“The Beginnings of Texas’ Fastest and Wildest Rodeo”
Introducation
Once the dust had settled in October 1931, Marshall Lee Simmons, Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, knew he was onto something.[1] That Sunday afternoon at 2 P.M, the first Texas prison rodeo began at Huntsville’s infamous Walls Unit. During the following decade, the rodeo drew thousands of spectators with popular events, including goat roping, sheep wrangling, and bronc riding. In addition, the rodeo featured numerous musical acts and pop icons, ranging from the Goree girls and the Texas Prison Orchestra to Will Rogers and Tom Mix. What had started as a local event to raise inmate morale within the prison system soon proved to be one of the largest rodeo shows in Texas. It drew thousands of people each October and was a fond memory for many who attended. In fact, the rodeo would last for decades and help the inmates and the public come together in a popular form of entertainment.
Megar Beginnings
On May 1, 1848, the Texas legislature passed an act creating the first penitentiary and a new criminal justice system in Texas. [2]Huntsville was selected as the base for this penitentiary, and local inmates built the interior with the iconic walls into a massive new structure that was commonly referred to as the “Walls Unit.” The new penitentiary was located near the center of town, and by the 1930s it had become an integral part of the state corrections department. Today, the Walls Unit is where all inmates leave the prison system, and where the busiest execution chamber in the United States is held.
Now, Who was Involved in This
The prison system, much like all businesses in America were suffering financially in 1931 from the depression. Newly appointed director of operations, Marshall Lee Simmons, after much deliberation, came up with idea to create a prison rodeo in which inmates could compete and earn money to go onto their commissary account (a commissary account is a bank account for the men who are incarcerated). Simmons along with warned W.W. Waid and livestock coordinator R.O. McFarling started preparations for the first rodeo. Each inmate was awarded $2 for a first place win.[3] To be part of the rodeo, the inmate had to be in “good standing.” They also had to have extensive knowledge about ranching and riding.[4] Which meant that he had to be on his best behavior, not have a risk of escape, and be trusted by the warden of his unit to put in the rodeo.[5] In later years they took away the necessity of knowing how to ranch as a condition of riding in the rodeo. When the first rodeo was held on October 1931 the inmates and guards were ready. The planning and preparations had been going on for long enough to give not only the rider a good go around, and the people who attended a good show. Sounds of goats bleating, cows bawled, and laughing inmates filled the air.[6] The first event that was held was called the “Mad Scramble”. It was an event where eight or more inmates would ride broncos and see who was the last one to stay on. [7] Milt Next would come the calf belling, then the saddle bronc riding would occur. Sometimes the animals were so wild that no one was able to ride. There was a notorious bull that for years went unrode. Milt Good was an inmate who helped to get the rodeo started with Simmons. He was a man from west Texas and was sentenced to prison from murdering a cattle inspector. He appeared in many rodeos and was a long standing winner of the wild cow milking event.[8] He was at times herald as the champion of the rodeo.[9] The wild cow milking was always funny to watch. The officials let loose ten cows in the arena and the inmates how to gather as much milk for any cow as quick as the could in the in allotted amount of time.[10] Another fun event that was held was the chariot ride. An inmate would ride a wooden and later metal chariot hooked to a steer see how long they would stay on.[11] This event would last until the end of the rodeo. To add on to the enjoyment of the rodeo many of the animals were given ominous names to either scare the inmate or remind him of a previous loss and revenge on their minds. For example there were animals with names such as “Funeral Wagon”, “EL Diablo”, “The Ghost”, and Clyde Barrow”.[12]
Sing, Sing A Song
People who came to rodeo were also treated to musical talents. Special prison groups were allowed to sing and perform at the rodeos. For example, the women of the l Goree unit, were asked to share their musical talents. They matron of the unit, Mrs. Heath, was also there to stand by and watch to make sure that nothing got out of control. The women dresses up in traditional western garb and was a thrill for rodeo watchers to see and listen to. Another group affiliated with the prison was the “Cotton Pickers Glee Club” which was a group of African American inmates would sing. They were also allowed to go out and sing in various areas such as Houston and the surrounding areas.[13] The appeared in the 1945 and 1935 rodeos and preformed on a flat bed truck. They sang old slave narratives and a number of spiritual and “river songs” at each performance. [14]The would make many more appearances at the rodeos. The first few rodeos used the prison orchestra to serenade the events while they were going on and in between preparation breaks. They were wildly popular and talented. People remarked while at a function in Houston that the orchestra was at times better than the professional orchestras that people had heard.[15] The orchestra was soon phased out by the [16]newly created fifty piece military band organized and played. They also would play on the radio system that started in 1939.Pedro the monkey was in attendance at a few rodeos . He was the smallest cowboy at the rodeos and would ride around the arena on a small colt.[17] Other acts that came out of the system were the duo of “Chuck and Lightning, a popular inmate team of rodeo comedians”. They had been working an comedic routine to proved the spectators with a thrill.[18]
Lights, Camera, STARS!!!!
