italian beef.
Anthony “Hershey” Jones, owner of Hershey’s Palace.
Italian stallion: An Italian beef at Hershey’s Palace.
by Malcolm Mayhew
Photo by Crystal Wise
Three’s Company
Dena and Trent Shaskan are helping bring diners and drinkers back downtown, one cool concept at a time.
Anyone who thinks dining and drinking in downtown is dead clearly hasn’t met Dena Shaskan.
Along with her husband, Trent, Dena has been leading a culinary campaign to bring diners back downtown, opening not one or two
but three new eat and drink concepts: 3rd Street Market, a breakfast and lunch café where bread is made daily; Hopscotch, a snack shop designed for both kids and adults; and, most recently, Wines from a Broad, a cheekily named wine bar
where every wine is crafted by a female winemaker.
The two have been involved in other food and wine-related projects, including The Table, a small market in the South Main area. It was there, and at Clearfork Farmers Market, where expert bread maker and California native Trent sold his handmade sourdough bread under the name Icon Bread.
Dena, of course, is known to many for her decade-plus career as executive chef at Cafe Modern, the restaurant inside the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. After she left Cafe Modern, she ran her own catering business.
Trent says a chance encounter with Sasha Bass put the wheels in motion for the Shaskans’ first venture downtown, 3rd Street Market. Trent bumped into Sasha at a local farmers market, and the two struck up a conversation about bakeries and downtowns and how the two have, historically, relied on one another. “Sasha is a super smart, active, amazingly observant person of all things city and downtown,” Trent says. “She’s really into Sundance and brings a worldly perspective to bear.”
Soon after, the Shaskans found themselves on the receiving end of an invitation to open a bakery and restaurant in Sundance Square. The timing could not have been better, too, as Dena was forced to close her catering business as a result of the pandemic.
“As COVID waned, it was time to reimagine our future,” Dena says. “And I was burned out on catering. All my established catering staff had ‘pivoted’ to other careers, and I honestly wasn’t into it anymore. Sundance approached us about a brick-and-mortar, and it made sense. It was our next logical step.”
The Shaskans and Sundance Square agreed 425 W. Third St. would make a primo spot for Dena and Trent, whose combined talents — chef and bread maker — would make for a unique concept, unlike
Dena and Trent Shaskan have opened three food and drink concepts downtown.
Print creates an emotional connection. Print builds relationships.
Physical material is more “real” to the
with greater internalization of ads—all important for brand associations.
anything else in downtown. Opened in October 2022, it has been just that, an all-in-one market, bakery, soup and sandwich cafe, coffee bar, and wine shop.
The large 8,000-square-foot space has allowed the couple to dabble in special food events, such as cooking classes.
“The space we chose is huge, so we invited Dixya Bhattarai to join us and create her Indulge Cooking school,” Dena says. “She offers a mélange of instructional classes for those wanting to learn about food. It’s been a great collaboration.”
With 3rd Street Market in place, and doing well, Sundance approached the Shaskans about opening another concept, this one in the recently vacated Jamba Juice building at 101 W. Third St., a cool, slender building that dates to 1920.
“We jumped on the opportunity,” Dena says. “What Sundance Plaza seemed to need was a fast-casual place where people visiting downtown could just pop in and enjoy a quick refreshment.”
The resulting concept, Hopscotch, opened last summer, offers a mix of food and drinks with both kids and adults in mind, from snow cones and nice wines to chili dogs and lemonades in flavors such as raspberry and rose-limeade. There are also cocktails and mocktails, made fresh. Again, it’s a new concept for downtown.
“We make almost everything in-house, from juicing our own citrus, ginger, and pineapple,” Trent says. “We hired a top-notch mixologist that builds our menu weekly and juices her little heart out to make some really incredible drinks.”
For Dena, the couple’s third concept, Wines from a Broad, is her most personal. Located at 317 Houston St., it’s a small, charming wine bar and store that puts women front and center. Every wine is made by a female winemaker. Small plates of items savory and sweet are made by Dena or other female chefs, such as Katherine Clapner of Dallas’ Dude, Sweet Chocolate. The PA music — all female singers and musicians.
“This was a passion project for sure,” Dena says. “I have forged so many relationships with winemakers and wine reps that when asked to open a wine store, there was no way I could say no. Making it a female-produced wine concept only made sense to me, being a female chef in a male-dominated industry.”
Trent says the couple could not have built this small empire of eateries and drinkaries without each other.
“These are our unique skills and backgrounds,” he says. “These experiences have melded in totally surprising, unpredictable ways.”
