This Week

It’s time to saddle up and get ready for a fun ride as the Clarendon College Stampede welcomes more than 700 entries to its NIRA rodeo Thursday-Saturday, October 10-12, 2024, at the indoor Matlock Arena of the CC Livestock & Equine Center on US 287.

In addition to getting to see CC’s nationally recognized rodeo teams perform at home, spectators will also enjoy 15 other college and university rodeo teams will compete at the event as well.

Qualifying events will be held all day with regular performances being held at 7:00 p.m. each evening.

Admission to the evening performances is free, and concessions will be available. Rodeo events will include bull riding, barrel racing, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, and more.

For more information about the Stampede, call Clarendon College at 806-874-3571.

Texas DPS reports On Thursday, Oct. 3, the Texas Rangers were requested by the Memphis Police Department to assist with an Attempted Capital Murder of a Peace Officer investigation.

At approximately 10:51 p.m., The Memphis Police Chief and a Memphis Police Officer attempted to serve an arrest warrant for burglary at the residence of 33-year-old Seth Altman of Memphis. Upon making contact with Altman, the suspect pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots, striking the Chief. Altman then fled on foot.

The shooting occurred at approximately 11:01 p.m.

The Memphis Police Chief was transported by air to an area hospital in Lubbock, where he remains in stable condition.

The suspect remains at large. Multiple agencies are assisting in locating Altman.

A Blue Alert, along with an arrest warrant for Attempted Capital Murder of a Peace Officer, has been issued.

If anyone comes into contact with Seth Altman, use caution, do not approach him, and call 9-1-1.

The Crosstimber Ranch wagon team from Mustang, Okla., claimed the championship of the Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff last Saturday, September 28, beating out 12 other teams.

Competing in the Saints’ Roost Museum’s 30th annual cookoff, Crosstimber was first in Overall Cooking, second in Best Wagon & Camp, and placed in four out of five food categories to win the title of best Overall Wagon & Cooking.

The 17th annual Junior Cookoff the day before the big event drew 11 contestants, who were paired with experienced wagon teams to prepare dessert for the cooks’ dinner Friday night.

First place was Matthew Newhouse cooking with DT Wagon, second was Connor Askew cooking with the J-D Wagon, and third was Brindle Ross cooking with the Break-Away Wagon. All the winning youth were from Clarendon.

Other junior participants were aleb Askew from Clarendon, Texas cooking with Rafter Z Wagon, Kassie Askew from Clarendon, Texas cooking with Slim Pickins, Stetson Duncan from Clarendon, Texas cooking with Wild Cow Ranch, Monroe Newhouse from Clarendon, Texas cooking with L-C Wagon, Margot Richter from Borger, Texas cooking with Cocklebur Camp, Braxton Ross from Clarendon, Texas cooking with Double Nichols, J.T. Shelton from Clarendon, Texas cooking with Honey Do Spoiler, and Elika Wilson from Clarendon, Texas cooking with D bar B Wagon.

The Junior Cookoff is sponsored each year by the American Chuckwagon Association.

The trade show was held throughout the day Saturday, and live entertainment was provided. The museum also held an open house for its new Wheels of History building.

Competing wagons served a menu of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, beans, and cobbler. Wagons came from as far as Tennessee and Colorado to attend this year’s cookoff.

Prizes totaling $3,250 were paid out to the winners. Complete results were:

Overall Wagon & Cooking: 1) Crosstimber Ranch.

Overall Cooking: 1) Crosstimber, 2) Break-Away Wagon of Stamford., 3) Wild Cow Ranch of Fritch, and 4) Texas Back Then Wagon of Vernon.

Best Wagon & Camp: 1) DT Wagon of Watertown, South Dakota, 2) Crosstimber, 3) J Bar D Ranch of Amarillo, and 4) Break-Away.

Best Meat: 1) Double Nichols of Amarillo, 2) Wild Cow, 3) Crosstimer, and 4) Texas Back Then.

Best Beans: 1) Cocklebur Camp of Odessa, 2) Crosstimber, 3) Rafter Z of Stephenville, and 4) Wild Cow.

Best Potatoes: 1) L-C Chuckwagon of Chattanooga, Okla., 2) Wild Cow, 3) Texas Back Then, and 4) Break-Away.

Best Bread: 1) Honey Do Spoiler of Pampa, 2) Texas Back Then, 3) Crosstimber, and 4) Break-Away.

Best Dessert: 1) Crosstimber, 2) Break-Away, 3) Wild Cow, and 4) Slim Pickins of Sanger.

The cookoff fed 650 ticket-holders plus more than 60 wagon team members.

Artist Malcolm Byers put the finishing touches on the Clarendon ranch heritage mural last Friday, marking the completion of a labor of love that began in June.

The project on the south wall of the REFZ Sports Bar & Grill building at the intersection of US 287 and Kearney has already generated positive comments from hundreds of locals and travelers alike. The art is 70 feet long and 22 feet tall and includes the images of pioneer ranchers John and Cornelia Adair, Alfred Rowe, and Col. Charles Goodnight along with a chuckwagon camp scene that symbolizes the cowboys who worked on ranches throughout history as well as the European influence that helped back some of the biggest ranches in Donley County.

Byers, who grew up on a ranch near Bushland, says he spent about 300 hours on the project which was done all with spray paint and consists of about 60 colors.

“I can’t stress enough how welcoming everyone was with me,” Byers said. “People who grew up on the JA Ranch were giving me facts about the ranch. Ferrol [Shelton] shared pictures of Afred Rowe, and others just stopped to talk.”

Byers thanked local artist Jack Craft for giving him a placed to stay as he wrapped up the project, and the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation board which commissioned the project and spent about a year developing the design with the artist.

“I appreciate y’all’s patience so much,” he said of the CEDC board. “It is rare to have clients who will give you the time and space I had.”

Byers has completed dozens of murals in places like Amarillo, Austin, Dallas, and Claude and as far away as Nashville and Indiana, but none have had the level of detail the Clarendon mural has.

“I think this the most ambitious project I’ve done,” he said. “I spent so much time on it because of the visibility it was going to have.”