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Fourteen
hundred cowgirls, dressed in their boots, colorful
hats, and outfits of denim, fringe and sequins,
horseback and riding in wagons, buggies and carriages
parading around the Cultural District of Fort Worth
can attract world-wide attention, and rightly so.
When a twenty-three million dollar building
project is complete ‘on time and within budget’
and houses such wonderfully diverse memorabilia and
visuals of cowgirls, past and present,
everyone says “Well done”.
Earlier this month the National Cowgirl Museum
and Hall of Fame opened it’s doors for the first
time to a very appreciative audience.
The facility is full of 21st century
phenomena. Walking
in to the great hall shows photographs of the Honorees
above the rotunda, and as you move to the right or the
left, the photographs change and other honorees are in
view. Films
are shown in several areas where you can stop, sit and
rest, while watching films about the Honorees, ranch
women that have been honored, and movie cowgirls in
the Hall of Fame.
Touch an Honorees name on the roster in the
great rotunda and her photograph and biography
appears. But
not all is state-of-the-art newest innovations.
The saddle won by Alice Greenough in 1939 at
Colonel W. T. Johnson Championship Rodeo in Boston
Garden is displayed, as well as the cast, covered with
signatures worn by cowgirl bronc rider Ruth Roach in
the early days, and the leather split skirt worn by a
cowgirl around 1900, and many more items from the past
are there
as well. A visit to this great hall is a must to truly appreciate it.
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
opened their new doors the weekend of June 7, 8 and 9
in Fort Worth, Texas.
The structure includes a facade including
cowgirls racing toward you on horseback, as well as
sculptured scenes of cowgirls. The Ribbon Cutting was held on June 7th with Texas
Governor Rick Perry, the Fort Worth Mayor, and
Senators Kay Bailey Hutcheson and Kay Grainger in
attendance. All
attending were equipped with scissors and the
ribbon-cutting was done simultaneously by all the
Honorees.
Justice
Sandra Day O’Connor, the only woman ever to be
appointed to the Supreme Court, was inducted in to
this illustrious Hall, prior to the ribbon-cutting.
Having been raised on a ranch in Arizona
O’Connor learned to ride horses and shoot a gun at a
very early age. She
commented in her acceptance speech that roundups on
the ranch were the earliest time she was the only
female in an all male group.
She continued by saying she had planned to be a
rancher and never dreamed she would be ‘riding
herd’ on men who were Supreme Court Justices!
One
hundred and fifty eight women have been inducted in to
the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame since its
inception in 1975 in Hereford, Texas, by Margaret
Formby. Approximately sixty-two of the honorees are living, and most
were in attendance, if at all possible, on this June
weekend in Cowtown.
Connie Douglas Reeves, of Fredericksburg,
Texas, preparing for her 101 birthday, cut the ribbon,
rode a horse in the parade, and
thoroughly enjoyed the festivities of the opening.
When Reeves was inducted in 1997 she stated,
“Always saddle your own horse.”
The statement has become the “motto” of the
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.
It is obvious that each and every one of these
Honorees did, indeed, ‘saddle their own horse’,
which means they took the responsibility to become who
they became, whether it was a famous trick rider and
bronc rider like Tad Lucas, a world-renown artist such
as Georgia O’Keefe, or an expert photographer such
as Barbara Van Cleve.
Despite hardships, bad times, resistance and a
realm of roadblocks too numerous to mention, these
women became leaders in their fields. Women to be admired, revered and certainly to be examples for
our young girls of today in hopes they will “Catch
the Cowgirl Spirit.” |
