In 1905 a group of cowboys from Midland, Texas and the West Texas area went to Argentina to perform in a series of rodeos. And the “Wild West” shows they were performing in led them into an even greater adventure.
The cowboys accompanied two well-known Midland ranchers on the trip to Argentina, Spence Jowell and W.D. “Bill” Connell.
When Jowell returned to Midland some time later, an article in the San Angelo Standard stated, “He thinks the opportunities for money making in the livestock business in that country are exceptionally good and he is greatly pleased with the outlook.”
The newspaper article went on to note, “Mr. Jowell is also enthusiastic over the prospect for success in that country of a Wild West show, after the cowboy carnival type and it was in the interest of this enterprise he has returned home so quickly.”
Wild West shows and cowboy carnivals were common forms of entertainment in that era, with such noteworthy showmen as William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, “Texas Jack” Omohundro Jr., and Zach Mulhall having toured a large segment of the United States for several years.
The popularity of the shows gave young men such as Clay McGonagill, Joe Gardner and others in the West Texas area a new way of generating income besides working on the ranches. And it was utilizing the riding and roping skills they used in the work on the ranches, the skills they had perfected while growing up.
McGonagill and Gardner were two of eight cowboys recruited by Midland cattlemen Jowell and Connell to travel to Argentina to put on a series of “Wild West” shows, at the request of a group of Englishmen. Jowell and Connell were in Argentina looking for some ranch properties when the Englishmen approached them about “bringing some cowhands to Buenos Aires for a series of shows.” The Englishmen even offered to foot all expenses, furnish livestock, and arrange for arenas. Jowell returned to Texas to line up a group of cowboys for the trip while Connell stayed in Buenos Aires to arrange for the anticipated rodeos.
Other cowboys recruited by Jowell included Lem and Ira Driver, Wiley “Wild Horse” Hill, Joe Hooker and William “Bill” Pickett, a well-known Black cowboy. Another cowboy, Asa Draper, showed up unexpectedly and joined the group. The cowboys traveled to New York City where they marveled at the multi-story buildings, described by McGonagill in the following manner after going on an excursion to the top of a 26-story skyscraper. “Big six-story buildings that didn’t look no bigger than a barn. The people on the streets didn’t look no longer than my finger.”
After the sea voyage to Buenos Aires, Argentina, the cowboys thrilled spectators there and in neighboring Montevideo, Uruguay. In fact in one of the performances, McGonagill accepted the challenge of riding an outlaw horse that had never been ridden. The event was detailed in an article in The Cattleman magazine which stated, “The gauchos, defeated in steer roping, brought larger and wilder steers to succeeding performances; bested in bronc riding, they brought the meanest of their own horses to the arena to test the Americans. Finally they brought in a famous outlaw that had never been ridden, offering him to the cowboy who could ride him. McGonagill rode the great bronc to a standstill to the delight of the crowd and acclaim of the gauchos.”...
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