On Saturday, October 26 at 1:15 pm, a life-size bronze statute will be unveiled at the 29th Annual Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering. “Red Steagall, Always Ridin’ For the Brand, Fort Worth. Where the West Begins.” by Bruce Greene, Cowboy Artists of America, depicts Red Steagall on horseback and will stand 8-feet tall atop a 2-foot base on the east lawn of the Cowtown Coliseum. The statue will help to celebrate the 29th year of the Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering by honoring the man who started it all.
Steagall is an active member in the local community. Russell “Red” Steagall (born December 22, 1938) is an American actor, musician, poet and stage performer who focuses on American western and country music genres. The awards Mr. Steagall has received are numerous and well deserved, including:
• Performed for heads of state, including a special party for President Reagan at the White House in 1983.
• Named the Official Cowboy Poet of Texas in 1991 by the Texas Legislature.
• Inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame 1999.
• Spirit of Texas Award and inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in Fort Worth in 2004.
• Inducted to the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in Belton, Texas in 2005.
• Inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Hall of Fame in Oklahoma in 2006.
• Named “2006 Poet Laureate of the State of Texas” at the Capital in Austin in the spring of 2005. Steagall is the first “cowboy” poet to be named poet laureate of Texas.
• 2016 Western Swing Monthly Man of The Year.
• 2018 Western Horseman Magazine Man of The Year.
• 2018 Recipient of the Golden Spur Award from the National Ranching Heritage Center.
• 2019 inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame.
Since 1991, Red Steagall has hosted the annual Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. This event kicks off on October 24th and runs through the 27th, featuring true authentic western activities for the entire family. Events attract more than 30,000 visitors a year to experience ranch rodeo, chuckwagon cook-off, children’s poetry contest, western swing dances, cowboy music and poetry. As well as a large trapping show, horseman clinics, Texas Trail of Fame Induction and more. The gathering was started as an opportunity to help raise funds for different scholarship opportunities to help future upcoming students who are interested in western culinary arts, western poetry and western swing music.
Steagall’s commitment to preserving the western lifestyle is a true expression of who he is. The statue will commemorate Steagall’s contributions to Western Culture and his ongoing support of the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. The statue is a gift to the citizens of Fort Worth by his friends: Greg Brown, Johnny Trotter, Gary Kinslow, Mike Ingram, artist Bruce R. Greene, and H.B.(Hub) Baker. The Red Steagall Bronze Statue will become a part of the Fort Worth Public Art Community Legacy Collection.