Convict Cowboys

Last updated

Convict Cowboys: The Untold History of the Texas Prison Rodeo is a 2016 book about the Texas Prison Rodeo, written by Mitchel P. Roth and published by the University of North Texas Press.

Contents

Roth described the rodeo's popularity as being a part of prison tourism. [1]

Background

Roth conducted interviews, and read archives as part of his research. [1] Some of the archival material included written messages to and from Texas prison administrators George Beto and Pete Coffield, some of which later went on display at the Sam Houston State University George Beto Collection. Robert M. Worley of Lamar University wrote that the correspondence was "[o]ne of the joys of reading" the book. [2]

Reception

Worley wrote that Convict Cowboys is "one of the finest academic books I have read within the past several years, and I am delighted to recommend it to others." [3] Worley praised the even-handed treatment of the subject and "intriguing facts". [3] He added that the book "is likely to resonate with scholars who are both critical and supportive of the mass incarceration movement." [3]

Paul M. Lucko of Murray State University wrote that the book is "nicely written, thoroughly researched, sometimes humorous, and yet serious" and that it has an "entertaining narrative with a penetrating analysis". [4] Lucko concluded that the book "impressively demonstrates" the event's importance in the history of Texas and "preserves" the "legacy" of the event. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NRG Stadium</span> Stadium in Houston, Texas, United States

NRG Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retractable roof.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, also called RodeoHouston or abbreviated HLSR, is the largest livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world. It includes one of the richest regular-season professional rodeo events. It has been held at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, since 2003, with the exception of 2021 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was previously held in the Astrodome. It is considered to be the city's "signature event", much like New Orleans's Mardi Gras, Dallas's Texas State Fair, San Diego's Comic-Con and New York City's New Year's Eve at Times Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nat Love</span> American cowboy (1854–1921)

Nat Love was an American cowboy and writer active in the period following the Civil War. His reported exploits have made him one of the more famous heroes of the Old West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Pickett</span> American cowboy, rodeo performer and actor (1870–1932)

Willie M. Pickett was an American cowboy, rodeo performer, and actor. In 1989, Pickett was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

<i>Urban Cowboy</i> 1980 film by James Bridges

Urban Cowboy is a 1980 American romantic Western film directed by James Bridges. The plot concerns the love-hate relationship between Buford Ewing "Bud" Davis and Sissy. The film's success was credited for spurring a mainstream revival of country music. Much of the action revolves around activities at Gilley's Club, a football-field-sized honky tonk in Pasadena, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Texas</span> Culture of a U.S. state

The culture of Texas is often considered one of the major cultures influencing the greater American culture. Texas is one of the most populous and heavily populated American states in its urban centers and has seen tremendous waves of migration out of the American North and West, in contrast to its eastern neighbors in the Deep South. But it retains the regionalisms and distinct cultural identities of German Texan, Tejanos, Cajuns, Irish, African American, and White Southern enclaves established before the republic era and admission to statehood.

Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F. Supp. 1265, filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, eventually became the most far-reaching lawsuit on the conditions of prison incarceration in American history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Beto Unit</span>

The George Beto Unit (B) is a men's maximum security prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice located in unincorporated Anderson County, Texas, US. The unit is located along Farm to Market Road 3328, 6 miles south of Tennessee Colony. The prison, co-located with Coffield Unit, Michael Unit, and Powledge Unit prisons and the Gurney Unit transfer facility, has 20,518 acres (8,303 ha) of land. The unit currently houses over 3,400 offenders.

The J. Dale Wainwright Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison for men, located in unincorporated Houston County, Texas. Formerly called the Eastham Unit or "The Ham," the prison was renamed the J. Dale Wainwright Unit after a former chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice. The 12,789 acres (5,176 ha) prison is located on Farm to Market Road 230, near Lovelady and 13 miles (21 km) west of Trinity.

Carol S. Vance was a former district attorney of Harris County (Houston), Texas, who served in that office from 1966 to 1979, and a former board member of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, which governs the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Vance was born in 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Beto</span> American criminal justice expert

George John Beto was a director of the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC), a criminal justice expert in penology, a professor, and a Lutheran minister. He was previously the president of Concordia Lutheran College in Austin and Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Illinois.

The Texas Prison Rodeo was a rodeo and an annual celebration event for inmates in the Texas Prison System, held in a stadium in Huntsville, Texas. The stadium was located at the Huntsville Unit. The events included bareback basketball, bronco riding, bull riding, calf roping, and wild cow milking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angola Prison Rodeo</span> Prison in Louisiana, United States

The Angola Prison Rodeo, staged at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, is the longest running prison rodeo in the United States.

Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire is a 2010 book by Robert Perkinson, published by Metropolitan Books.

Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston is a 2005 book by Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., published by the Texas A&M University Press. Brown, Not White discusses Chicano activism in Houston, Texas during the 20th century.

<i>Black Dixie</i>

Black Dixie: Afro-Texan History and Culture in Houston is a 1992 book edited by Howard Beeth and Cary D. Wintz and published by Texas A&M University Press. It is a collection of thirteen essays about the history of African-Americans in Houston. It was the first scholarly book to provide a comprehensive history of Houston's black community, and the book's dust jacket referred to it as the first such book of any city in the Southern United States.

Fred Whitfield is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in tie-down roping. He won eight Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world championships and three National Finals Rodeo (NFR) aggregate titles. Seven of those titles were World Tie-Down Roping Championships and one was the World All-Around Cowboy Championship. He is one of a very few black professional cowboys and by far the most successful. Whitfield was elected to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2004.

Phil Lyne is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who competed in the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA)/Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Lyne was the RCA Rookie of the Year in 1969. Two seasons later at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), in 1971, he won the all-around cowboy world championship and the tie-down roping world championship. At the NFR in 1972, he repeated as the all-around world champion cowboy and added a second tie-down roping world championship. Lyne won his first and only steer roping world championship at the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR) in 1990. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.

<i>Houston Blue</i>

Houston Blue: The Story of the Houston Police Department is a 2012 non-fiction book by Mitchel P. Roth and Tom Kennedy, published by the University of North Texas Press, chronicling the history of the Houston Police Department.

Jack Graves Favor, also known as Cadillac Jack Favor, was an American rodeo performer.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Worley, p. 81.
  2. Worley, 85-86.
  3. 1 2 3 Worley, p. 88.
  4. Lucko, p. 533.
  5. Lucko, p. 534.