There were major stars who attend the rodeo Most of them came to see the rodeo and a few came un the disguise of anonymity. For example, Will Rodgers, the famous comedian, actor, and cowboy showed up at a rodeo unknowingly to Lee. “It was learned that he was Will Rodgers, unexpected and unannounced.” Lee told him that he wanted him to come back and not just for the money but because Rodgers wanted him to. He rode in the rodeo while he was here. Rodgers promised that he would come back but he never go the chance because he passed away in a plane crash in Alaska in 1935. [19] The first few years of the rodeo Hollywood heartthrob, youth idol, and rodeo cowboy Tom Mix helped and showed up at the rodeos. He came to a lot of rodeos. He trusted the skills of the department and rode the prison trained horses. He is pictured riding a palomino on many occasions. Attorney General James V. Allred had been invited and attended many years.[20]
Each year the rodeo would drawl more and more people to its doors. Many years they had to add on the stadium. People who wanted to get in had to get into to the stands early because they would fill up fast. The seats at times got filled up before 1:30 with the show beginning at 2.[21] In 1934 they got the grandstand to house over 2,000 people. Even then the stands were overflowing. [22] In 1935 The added on even more seats and rebuilt some of the stadium to accommodate 5,000 people.[23] In 1938 enough stands had been built to house over 15,000 people and still people were trying to get in.[24] Some of the prison guards were at times able to participate in the rodeo.[26] Starting in 1939, the rodeo was broadcast on local WBAP radio so that people who were not able to go to the rodeo could listen in on the action.[27] Some of them were recorded by Elliot “ Speedy” Maersch and broadcast on a show was called “Thirty Minutes Behind the Walls”.[28]
What One Man Can Do For The System
The year 1935 would bring a change in the command of the rodeo. Lee Simmons retired from the General Manager position. He is credited not only with starting the rodeo but any other inmate activities such as the baseball team, the cotton pickers Glee club, and many other activities.[28] When he created the rodeo system he wanted it to be a way of getting the inmates a larger source of recreation. He waned to give the inmates an outlet so their days did not drag on. The rodeo was the “biggest exhibition” of all the new ideas he instated. The income from the rodeo went straight back into the recreation of the inmates and the things that they were involved in. The account was called the “Prison Welfare Fund”.[30] “The prison rodeo is a phase of our inmate recreation program and as such it is out on essentially for the prisoners. The net proceeds from this popular feature are placed in the Prisoner Welfare Fund where they go a long, long way towards providing other recreation features for the men in white.” [31] The price to get into the event was twenty five cents for children and fifty cents for children. [32] Even with selling out stands every years, the income raised would not be half of what it cost to put on. The salary that it would take to cover all the employees, bussing the inmates to the unit, transporting the livestock, and the upkeep and additions to the stadium would not be covered solely from ticket sales. Not to mention the huge acts that were brought in. before this account was created there was no money or special things set aside for inmates to do on their free time. Simmons wanted to make them have the ability to function in society when they were release so he focused not only on recreations and social skills building but rehabilitation of the inmates which was also a another new concept in the prison system.[33] There is some debate about how the prison system were taking advantage of the prisons. This is not true. The rodeo was a pastimes from the free world that were able to enjoy while incarcerated. The prison made no money off of the men.
In Conclusion
There is no way that Lee Simmons could have had any idea what he had started when he started the rodeo. It would last until 1986 only taking one year off to help in the war effort in 1943. The Texas Prision system “ had built up the reputation of having one of the fastest and wildest rodeos in the nation.[34] It was a testament to the Texas prison system and its walls still stand as a haunting reminder of the past.
[1] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957. Page 93.
[2] Craig Copeland.” The evolution of the Texas Department of Corrections”. Thesis Dis., Sam Houston State University. Pg.7.
[3] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957. Page 93.
[4] Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Texas Prison Rodeo" http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/TT/xxt1.html (accessed September 15, 2009).
[5] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957. Page 93.
