Texas Prison Rodeo
Encyclopedia
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.
Marshall Lee Simmons, the general manager of the prison system, started the rodeo in 1931. The rodeo originated in the Eastham Unit
. Women participated in the rodeo until 1981, when they were moved from the Goree Unit
in Huntsville to the prisons in Gatesville
. In 1986 structural problems with the rodeo arena caused the facility to close. The rodeo ended because the state wanted to spend money to build new prisons instead of spending the funds to allow the rodeo to continue. The state had been suffering from an economic recession, and the Texas Legislature
was not willing to spend $500,000 to repair the prison rodeo stadium. Several unsuccessful attempts to restart the rodeo occurred in the 1990s.
The rodeo became part of the history of the US space program when, during the training for the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz mission, NASA
brought the cosmonauts in training, along with other Soviet personnel, to the Huntsville rodeo.
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
and an annual celebration event for inmates in the Texas Prison System, held in a stadium in Huntsville
Huntsville, Texas
Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. The population was 35,508 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area....
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. The stadium was located at the Huntsville Unit. The events included bareback basketball, bronco riding, bull riding, calf roping, and wild cow milking.
Marshall Lee Simmons, the general manager of the prison system, started the rodeo in 1931. The rodeo originated in the Eastham Unit
Eastham Unit
Eastham Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison for men and located in unincorporated Houston County, Texas GPS Coordinates 30.978106, -95.632274. The prison is located at the dead end of Farm to Market Road 230, near Lovelady and west of Trinity...
. Women participated in the rodeo until 1981, when they were moved from the Goree Unit
Goree Unit
The Thomas Goree Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice men's prison, located in Huntsville, Texas, miles south of downtown Huntsville on Texas State Highway 75 South. The Goree Unit is located within Region I.-History:...
in Huntsville to the prisons in Gatesville
Gatesville, Texas
Gatesville is a city in and the county seat of Coryell County in Central Texas, United States of America. The population was 15,591 at the 2000 census...
. In 1986 structural problems with the rodeo arena caused the facility to close. The rodeo ended because the state wanted to spend money to build new prisons instead of spending the funds to allow the rodeo to continue. The state had been suffering from an economic recession, and the Texas Legislature
Texas Legislature
The Legislature of the state of Texas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The Legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin...
was not willing to spend $500,000 to repair the prison rodeo stadium. Several unsuccessful attempts to restart the rodeo occurred in the 1990s.
The rodeo became part of the history of the US space program when, during the training for the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz mission, NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
brought the cosmonauts in training, along with other Soviet personnel, to the Huntsville rodeo.