“Do you ride a horse to school?”

Whenever I told people from outside the state that I lived in Texas, this was by far the most common question I received. I always found it very perplexing and, in response, I would stammer something about how I drove or rode the school bus. I slowly realized that people worldwide had a very unique impression of Texas and some really, truly believed that it was like the Old West. Or maybe that everyone lived on a farm? Or that the 21st century hadn’t reached us yet? The irony was that I grew up in a rather large cosmopolitan city, Austin, which was more of a hippie city when I was growing up but now is kind of a high tech mecca. And at no point did I ever ride a horse to school.

All this to say – the whole “cowboy” thing might be a stereotype that people associate with Texas, but not a reality. At least not MY reality. There are some places, however, where you can step back in time and the explore the state’s “cowboy” past. One of those places is at the Fort Worth Cattle Drive.

This “cattle drive” is a twice daily ritual where a herd of Texas longhorns are “driven” down the street by real cowhands in an area known as The Stockyards. Over the holidays, I went to visit my best friend from childhood who now lives with her husband and baby daughter in Fort Worth. I’d never been to the city before and was curious to see these longhorns and to have a old timey Texas experience. I was not disappointed.

Before the longhorns arrived, we explored the quaint little downtown area: The Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District aka “The Stockyards”. There is a more modern downtown too, but this section really looked like an Old West town. It was full of souvenir shops selling everything from Texas-shaped magnets to real cowboy hats and boots. For a city slicker like me, who now lives in the UK, it was a culture shock. Sure, there were people dressed up like cowboys as a costume, in preparation for the show, but there were also people dressed like cowboys who were not there for the show. And sometimes it was hard to tell them apart.

I saw a lot of big hair, big belt buckles, and even a Christmas tree with a sparkly Texas hat on it! I guess everything really is bigger in Texas? See photographic evidence below.

As we gathered with the crowd to catch the start of the cattle drive, an announcer came on to tell us more about Fort Worth’s past. The city was a site on the famous Chisholm Trail, which moved cattle across the state, starting in south Texas. The cattle were moved for the purposes of selling them or perhaps bringing them to other pastures. This blog post has some interesting facts about the trail and how it relates to the modern, recreated cattle drives:

“The typical herd going up the trail included approximately 2,500 cattle, 10 to 12 cowboys, a remuda of extra horses and a chuck wagon for food and gear. Every day at 11:30am and 4pm, six drovers on horseback walk sixteen longhorns down East Exchange Street, to pay homage to these cattle drives. It is the world’s only twice-daily cattle drive.“

When the drive began, some atmospheric, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly-style music played and I was so overwhelmed by the majesty of these creatures that I forgot to take any still photos and only took a video! Here’s a still shot from that video though:

Look at those horns! I learned that a longhorn’s horns can easily be six feet or more! They moved with a kind of slow, ambling grace, shifting from side to side. No doubt from the weight of those massive horns. It only lasted a couple of minutes, but you can interact with them afterwards too. We went to see a few in the barn where they rest until the next drive.

It was really a special experience to see these animals up close and to experience a bit of Texas’ past. Which is also sort of MY past, being a Texan. If you’re ever in the area, I’d recommend a visit to The Stockyards. And to Fort Worth in general, which has a kind of modern, Western feel that is really unique.

I hope that you enjoyed this trip back into Texas’ past. I was doing some traveling (as you can tell) in December and January. This, along with some author related stuff, has kept me from the blog, but I plan to share not one but TWO Madeira Mondays in March to make up for it. This is the first one. The second one is from my time in Austin, but I won’t say any more at the moment! See you next time.

Madeira Mondays are posted on the first Monday of every month and explore history and historical fiction. If you enjoyed this post please share it, subscribe to the blog, or you can support the blog by buying me a coffee on Kofi! There are many more historical adventures and journeys to share, and I thank you so much for reading! 🙂