Annual reunion drew Civil War vets, cowboys

During Plainview's infancy, before the vast Plains ranches had been broken up into farms, the community brought Civil War veterans and cowboys together each summer for a huge four-day reunion and celebration. The 1898 reunion is outlined in a flyer found among materials once belonging to rancher George M. Slaughter that are now on file in the Llano Estacado Museum archives. Headlined "RE-UNION! CONFEDERATES and COWBOYS" the flyer advertised "A grand celebration of the Confederate veterans and cowboys will be held on the fair grounds at Plainview, Aug. 2d 3d 4th and 5th, 1898." Everyone was invited, particularly "The Veterans of the Gray and Blue and all Cowboys." The event was free to all. "Free grounds, free grass, free water, and free air. Our water facilities are much better than last year and copious rains have made grass fine and abundant." The first two days of the event were set aside for "the exercises of the Confederate veterans" with the last two days focusing on the cowboys. "The Confederate Veterans and Cowboys will have programs of each days' exercises distributed on the grounds. Roping contests, tournament riding and bronco busting will be some of the features of the Cowboys exercises. Grown cattle only will be used in the roping contest." A good time had by all was the same sentiment expressed by Susan McWhorter Maggard, who died in 1981. She wrote, "We used to go to Plainview in the late 1890s for the Cowboy Reunion. It would be held in August each year and last four days. There was a place east of town and they would fix streets for the covered wagons. Lots of people had tents, too. There would be calf roping and bronc riding and the rest of the time we just visited. People came for quite a distance and set up camp. We'd cook over campfires."...more