[6] Huntsville Item. "Prison Rodeo." October 3, 1931.
[7] Huntsville Item. "Annual Prison Rodeo Will Be Thrilling Show." October 2, 1941.
[8] Huntsville Item. "Fast and Furious Rodeo Planned for Next Sunday." October 22, 1931.
[9] Huntsville Item. "Prison Rodeo." October 3, 1931.
[10] Huntsville Item. "Large Crowd Attends First Prison Rodeo." October 8, 1931
[11] Huntsville Item. "Large Crowd Attends First Prison Rodeo." October 8, 1931
[12] Huntsville Item. “Clyde Barrow, John Dillinger Are New Horses.” October 8, 1931
[13] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957.Page 110.
[14] Huntsville Item. "Texas Prison Rodeo Opens Sunday." October 29, 1938.
[15] Huntsville Item. "Over 5000 people; Arranged in Bowl Shape for Good View." October 3, 1935.
[16] Huntsville Item. "Thousands Came for Eight Annual Prison Rodeo Held in Huntsville Sunday Afternoon." October 6, 1938
[17] Huntsville Item. “Rodeo Sunday”. October 25, 1934.
[18] Huntsville Item. "TexasPrison Rodeo." September 29, 1938.
[19] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957. Pg. 96.
[20] Huntsville Item. "Tom Mix Here for Rodeo Sun." October 4, 1943.
pictures of WBAP recording at prison rodeo.
[21] Huntsville Item. "Large Crowd Attends First Prison Rodeo." October 8, 1931
[22] Huntsville Item. "Fourth Annual Prison Rodeo Will be held Here Sunday Oct 7." October 7, 1934.
[23] Huntsville Item. "TexasPrison Rodeo." September 29, 1938
[24] Huntsville Item. "Thousands Came for Eight Annual Prison Rodeo Held in Huntsville Sunday Afternoon." October 6, 1938
[25] Huntsville Item. "Thousands Came for Eight Annual Prison Rodeo Held in Huntsville Sunday Afternoon." October 6, 1938
[26] "Prison Program Being recorded."
[27] "Prison Program Being recorded."
[28] Huntsville Item. "TexasPrison Rodeo." September 29, 1938.
[29] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957. Pg.84.
Introducation
Once the dust had settled in October 1931, Marshall Lee Simmons, Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, knew he was onto something.[1] That Sunday afternoon at 2 P.M, the first Texas prison rodeo began at Huntsville’s infamous Walls Unit. During the following decade, the rodeo drew thousands of spectators with popular events, including goat roping, sheep wrangling, and bronc riding. In addition, the rodeo featured numerous musical acts and pop icons, ranging from the Goree girls and the Texas Prison Orchestra to Will Rogers and Tom Mix. What had started as a local event to raise inmate morale within the prison system soon proved to be one of the largest rodeo shows in Texas. It drew thousands of people each October and was a fond memory for many who attended. In fact, the rodeo would last for decades and help the inmates and the public come together in a popular form of entertainment.
Megar Beginnings
On May 1, 1848, the Texas legislature passed an act creating the first penitentiary and a new criminal justice system in Texas. [2]Huntsville was selected as the base for this penitentiary, and local inmates built the interior with the iconic walls into a massive new structure that was commonly referred to as the “Walls Unit.” The new penitentiary was located near the center of town, and by the 1930s it had become an integral part of the state corrections department. Today, the Walls Unit is where all inmates leave the prison system, and where the busiest execution chamber in the United States is held.
