The Faith and Freedom Club of Medina devoted the first part of its Thursday, July 31, meeting to a screening of Stompede Days in the Free State of Bandera, a short documentary film produced by the Bandera County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The film, part of a Smithsonian Institute exhibition in July, traced the history of the popular and rowdy annual celebration from its beginning in 1948 to its end in 1961. CVB Executive Director Carita Jundt produced and directed the project and provided many of the historic photographs featured.
Interviews with locals including Sonny Haas, Judge Richard Evans, Pat Boyle, Jenna Montague, Ople Boyle, James McGroarty, Roy Dugosh, Kelly Scott, Homer Stevens, Glen Clark, Barbara Searcy, Judy Hicks and Cecelia Schmidtke brought the history to life. Many other Banderans also contributed, with most interviewees recalling they were teenagers during the late 1940s and 1950s Stompede events.
The Stompede’s first year drew 10,000 visitors, growing over time to 30,000. The influx was both a boon and a burden for Bandera. With limited lodging, many visitors camped along the Medina River. The crowds invigorated local dude ranch businesses and helped establish Bandera as a nationally recognized tourist destination. However, the event’s rowdy atmosphere and the strain on the community contributed to its demise.
The multi-day celebration showcased Bandera’s cowboy culture with rodeos, street dances, armadillo races, cowboy parades, western games and shooting exhibitions. Its official flag was a large pair of blue jeans with “Free State of Bandera” written across them.
The Stompede was covered nationally by CBS News, but some locals disapproved of the increasingly out-of-control nature of the festivities. In the early 1960s, Sheriff R.B. Miller shut it down. During cleanup after one of the events, he arrested so many people that when the jail filled, he chained the overflow to oak trees on the courthouse lawn.
Although the Stompede ended, its legacy endures. In 2005, the fourth Saturday in July was designated as National Day of the Cowboy. The observance is now celebrated in 15 states. For more information about the Stompede or to view the film, contact the CVB at 830-796-3045.
Contributors to the film included Bandera Signs, Cavender’s Boot City, Frontier Times Museum, Hevenor Lumber and Hardware, Josie Evans, Karen Hensley, Lighthouse Photography and Video, Mayan Dude Ranch, Michael Haynes (narrator), Roy Dugosh, Tessa Kolodny Photography, Texas Hill Country Plumbing LLC, The Bandera Bulletin, The Boerne Star, The Dude Wrangler “Dixie Dude,” First National Ice Haus, Tim Flick, Troy Adamietz, Bandera County Historical Commission and the Western Trail Gunfighters.
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