The Chowtown Lowdown
Two of the area’s most well-known names in barbecue are kicking off the new year with new digs. Heim BBQ, which introduced Fort Worth to the world of craft ‘cue, opening the door for countless others to follow, has opened location No. 4, this one in Burleson at 139 W. Ellison St. Each Heim store is a little different, and what sets this location apart is a very cool rooftop patio, complete with a bar. heimbbq.com
After years of hosting pop-ups and working out of a trailer in various locales around Fort Worth, Dayne’s Craft Barbecue has opened a brick-and-mortar in Aledo, a town in dire need of good barbecue. Go for the brisket, for sure, but don’t forget about its absolutely killer smashburgers. 100S.FrontSt.,Aledo. daynescraftbarbecue.com
A new high-end taco spot called Buena Vida Taqueria has opened in the South Main area at 314 S. Main St. The concept comes from Alex Lines, a chef and CEO of a company called OTC Concepts. If you’ve been to Pour Decisions in the West Seventh area or Off the Cuff in Deep Ellum, you’re familiar with Lines’ work. Buena Vida offers his spin on tacos, two styles: street tacos and specialty tacos. Street tacos include pastor, carne asada, chipotle-lime shrimp, barbacoa, shredded chicken, carnitas, and breakfast tacos made with your choice of eggs, bacon, potato, chorizo, and veggies. Those tacos are served a la carte and range from $3-$4.
Fillings for the specialty tacos include beef short rib, cactus and slow roasted pork shoulder, beer-battered shrimp and mango pico, and their take on birria, comprised of barbacoa and melted Oaxaca cheese. Specialty tacos come three to an order, ranging in price from $14-$24, and include a side, such as elote, borracho beans or fries.
To drink, there are margaritas, cocktails, and booze-free agua frescas. Good news is, they’re open late on weekends, till 2 a.m. for dine-in, 3 a.m. for carry-out. buenavidarestaurants.com
On the heels of the recent opening of The Crescent Hotel, and its in-house restaurant Emilia’s, The Bowie House is now open at 3700 Camp Bowie Blvd., a few doors down from The Crescent. With it comes its own on-site restaurant, a modern steakhouse called Bricks and Horses. Executive chef Antonio Votta oversees a menu that puts dry-aged steak front and center, with beef coming in from local and regional ranches like Rosewood Ranch, Scharbauer Ranch, Broken Arrow Ranch, Trails End Ranch, Capra Farms, and Hassle Cattle Co. But there’s a lot of everything else, too, from seafood, chicken dishes, soups and salads, and burgers for lunch, brunch, and dinner, and items such as freshly made biscuits, butter pecan French toast, and maple butter hot cakes for breakfast. aubergeresorts.com/ bowiehouse
Heim BBQ has opened a new location in Burleson.
INNOVATIVE – EXPERIENCED – CLIENT FOCUSED
Arch House Collaborative is a dynamic architectural firm known for its innovative and sustainable design solutions. With a passion for creating spaces that blend functionality, aesthetics, and environmental consciousness, Arch House Collaborative has established itself as a leader in the industry.
Led by a team of highly skilled architects and designers, Arch House Collaborative takes a collaborative approach to every project. They believe that the best designs emerge from a combination of expertise, creativity, and client input. By actively engaging with their clients throughout the design process, they ensure that the final result reflects the unique vision and needs of each project.
With a diverse portfolio that spans residential, commercial, and public spaces, Arch House Collaborative has garnered recognition for their excellence in design. Their projects have received numerous awards and have been featured in prestigious publications.
by Malcolm Mayhew
Photo by Crystal Wise
Classic ’Cue
Newly opened Brown’s Backyard Barbecue carries the torch for the frills-free barbecue of our youth
With most new barbecue restaurants in Fort Worth adopting the Central Texas style of ‘cue, it’s refreshing when a newcomer waves the flag for the classic style that many Fort Worthians grew up on, the kind of straightforward ‘cue found at Hickory Stick in Everman, Robinson’s on East Seminary, or at warhorse Angelo’s.
It’s in that circle of barbecue joints that recently opened Brown’s Backyard Barbecue belongs. Located on McCart Avenue, across the street from Mexico Real, this formidable newcomer comes from local couple Dominick and Nichole Brown, first-time restaurant owners.
The couple tested the waters of the area by first opening a food truck. Within weeks, they outgrew the truck and made plans to take over a vacant building just a few feet away from where they parked their truck.
“Every day we were open, we’d sell out of food,” Nichole says. “At that point, we knew we were onto something.”
In the building that Dominick handpainted in a striking, hard-to-miss black and lime, he and his wife work hand in hand, side by side, cooking and preparing their food, the recipes for which the couple developed on their own, with a little help from their families.