Now, Who was Involved in This
The prison system, much like all businesses in America were suffering financially in 1931 from the depression. Newly appointed director of operations, Marshall Lee Simmons, after much deliberation, came up with idea to create a prison rodeo in which inmates could compete and earn money to go onto their commissary account (a commissary account is a bank account for the men who are incarcerated). Simmons along with warned W.W. Waid and livestock coordinator R.O. McFarling started preparations for the first rodeo. Each inmate was awarded $2 for a first place win.[3] To be part of the rodeo, the inmate had to be in “good standing.” They also had to have extensive knowledge about ranching and riding.[4] Which meant that he had to be on his best behavior, not have a risk of escape, and be trusted by the warden of his unit to put in the rodeo.[5] In later years they took away the necessity of knowing how to ranch as a condition of riding in the rodeo. When the first rodeo was held on October 1931 the inmates and guards were ready. The planning and preparations had been going on for long enough to give not only the rider a good go around, and the people who attended a good show. Sounds of goats bleating, cows bawled, and laughing inmates filled the air.[6] The first event that was held was called the “Mad Scramble”. It was an event where eight or more inmates would ride broncos and see who was the last one to stay on. [7] Milt Next would come the calf belling, then the saddle bronc riding would occur. Sometimes the animals were so wild that no one was able to ride. There was a notorious bull that for years went unrode. Milt Good was an inmate who helped to get the rodeo started with Simmons. He was a man from west Texas and was sentenced to prison from murdering a cattle inspector. He appeared in many rodeos and was a long standing winner of the wild cow milking event.[8] He was at times herald as the champion of the rodeo.[9] The wild cow milking was always funny to watch. The officials let loose ten cows in the arena and the inmates how to gather as much milk for any cow as quick as the could in the in allotted amount of time.[10] Another fun event that was held was the chariot ride. An inmate would ride a wooden and later metal chariot hooked to a steer see how long they would stay on.[11] This event would last until the end of the rodeo. To add on to the enjoyment of the rodeo many of the animals were given ominous names to either scare the inmate or remind him of a previous loss and revenge on their minds. For example there were animals with names such as “Funeral Wagon”, “EL Diablo”, “The Ghost”, and Clyde Barrow”.[12]
Sing, Sing A Song
People who came to rodeo were also treated to musical talents. Special prison groups were allowed to sing and perform at the rodeos. For example, the women of the l Goree unit, were asked to share their musical talents. They matron of the unit, Mrs. Heath, was also there to stand by and watch to make sure that nothing got out of control. The women dresses up in traditional western garb and was a thrill for rodeo watchers to see and listen to. Another group affiliated with the prison was the “Cotton Pickers Glee Club” which was a group of African American inmates would sing. They were also allowed to go out and sing in various areas such as Houston and the surrounding areas.[13] The appeared in the 1945 and 1935 rodeos and preformed on a flat bed truck. They sang old slave narratives and a number of spiritual and “river songs” at each performance. [14]The would make many more appearances at the rodeos. The first few rodeos used the prison orchestra to serenade the events while they were going on and in between preparation breaks. They were wildly popular and talented. People remarked while at a function in Houston that the orchestra was at times better than the professional orchestras that people had heard.[15] The orchestra was soon phased out by the [16]newly created fifty piece military band organized and played. They also would play on the radio system that started in 1939.Pedro the monkey was in attendance at a few rodeos . He was the smallest cowboy at the rodeos and would ride around the arena on a small colt.[17] Other acts that came out of the system were the duo of “Chuck and Lightning, a popular inmate team of rodeo comedians”. They had been working an comedic routine to proved the spectators with a thrill.[18]
Lights, Camera, STARS!!!!
There were major stars who attend the rodeo Most of them came to see the rodeo and a few came un the disguise of anonymity. For example, Will Rodgers, the famous comedian, actor, and cowboy showed up at a rodeo unknowingly to Lee. “It was learned that he was Will Rodgers, unexpected and unannounced.” Lee told him that he wanted him to come back and not just for the money but because Rodgers wanted him to. He rode in the rodeo while he was here. Rodgers promised that he would come back but he never go the chance because he passed away in a plane crash in Alaska in 1935. [19] The first few years of the rodeo Hollywood heartthrob, youth idol, and rodeo cowboy Tom Mix helped and showed up at the rodeos. He came to a lot of rodeos. He trusted the skills of the department and rode the prison trained horses. He is pictured riding a palomino on many occasions. Attorney General James V. Allred had been invited and attended many years.[20]
