Memories of Madisonville

Madisonville is best known as the home of the Madisonville Sidewalk Cattlemen's Association. One year I decided to put them to the test. Instead of riding a western horse with a ranch saddle and cowboy boots and a big hat I arrived riding a mule and wearing a derby and an English style coat and some high topped boots. Sure enough they threw me into the water, but not into the trough at the courthouse, because this all took place at the fairgrounds. Theythrew me into a tank that contained ice water for the ice tea drinkers. When I sloshed out of this tank I could see an unsavory clump of mud, hair and fecal matter floating on top of the ice water. People were still lining up to drink ice tea, using water from this tank. But I decided that I would have a beer instead. One of the cattlemen told me I was lucky. "Some of us wanted to throw you and the mule into the Trinity River," he said.