Dominick uses a custom-built smoker to cook brisket, pork ribs, two kinds of sausage — regular pork and jalapeno-cheddar — and chicken; brisket gets the most smoke, up to 14-15 hours.
Featured sides include mac and cheese, collard greens, potato salad, baked beans, green beans and corn. Freshly made desserts include banana
pudding, plus cakes made by family friend Millicent Edward.
The restaurant’s signature dish is what the couple calls “cubed brisket.” That term is usually associated with Kansas City-style burnt ends. But in the Browns’ hands, it means bite-size chunks of brisket simmered in their own juices, along with a secret blend of spices. Think of a brisket stew. It’s served a la carte or atop mac and cheese, a baked potato, or with bread on the side for “sopping it up,” Nichole says.
“It’s just a different take on brisket,” Nichole says. “You need something to stand out, so we worked on something we knew would be different.”
The restaurant has been a long time coming for the couple. They’ve spent the past several years in different industries — he’s been a landscaper, she worked in commercial sales for Radio Shack downtown; they also own five local day care centers that bear their name.
“The restaurant has been something that Dominick’s wanted to do for years,” Nichole says. “We finally got to a point in our lives where we could do it. We figured if we didn’t do it now, when would we do it?”
They have the meats: Chopped brisket and sliced sausage atop mac and cheese at Brown’s Backyard BBQ.
Lead smoker Dominick Brown.
lucy@georgeandnoonan.com
georgeandnoonan.com
Spectacular Fort Worth Magazine 2023 Dream Home is the epitome of English crafted luxury within the gated community of Oak Alley. A meticulously designed masterpiece built in 2023 by Kensington Custom Homes, offers 5 bedrooms & 5.2 baths, w elevator spanning over a half acre lot. A harmonious blend of timeless elegance & craftsmanship features an abundance of panoramic glass & metal windows, custom wood beams & hardwood flooring. The kitchen features professional grade appliances, a gorgeous oversized quartzite island w walnut surround & Wood Mode cabinetry. The grand dining room features a beautiful stacked natural stone feature wall w sitting area transitioning to the great room. The great room boasts soaring ceilings & a custom wall showcases cast stone fireplace. Primary Owner’s Retreat offers a sitting room with glass doors leading to the outside oasis, which features a Claffey heated pool & spa w water features, FP, outdoor kitchen, & entry to entertainment room w media equipment!
2023 Debutantes
Steeplechase Club
The Steeplechase Club was honored to present its 2023 Debutantes at its annual ball on Oct. 28. Held at River Crest Country Club, a circus theme captivated guests, complete with four oversized faux giraffes, a raised elephant, an 8-foot carousel, and a ticket booth for the door check-in as decor. Circus tent gold draping covered the ballroom ceiling
with pops of hot pink seating. Out on the patio was Thomas’ Fun House, aptly chosen to honor this year’s Steeplechase president, Thomas Medley House. An electric violinist perched on a circus stand and played throughout the chef’s circus breakfast whilst live entertainers roamed the club throughout the evening. Melanie Tatum Events created spe -
cialty items such as cookie brandy Alexander shots, chocolate-covered bacon, mini corn dogs, and deepfried oreos, passed as late-night snacks and Barnum’s Animal Cracker boxes for take-home treats.
(clockwise from top) Madeleine Mae Hiley, Grayson Lynne Poulson, Claire Katherine Nolan, Anna Laura Moritz, Lily Marguerite Melcher, Mary Margaret Knolle
photos by Rick Bettinger of Gittings
Winners Gala FortWorthInc.
Entrepreneur of Excellence
The 2023 Entrepreneur of Excellence winners were revealed recently at a black-tie gala at the Fort Worth Club. Four Day Weekend served as master of ceremony, presenting winners in each of the nine categories, employing, of course, its patented wit to do it. Winners, including Stella Robertson, the Supporter of Entrepreneurship recipient, were each awarded a personalized trophy and a pair of custom ostrich Justin Boots. A special acknowledgment to our Presenting Sponsor, Whitley Penn, whose collaboration with Fort Worth Inc. throughout the year ensures the ongoing success of the Entrepreneur of Excellence awards program.
Thanks to all of our program sponsors: Presenting Sponsor: Whitley Penn; Platinum Sponsor: Texas Capital Bank; Gold Sponsor: TCU Neeley School of Business MBA Executive Program; Boot Sponsor: Justin Boots.