Each year the rodeo would drawl more and more people to its doors. Many years they had to add on the stadium. People who wanted to get in had to get into to the stands early because they would fill up fast. The seats at times got filled up before 1:30 with the show beginning at 2.[21] In 1934 they got the grandstand to house over 2,000 people. Even then the stands were overflowing. [22] In 1935 The added on even more seats and rebuilt some of the stadium to accommodate 5,000 people.[23] In 1938 enough stands had been built to house over 15,000 people and still people were trying to get in.[24] Some of the prison guards were at times able to participate in the rodeo.[26] Starting in 1939, the rodeo was broadcast on local WBAP radio so that people who were not able to go to the rodeo could listen in on the action.[27] Some of them were recorded by Elliot “ Speedy” Maersch and broadcast on a show was called “Thirty Minutes Behind the Walls”.[28]
What One Man Can Do For The System
The year 1935 would bring a change in the command of the rodeo. Lee Simmons retired from the General Manager position. He is credited not only with starting the rodeo but any other inmate activities such as the baseball team, the cotton pickers Glee club, and many other activities.[28] When he created the rodeo system he wanted it to be a way of getting the inmates a larger source of recreation. He waned to give the inmates an outlet so their days did not drag on. The rodeo was the “biggest exhibition” of all the new ideas he instated. The income from the rodeo went straight back into the recreation of the inmates and the things that they were involved in. The account was called the “Prison Welfare Fund”.[30] “The prison rodeo is a phase of our inmate recreation program and as such it is out on essentially for the prisoners. The net proceeds from this popular feature are placed in the Prisoner Welfare Fund where they go a long, long way towards providing other recreation features for the men in white.” [31] The price to get into the event was twenty five cents for children and fifty cents for children. [32] Even with selling out stands every years, the income raised would not be half of what it cost to put on. The salary that it would take to cover all the employees, bussing the inmates to the unit, transporting the livestock, and the upkeep and additions to the stadium would not be covered solely from ticket sales. Not to mention the huge acts that were brought in. before this account was created there was no money or special things set aside for inmates to do on their free time. Simmons wanted to make them have the ability to function in society when they were release so he focused not only on recreations and social skills building but rehabilitation of the inmates which was also a another new concept in the prison system.[33] There is some debate about how the prison system were taking advantage of the prisons. This is not true. The rodeo was a pastimes from the free world that were able to enjoy while incarcerated. The prison made no money off of the men.
In Conclusion
There is no way that Lee Simmons could have had any idea what he had started when he started the rodeo. It would last until 1986 only taking one year off to help in the war effort in 1943. The Texas Prision system “ had built up the reputation of having one of the fastest and wildest rodeos in the nation.[34] It was a testament to the Texas prison system and its walls still stand as a haunting reminder of the past.
[1] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957. Page 93.
[2] Craig Copeland.” The evolution of the Texas Department of Corrections”. Thesis Dis., Sam Houston State University. Pg.7.
[3] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957. Page 93.
[4] Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Texas Prison Rodeo" http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/TT/xxt1.html (accessed September 15, 2009).
[5] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957. Page 93.
[6] Huntsville Item. "Prison Rodeo." October 3, 1931.
[7] Huntsville Item. "Annual Prison Rodeo Will Be Thrilling Show." October 2, 1941.
[8] Huntsville Item. "Fast and Furious Rodeo Planned for Next Sunday." October 22, 1931.
[9] Huntsville Item. "Prison Rodeo." October 3, 1931.
[10] Huntsville Item. "Large Crowd Attends First Prison Rodeo." October 8, 1931
[11] Huntsville Item. "Large Crowd Attends First Prison Rodeo." October 8, 1931
[12] Huntsville Item. “Clyde Barrow, John Dillinger Are New Horses.” October 8, 1931
[13] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957.Page 110.
[14] Huntsville Item. "Texas Prison Rodeo Opens Sunday." October 29, 1938.
[15] Huntsville Item. "Over 5000 people; Arranged in Bowl Shape for Good View." October 3, 1935.
[16] Huntsville Item. "Thousands Came for Eight Annual Prison Rodeo Held in Huntsville Sunday Afternoon." October 6, 1938
[17] Huntsville Item. “Rodeo Sunday”. October 25, 1934.
[18] Huntsville Item. "TexasPrison Rodeo." September 29, 1938.
[19] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957. Pg. 96.
[20] Huntsville Item. "Tom Mix Here for Rodeo Sun." October 4, 1943.
pictures of WBAP recording at prison rodeo.
[21] Huntsville Item. "Large Crowd Attends First Prison Rodeo." October 8, 1931
[22] Huntsville Item. "Fourth Annual Prison Rodeo Will be held Here Sunday Oct 7." October 7, 1934.
[23] Huntsville Item. "TexasPrison Rodeo." September 29, 1938
[24] Huntsville Item. "Thousands Came for Eight Annual Prison Rodeo Held in Huntsville Sunday Afternoon." October 6, 1938
[25] Huntsville Item. "Thousands Came for Eight Annual Prison Rodeo Held in Huntsville Sunday Afternoon." October 6, 1938
[26] "Prison Program Being recorded."
[27] "Prison Program Being recorded."
[28] Huntsville Item. "TexasPrison Rodeo." September 29, 1938.
[29] Simmions, Lee. Assignment Huntsville: Memoirs of a Texas Prison Official. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1957. Pg.84.
