Jefferson observes National Day of the Cowboy

by Piney Woods Live Staff

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Activities will include train rides, gunfights, cowboy poetry & music and a John Wayne film festival.

JEFFERSON — Initiated as the result of a Senate resolution in 2005, the National Day of the Cowboy is a day set aside to celebrate the contribution of the Cowboy and Cowgirl to America’s culture and heritage.

Over the years it has grown to include many local observances. This Saturday Jefferson joins other cities across the country to celebrate their Cowboy heritage

When people talk about the great Cattle Drives of the late 1800's, they usually discuss the Chisholm Trail, The Great Western Trail and The Goodnight Loving Trail.

When people talk about Jefferson's history, they discuss the great Steamboat age. Those Steamboats carried goods and products back and forth with New Orleans and one of those products was beef.

At one time there was a cattle trail that lead to Jefferson and a processing plant on the west end of town, located on Big Cypress Bayou. Historian Randy Mallory wrote, " By the 1840's, though, northeast Texas had become a cattle powerhouse, with Jefferson serving as a major port for shipping beefs and hides by riverboat to New Orleans. It even had a meat packing plant early on. A cow selling for $10 at Jefferson brought $45 at New Orleans."

Activities this Saturday will include train rides, gunfights, cowboy poetry & music and a John Wayne film festival.

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