
Texas Cowboys’ Christmas Ball (photo by Kevin Stillman)
For 82 years straight, the residents of Jones County have been kicking up their heels in holiday celebration at the Texas Cowboys’ Christmas Ball in Anson, held this year Dec. 14-16. Modeled after an 1885 dance at the Star Hotel in Anson, the traditional event so inspired country-western musician Michael Martin Murphey that he developed an annual Cowboy Christmas tour, now in its 23rd year, that carries the holiday tradition to performance halls across Texas. This December, Murphey will play six Cowboy Christmas shows in Texas—plus two more in Oklahoma and Colorado—including the Anson ball Dec. 16.