The Cowboy Way

Yes, that's a horse blocking traffic: Trail rides roll in and the Rodeo camplife fires up

The Southwestern Trail Ride made a 102-mile trip from Angelton.
Photo by Whitney Radley
The Mission Trail Ride, winners of the Division III award, made a 210-mile ridefrom San Antonio.
Photo by Whitney Radley
The Spanish Trail Ride arrived first.
Photo by Whitney Radley
A fajita lunch for Trail Ride Committee members was cooked up on a giganticskillet.
Photo by Whitney Radley
Horse trailers and recreational vehicles are lined up as far as the eye can see.
Photo by Whitney Radley
Each trail ride claims its own section of the makeshift campground at MemorialPark.
Photo by Whitney Radley

The traffic hold-ups all around the city and its suburbs over the past week have been for good cause: Today, the 12 trail rider groups have arrived at Memorial Park.

Over thousands of miles and sometimes up to three weeks, these trail riders have promoted the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and served as reminders of Texas' rich Western heritage.

"This originated in the 50s, when trail rides were better for getting the word out than advertising," explained Trail Ride Committee chairman Philip Martin, who appeared surprisingly collected in spite of the impending arrival of 4,000 rowdy riders and their livestock.

The idea of herding in so many trail riders may seem like an overwhelming one, but the structure of the operation assures that everything runs like clockwork.

Each year, the Trail Ride Committee helps to facilitate riders' treks from respective starting points, prepares the park for the temporary takeover of the riders and cleans up once the trail riders leave again.

"This originated in the 50s, when trail rides were better for getting the word out than advertising," Philip Martin said.

A subcommittee makes sure that all of the committee's 125 members are well-fed — and with an elaborate Southern dinner on Thursday, a breakfast feast and a delicious fajita lunch on Friday, it's difficult to imagine that they're anything but.

"The rule of thumb is, don't run out," Herbie Lapetina told CultureMap. Lapetina, vice chairman of the rodeo committee cook team, has prepared meals for the Trail Ride Committee for 15 years.

On Friday, the trail riders began to file in around noon. First was the Spanish Trail Ride, which made the 109-mile trip from Shepherd; the group signaled its arrival with loud music, prancing horses and lots of hollers.

Near the entrance of the makeshift campground at Memorial Park, Junior Rodeo Committee members stood by with clip boards and score sheets, counting points to determine the best trail rides.

Erin Okeson, a psychology student at Texas A&M University, has volunteered with RodeoHouston in different capacities over the past four years, and this year was her first as a judge.

Each rider must be rated on dress and spirit, and the full cavalcade on overall presentation, Okeson explained, and all infractions of the rules must be tallied. "I guess you have to be very observant," she laughed.

At a ceremony held on Friday evening, the trail rides who fit the bill were recognized. Spirit awards were given to to the Sam Houston Trail Ride and the Sam Houston Wagon Three.

Salt Grass Trail Ride, the longest-running group, took first for Best Trail Ride in Division I (awarded to a group with 145 or more participants). Prairie View Trail Ride took the title for Division II (50 to 144 participants) and the Mission Trail Ride won in Division III (49 or fewer participants).

The trail riders will file out of the park again on Saturday morning, riding along Memorial Drive and through the streets of downtown for the annual Downtown Rodeo Parade.

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telling stories

Black-owned Houston bookstore opens new home in historic Third Ward space

Kindred Stories bookshore Eldorado Ballroom

Photo by Craig D. Lindsey

Kindred Stories has moved to its new location.

Even though its grand reopening will be held this Saturday, May 17, Third Ward bookstore Kindred Stories has already begun a soft opening at its new location inside the Eldorado Ballroom at 2310 Elgin Street.

Since September 2021, the Black-owned bookstore was located on Stuart St., one of many businesses that came to life thanks to Project Row Houses’ Incubation Program. Last year, the nonprofit informed Kindred and the other business that they had to vacate their premises at the end of this month to allow new businesses to occupy the spaces.

Thankfully, Kindred already had its eye on the Eldorado location, next to neighborhood eatery The Rado Market (which has a collection of cookbooks curated by Kindred). It’s a space previously held by Hogan Brown Gallery, which abruptly closed in December. “I had caught wind that this space might be available,” Kindred founder/owner Terri Hamm tells CultureMap.

Hamm turned the moving process into a fun little event for her and her loyal customers. “Last Tuesday, we invited about 20 of our top community members that, you know, are always in the store and have really supported us all of the year,” she says. “We packed up all the books in the space in an hour and, then, we moved everything in an hour. So it was like the beautiful way to close out that space in the midst of the community that has really supported us throughout three-and-a-half years there. And we spent the last four days kind of unboxing and just getting all set up.”

Hamm says the new location is certainly roomier (around 1200 square feet) than their previous spot, which was only 450 square feet.

“There's more room to just spend time in the store,” she says. “I feel like that's the ideal bookstore experience, when you can go in and really take your time. I feel like in the other space, it was so small, people kind of felt like they were in a rush.”

Although Kindred is open and ready to welcome anyone looking for Black-and-proud literature, Hamm insists they’re only 90 percent done. More light fixtures need to be installed. Plants and furniture have to be brought. They even have custom-made wallpaper that needs to be installed.

“So, we have a few little things that need to happen,” says Hamm, “And, then, I feel like the space will be really, really ready – probably in another six months.”

In the meantime, it’s business as usual. This month’s calendar of events includes various appearances from authors as well as a couple of book clubs. Hamm is looking forward to new bookworms coming in and discovering what Kindred Stories has to offer.

“The bestsellers are selling,” she says, “But I feel like, in this space, people are going to get to discover a lot of under-the-radar titles, just because there's more space to see the books and explore.”

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