'Way out in Western Texas': Cowboys' Christmas Ball rides again in Anson

“Way out in Western Texas, where the Clear Fork's waters flow'

where the cattle are 'a-browzin', and the Spanish ponies grow...

...Where the antelope is grazin' and the lonely plovers call -

It was there that I attended 'The Cowboys' Christmas Ball'...

...Oh...I sha'nt forget yer, and I'll oftentimes recall,

that lively-gaited sworray – 'The Cowboys' Christmas Ball'.”

- from Larry Chittenden's “Ranch Verses”

A Christmas ball was held in 1885 at Anson to honor area cowboys and their ladies.

This old-time Texas frontier gala is a historic western heritage celebration continuing today. The Texas Cowboys' Christmas Ball is the annual historical re-enactment of that original winter holiday gathering 137 years ago.

This year's Ball is Dec. 15-17 ,and features classic western music, dancing, listening and fellowship. Traditionally held the Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights before Dec. 25, this festive family event is always open to the public. It remains a bucket-list bonus for western history lovers because it provides participants the opportunity to not only observe history but to also participate in it.

The Ball is an official state historical event designated by the Texas Historical Commission to promote its preservation and celebrate its history. Anson's historic Pioneer Hall has been the home of the Ball for more than 80 years. On permanent display there are built-to-scale miniature replicas of Anson's 1885 Morning Star Hotel, where the original Ball was held and the 19^th century Jones County ranch home of poet-rancher Larry Chittenden, who made the Ball famous.

1885 Ball rules remain respected and required. Ladies must wear dresses on the dance floor. Gentlemen must check hats, spurs and guns at the door. No alcohol, smoking, spitting, cussing, fighting, shooting or riding horses is allowed in the hall.

The Ball was memorialized by Larry Chittenden in his epic poem “The Cowboys' Christmas Ball” (Ranch Verses, Knickerbocker Press, New York, 1893). The poem with music was published in the classic compilation by John Lomax, “Cowboy Songs & Other Frontier Ballads” (Macmillan Company, 1910). Lomax attended the 1939 Ball. Cowboy folklorist Gordon Graham first performed the musical version at the 1946 Ball.

The best and most popular version was recorded by Michael Martin Murphey on his 1991 Cowboy Christmas (Cowboy Songs II) album with Warner Brothers Records.

The Ball is portrayed in 1941 murals by muralist Jenne Magafan in the post office at Anson and the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. A 1936 watercolor painting of the Ball by artist Maxine Walker Perini is at The Grace Museum in Abilene.

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Edna Ferber recognized the “Cowboy Christmas Ball at Anson in Jones County” in her best-selling 1952 novel “Giant." There is a permanent Ball exhibit in Southwest Collections Library at Texas Tech University in Lubbock supervised by Archivist Monte L. Monroe, PhD, who is also the Texas State Historian.

The preeminent history of the Ball was written by Paul H. Carson, Ph.D., emeritus professor of history at Texas Tech University (“DANCIN' IN ANSON – A History of the Texas Cowboys' Christmas Ball”, Texas Tech University Press, 2014, www.ttupress.org).

The Ball has been featured on television by Shane McAuliffe's "The Texas Bucket List," Red Steagall's "Somewhere West of Wall Street "and Bob and Kelli Phillips' "Texas Country Reporter," as well as in publications including Texas Highways, Western Horseman, American Cowboy, True West, Authentic Texas and Texas Coop Power.

It is also the acknowledged genesis for Cowboy Christmas concerts performed throughout the country by Murphey, regarded as America's No. 1 cowboy singer, and his Rio Grande Band. This will be the 29^th year he has highlighted the Ball (www.michaelmartinmurphey.com).

West Texas' own Jody Nix will perform the next two nights.

For information and tickets, go to www.texasccb.com or call 325-696-9040.

The Texas Cowboys' Christmas Ball Association is host of the event, and owns and maintains Pioneer Hall. The association is a 1939 Texas charitable corporation and federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt historical nonprofit composed of area members and volunteers who freely contribute their time, service and resources. The “Texas Cowboys' Christmas Ball” trademark was copyrighted in 1937 and remains exclusive Association property.

John Compere lives in Callahan County and is a longtime association member.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: 'Way out in Western Texas': Cowboys' Christmas Ball rides again