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Photos by Jessica Nohealapa'ahi
July 28, 2025
National Day of the American Cowboy celebrated on the Medina River
By Jessica Nohealapa’ahi
The Bandera Prophet
It was blue skies and sunshine for this year’s National Day of the American Cowboy, celebrated on the banks of the Medina River. Hosted by the Bandera Business Association, the annual family-friendly free event embodied the spirit of the west with Doctor Robert Bob Adams’ medical music healings and the Bandera Cattle Company Gunfighters.
The morning started with a free cowboy breakfast, prepared and served by Kelly Scott at his chuckwagon, followed by a day of trick roping, arts and crafts, horsedrawn wagon rides, live performances/reenactments and shopping at the various vendors that lined Bandera City Park.
Bandera’s first National Day of the American Cowboy was celebrated in 2005, and falls each year on the fourth Saturday in July. Bandera was recognized as the Cowboy Capital of the World in 2013, bronzed into fact by a State of Texas Historical Marker approved by the Texas Legislature and Texas Historical Commission. The designation, recognizing Bandera as a hub on the Great Western Cattle Trail during the 1800s, became official by governor’s proclamation in 2016.
The morning started with a free cowboy breakfast, prepared and served by Kelly Scott at his chuckwagon, followed by a day of trick roping, arts and crafts, horsedrawn wagon rides, live performances/reenactments and shopping at the various vendors that lined Bandera City Park.
Bandera’s first National Day of the American Cowboy was celebrated in 2005, and falls each year on the fourth Saturday in July. Bandera was recognized as the Cowboy Capital of the World in 2013, bronzed into fact by a State of Texas Historical Marker approved by the Texas Legislature and Texas Historical Commission. The designation, recognizing Bandera as a hub on the Great Western Cattle Trail during the 1800s, became official by governor’s proclamation in 2016.