LUBBOCK – The National Cowboy Symposium & Celebration hosts the 28th Annual event in Lubbock, Texas, September 9-10-11th, 2016 at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center with several historic ranches in the spotlight, including the JA Ranch of Donley County.
Friday’s sessions and topics include:
Irish Texas Ranches – Dr. Len Ainsworth: Scots-Irish immigrants to Texas while under Mexican rule, and in the years of the Republic, made significant contributions to the development and legacy of ranching. Two ranches with historic associations, the Power Ranch and the JA Ranch, were large parts of that legacy. The history of these ranches illustrates Irish-Texas connections and the background of early Irish immigration to the state.
Gun Fighting Cowtowns of Texas – Bill O’Neal, State Historian of Texas: The old cowtowns of Texas generated a lot of gunfighter action. Old Tascosa, and it turns out that the “Cowboy Capital of the Panhandle,” was also the “Gunfighter Capital of the Panhandle,” with 10 fatal gunfights during the 1880s, thus populating that great boot hill there. In addition, cowtowns such as Fort Worth, Waco, Lampassas and even Lubbock had their share of murderous shootouts that helped shape the culture of the American West.
Saturday’s sessions and topics include:
The JA Ranch – LeRoy Jones: John George Adair was an Irishman and an astute business man. It was on a hunting trip to the Western United States that he met Charles Goodnight. He learned of Goodnight’s business sense and skills with cattle. The two entered into a contract in which Adair would finance the building of what would become a massive ranch in the Palo Duro Canyon area of the Texas Panhandle. Learn about this iconic Texas ranch and how its Celtic roots impacted western culture.
The show is open to the public Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, September 9-10-11 at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. Additional information may be obtained at cowboy.org.
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