David Wilk, Casey Corey, Brett Young
Oliver Tull, Craig Cavileer
Stella Robertson, Hal Brown
John Clay & Jeanette Wolfe
Gary Jr. & Cyndy Tonniges
Russell English, Lindsay Jones
photos by Josh Davis
BRING THE WEST HOME
GIVE BACK
GREATER FORT WORTH’S CHARITY/SOCIAL EVENTS
There’s nothing more rewarding than giving back and making a difference in the lives of people in this great community. As the city’s magazine — which has the eyes and ears of some of Fort Worth’s most affluent and philanthropic citizens — we
feel a responsibility to give back to the people of the city that is our namesake, which is why Philanthropy is one of our core values.
Every year, FortWorthMagazinesponsors more than 100 charity events, which range from luncheons to black-tie galas. The following promotional section is devoted to these charities and their fundraisers. We invite you to consciously peruse and consider lending a helping hand by either making a donation or attending these events.
FortWorthMagazinepresented a Wish with Wings a check of over $57,000 as a contribution from the 2023 Dream Street project. Hal Brown, Judy Youngs, Karen & Patrick Weber, Lesley Irwin, Mike Waldum
HOLE?
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
LONGHORN SALOON FEATURE BAR
Sundance Square
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION
Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo
Teresa & Luther King / Luther King Capital Management
WINNER’S CIRCLE
Double Eagle Energy Gilchrist Automotive
Brazos Midstream Pheasant Energy The Rios Group, Inc.
The Roach Foundation Sewell INFINITI of Fort Worth / Sewell Lexus of Fort Worth
Mary Lynn & Fred Bangs Fort Worth Magazine Frost Debbie & Albon Head
Majestic Realty Texas Health Southwest Winstead PC
SILVER SPUR STETSON BRONCO
Elaine Agather Agather, Craine, Landreth, Moncrief, Ray, and Williams Bickley, Bickley, Havran, Mitchell, and Paup
The Brender Law Firm C.A.R. Transport, Inc. Escott, Moore, McLeland, Ortowski, and Shelton Fort Worth Magazine
Martha & Wilson Franklin and M.L. Leddy's Farley, Gregg, Kostohryz, Mahaffey, Watkins, and Wharton Robin & Pete Greenhaw
Harwell, Mooring, Polson, Sims, and Sims Holt CAT HUB Fort Worth Kearney, Lawrence, Marlow, Pate, Sanders, Tuomey, and Wright
Kimberlin Ranches Marty Leonard Paula & Bob Lansford / Michelle & Mark Lansford Michelle & Dan Lowrance Loretta & Don Marable
Marsh & McLennan Agency, LLC North Texas Community Foundation Savannah Petronis, Baird Private Wealth Management Missy & Randy Rodgers Sarah & Justin Routon Sibbing and Gray Interiors Simmons Bank Stockyards Heritage Development Co.
Sustainers of JLFW Shane Vaden and JC Johnson Virginia Hobbs Charitable Trust Sarah & Patrick Washington
SADDLE SPECIAL THANKS
Susanna & Harper Bartolomei Kim & Glenn Darden
DP4 Consult - Architectural McElyea Realty Group
Texas Christian University
Gittings Reata Restaurant TX Whiskey
SponsorsasofDecember5,2023
Living on a working ranch and being a photographer is almost unfair — the distance one has to travel to take breathtaking photos is a few steps to their backyard. And that’s exactly the situation in which Taylor Bennett finds herself. “As a photographer, I like to take my camera with me everywhere,” Taylor says. “And that includes while we are working cattle.” A fine art photographer with an e-commerce site to boot, Taylor snapped this portrait of a beautiful bovine on her and her husband’s working ranch in Palo Pinto County, where they breed Texas longhorns. “Longhorns are especially gentle,” Taylor tells us. “And ours are like pets who will let you scratch their heads and love treats. This photo is of Moonshadow, one of our sweet girls.”
Get your photo on this page and win a $100 gift card to Fort Worth Camera. Just tag FortWorthMagazine (@fwtxmag) and Fort Worth Camera (@fwcamera) and use the hashtags #fwtxmag and #fwcamera on all your amazing Cowtown images.
@taybennettphotography
PHOTO BY TAYLOR BENNETT
PICTURED: left to right: Chris Bonnett, GM, cbonnett@gilchristautomotive.com, Southwest Ford, Weatherford; Jonathan Franco, GM, jfranco@gilchristautomotive.com, Platinum Ford North; Stephen Gilchrist, Dealer Operator, Gilchrist Automotive; Adam Vincze, GM, avincze@gilchristautomotive.com, Platinum Ford; and Dustin Rodgers, GM, drodgers@gilchristautomotive.com, Triple Crown Ford and Lincoln, Terrell, TX.
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