Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

By RHONDA BLACKLOCK | Contributed photos

Where is my John Wayne? Where is my prairie song? Where is my happy ending? Where have all the cowboys gone?

While Paula Cole is asking this question with a completely different meaning, I asked the same question a while back, wondering if the cowboy spirit is still alive and well in Belton. Time sure has seen major economic growth, and a mighty population boom, but cowboys, and cowgirls, still abound in Central Texas.

Belton was once a bustling rodeo hub. Some of the greatest have come through our community. Belton is not only home to the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, but also the Bell County Cowboy and Cowgirl Hall of Fame. I came across the latter’s Facebook page and had to know more. I met with secretary of the organization, Julie Oglesby, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hicks to learn some of the history, how an individual gets inducted into the Ring of Honor, and what the Bell County Cowboy and Cowgirl Hall of Fame wants to achieve. But first, a little history.

The Chisholm Trail runs directly through the area. It was the route Texas ranchers used to drive their cattle to Kansas to be shipped east. A monument stands at the Bell County Museum in Belton, and historical markers in Salado note the importance the trail played in the development of the small, charming town. Ranching and farming have been major contributors to our economy, so it’s no surprise that some of rodeo’s greats come from Central Texas.

So how did the Bell County Cowboy and Cowgirl Hall of Fame come to be? The idea was born in 1999, when Tom Ray, the late Andy Anderson, Ronnie Procter and John Wilson gathered at Love’s Truck Stop. The love of their lifestyle and the heritage in which they lived by needed to be kept alive, they decided.

There was already a Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, but to keep it more local, this organization came to life. To learn more about it, I attended my first Bell County Cowboy and Cowgirl Hall of Fame meeting on March 4. The group meets every first Saturday at the Belton VFW Post on Pearl Street.

President Mike Seiler called the meeting to order, and a hearty group of cowboys and cowgirls gathered around to discuss business. As I sat among them, a mixed ambiance of lighthearted mischief and an undoubted splash of pride filled the room. Their purpose is to preserve the Western heritage way of life.

After the meeting adjourned, Ray shared more about the history of the organization, and what his hopes are for it in the future. Listening to him humbly speak, I felt a longing for those golden cowboy years. I could never claim the cowgirl life, but I did grow up country, raising hogs for livestock shows, spending weekends and summers with my grandfather, working alongside him on his small farm, and there is a sense of belonging and pride that stays with those who have experienced it.

There are no requirements to be a member of the Hall of Fame organization, but to be inducted into the Bell County Ring of Honor, there are a few rules. First, one must be 45 years or older, a resident of Bell County for at least five years, and have participated in Western lifestyle.

Although many inductees were great athletes of rodeo, the Bell County Ring of Honor is not limited to the men and women in the bucking shoots, or racing barrels in the rodeos. Anyone who contributes to the cowboy life such as Western-style photographers, those who volunteer much of their time and money to the Bell County Youth Fair, cowboy preachers, Western apparel shop owners, feed store owners, ranchers and farmers can be nominated.

Those who wish to be considered for induction can send a biography and picture of themselves to the organization for review. A nomination committee meets and looks over the submissions and makes a decision. Once a year, the organization holds an induction ceremony where those chosen for the year are honored.

Thanks to the work of past president Jim Howell, State Rep. Hugh Shine and Bell County Commissioner Bill Schumann, a flat-screen television lives at the Bell County Equine Center next to the Expo Center displaying and honoring the 300+ Ring of Honor inductees. You can read their bios and see their pictures there, out at the Wilson Valley Mercantile in Little River, or on the Bell County Cowboy Cowgirl Hall of Fame Facebook page.

Their first inductee was Andy Anderson. A few other names and bios I have read: Tom Hall, Les Hood, Charline Hood Adams, Bill Hicks, Bobbie Ray Ward, and Will Dockery. Their stories are legend, and should be remembered for years to come.

The Hall of Fame stays busy supporting the youth of our community. It sponsors Mutton Bustin’ events at local rodeos.

Ray loves to see the kids in the arena. He fully supports any way they can get kids more involved in the cowboy life. They also sponsor a Bell County Youth Fair scholarship and give a Bell County Youth Fair senior participant the W.C. Evans Commercial Steers Senior Award.

The Western heritage and cowboy lifestyle will live on, and I am forever grateful to have come across such an important piece of Central Texas history and for the honor to shake hands with some of the greatest cowboys and cowgirls of our community.