Historic Midland

1884, including Theo Ray, who would become
Midland County’s first sheriff; and J.S. Curtis,
Robertson Willingham, George Pemberton, and
Zachary Taylor Brown, who bought a sheep
ranch near Midland and became the first person
to cultivate a field in Midland County.
Midland Cowboys
Enjoyed Fun, Games—
And Still Do!
By J.P. “Pat” McDaniel
Since the first herd of bovines arrived in
Midland County in the later 1800s, there have
been “shepherds” to look after them. These
good-natured fellows became known as “cowboys.”
The romanticism that has surrounded
this type has been sustained by countless stories,
legends, lies, and truths for over 150 years.
Midland County cowboys were no less susceptible
to these same conversations.
The “Midland Country,” as it was called by
pioneer Midlander and historian J. Evetts Haley,
was settled by men of unfailing hope, courage
and optimism. Such traits persist among today’s
“Midland Country” cowboys. These families left
established ranges and relatively comfortable
climates to move their herds to unending seas of
grass with questionable water resources.
Men of the ranges usually will look for any
opportunity for lighthearted competition and
social involvement, and such was and is the case
for Midland Country cowboys. For well over
100 years, the area has boasted Cowboy
Carnivals, Rodeos, Junior Rodeos, Sheriff’s
Posse Rodeos, sanctioned Professional Rodeos,
and today’s Ranch Rodeos.
Early gatherings of men in working pens on
area ranches always ended up in some unridden
horse or unroped “outlaw” being the focus of a
boastful wager among friends. Eventually such
horseplay evolved into a loosely organized event
of the week or month. The first recorded event
of that sort occurred in 1898 and was dubbed a
“Cowboy Carnival.” It was a one performance
affair started by “Wild Bill” Scarborough and
Charlie Goldsmith that was cut short by a surprise
snowstorm and was never repeated.
In September of 1914 the Midland County Fair
and Fat Stock Show offered an event publicized as
offering “horse races and high class amusements.”
Spence Jowell hired a bunch of West Texas
cowboys, including Clay McGonagill, and
shipped them off to South America to compete
with the gaucho. The year-long tour was highly
successful. Tall tales have been told from those
days that included cowboys such as Jowell and
McGonagill.
The Midland Fair, Inc. was organized around
1935 and was a full blown Rodeo that was
offered by Foy and Leonard Proctor and others
including a stock contractor named Everett
Coleman that brought animals with a heavy
Brahman influence up from South Texas.
At the end of the 1950s, the Midland Fair,
Inc. was dissolved, leaving Midland without an
organized annual event for ranching locals.
In 1988, several Midland ranchers decided
that something was needed for ranchers in the
Midland Country area to do for Fourth of July.
They had been to Abilene and Wichita Falls and
❖
Above: Cowboys and visitors gather at
Wall and Main Streets in front of
Llano Hotel on the way to the rodeo
grounds East of town.
Below: A sandstorm darkens the sky
over Midland in 1894.
Midland: Land of Cowboys | 21