Texas Trail Rides are a Houston tradition in all the best ways! They celebrate history, get people outdoors, involve animals (yes, please!), and bring families together.
Yesterday I met up with the Texas Independence Trail Riders, one of eleven rides who make their way to Houston in time for the Houston Rodeo Parade. After having no rodeo last year, this year’s ride seems like a special celebration.
True to the Texas spirit, the trail rides originated due to a bit of bragging, a dare, and a sense of fun. In 1952 the mayor of Brenham, Reese Lockett, shared stories about his younger years on a ranch when they drove cattle from Central Texas winter pastures to the coastal salt grasses in warmer weather.
Listening to the tales, a group of Houston journalists and rodeo officials dared him to retrace the old trail from Brenham to Houston in time for that year’s rodeo, and he accepted. The ride was shared with the public by a television reporter who went along for the ride in a covered wagon.
That first ride stirred up a wave of nostalgia for the bygone days of Texas, and the next year a group of about 80 ranchers and cowboys (all men) gathered together to ride the Salt Grass Trail. By the following year 800 people wanted to be a part of this Romantic re-enactment.
Today, thousands of people (men, women and children) participate in the 11 trail rides that wind along their own specific routes from all over Texas and Louisiana covering a cumulative 1,300 miles! The Valley Lodge Trail, at 71.5 miles, is the shortest. The Mission Trail ride covers 239 miles between San Antonio and Houston, winning the prize for longest ride.
The fun thing for those of us not lucky enough to saddle up and ride along is that the groups make many stops along the way. A quick check of the trail maps on rodeohouston.com will reveal which ride passes closest to you and the locations of their planned stops.
The Texas Independence Trail Riders pass through my area and that, with the combination of the fact that they were founded in my birth year, makes it a must-see on my calendar every year. And honestly . . . where else are you going to be able to see a trail ride pass the space shuttle?
It’s such fun to see multiple generations enjoying the experience, all of the wonderful Western wear, three century-old wagons, people of all ages coming out to see them and – of course – all of the animals. This particular ride works year-round to support special needs children, Texas EquuSearch and families in need. Many of the horses on their ride are actually rescued animals.
The rides also stop at local schools so that children can experience the animals, wagons and participants. I was with them yesterday when they made one of these stops and I cannot overstate the joy on the faces of the children – and their teachers.
I have a huge amount of respect for the families that carry on this tradition. Many have to take time off from work and other obligations to participate. Along the multiple day rides they camp out in a variety of locations, and there always seem to be a few “weather challenges.” But whatever it takes, they all seem to do it with a smile and are ready to share a wave and a chat to visitors along the way.
What do an east Texas opera house, a cantankerous mule and the Marx Brothers have to do with each other? Turns out…quite a bit!
Nacogdoches Opera House
Around 1910 a trio of brothers named Leonard Joseph, Adolph and Julius Henry Marx were touring the vaudeville circuit with their act, which was mainly singing popular tunes and doing a little dancing. The thing was…they weren’t terribly adept at either of those things.
One night they were doing their act at the Opera House in Nacogdoches, Texas, one of the stops known as “tank towns” on the performance circuit. Nope, that’s not a compliment, but I’m sure they were glad to perform anywhere they could. (A tank town was considered a small, unimportant town where only trains stopped to take on water. There – now you’re all set for trivia night!)
During this particular show, a man ran in from the street shouting “Runaway mule!” Well now, THAT had to be more entertaining than these guys, so almost everyone in the audience ran out to see the excitement.
Instigator!
It seems that a mule had begun kicking a wagon it was hitched to until it broke loose on Church Street beside the Opera House and started running rampant through the streets of downtown. With their audience now outside on the streets watching the action, the brothers were left on stage. And Julius was fuming mad. Once the mule had been lassoed and subdued, the audience returned to their theatre seats – they HAD paid for tickets, after all.
And Julius let loose on them.
He began singing the tune of a popular little ditty but changed the words to include the story about how “the Jackass is the flower of Tex-ass.” As he kept hurling insults into the audience the brothers noticed something unexpected. The Texans were laughing and applauding. The snide remarks and clever insults were a hit!
That was a turning point in their career, and they began to develop the routines around sarcastic humor that would become their trademark.
Soon, Julius would paint on a greasepaint moustache and go by the name Groucho – a surly man who walked with a stooped posture. Leonard Joseph would adapt the personae of an accented immigrant by the name of Chico. And Adolph (who, by the way, understandably later changed his name to Arthur) would still rely on his brilliant musical talents as the wordless Harpo.
After they found success, they were occasionally joined by brothers Milton (Gummo) and Herbert Manfred (Zeppo).
But one of America’s most recognized comedy acts may never have happen if it weren’t for that east Texas Mule.
The Opera House is still standing today at 329 East Main Street in Nacogdoches . . . without a mule in sight.
Yesterday I met up with the Texas Independence Trail Riders, one of eleven rides who make their way to Houston in time for the Houston Rodeo Parade. After having no rodeo last year, this year’s ride seems like a special celebration.
Today, thousands of people (men, women and children) participate in the 11 trail rides that wind along their own specific routes from all over Texas and Louisiana covering a cumulative 1,300 miles! The Valley Lodge Trail, at 71.5 miles, is the shortest. The Mission Trail ride covers 239 miles between San Antonio and Houston, winning the prize for longest ride.
The fun thing for those of us not lucky enough to saddle up and ride along is that the groups make many stops along the way. A quick check of the trail maps on rodeohouston.com will reveal which ride passes closest to you and the locations of their planned stops.
The rides also stop at local schools so that children can experience the animals, wagons and participants. I was with them yesterday when they made one of these stops and I cannot overstate the joy on the faces of the children – and their teachers.
I have a huge amount of respect for the families that carry on this tradition. Many have to take time off from work and other obligations to participate. Along the multiple day rides they camp out in a variety of locations, and there always seem to be a few “weather challenges.” But whatever it takes, they all seem to do it with a smile and are ready to share a wave and a chat to visitors along the way.
