Clarendon, Texas is located in the Southeastern portion of the Texas Panhandle and established on a small portion of the JA Ranch managed by Charles Goodnight. The community was started by a group of fundamentalist Methodists who wanted to separate themselves from unrighteous societies. The community quickly became known as "Saints' Roost".
Clarendon recently held its 145th Saints' Roost Independence Day Celebration 2022 with community events in and near the Donley County Courthouse Square and three evenings of ranch rodeo action hosted by the Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association.
The samples below are from documenting the events here for several years.
Annual Parade 2019
I am currently rebuilding this page as I find the time to reorganize the content I have documented in Clarendon and Donley County.
Events
I have added pages for the annual events.
Saints' Roost Celebration - 145 years of celebrating the independence of the United States of America and its people.
Saints' Roost Ranch Rodeo - One of the oldest continuously held ranch rodeos in the United States.
Charles Goodnight Chuck Wagon Cook-off - You will see some of the top Chuck Wagon cook-off competitors competing for the highest honors in this annual living history competition and tribute to our Texas heritage dating back to the late 1800s.
Places
Saints' Roost Museum
A community tribute to the history of the historic JA Ranch managed by the legendary Charles Goodnight and the history of Donley County and host of the annual Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cook-off.
The Whistle Stop
People
Many thanks to Buster Bruce for helping to arrange oral history interviews with five Donley county residents. He was the primary interviewer since he knew them personally. Bruce and some of the folks below have already passed on and without his help, none of the stories recorded in the playlists below would be possible. If you are willing to do the same as Bruce did for your county, please Contact Us!
Jack Moreman - Ranch Manager, AG Educator
Bill Craft - Lifelong Rancher
Bobbie Mcqueen - Farmwife And Caregiver To Children
Henry Like - Lifelong Ranch Hand
Johnny Hill - Horse Trainer And Ranch Hand
Punch Skelton - Lifelong Ranch Hand and Bootmaker
Links
The Clarendon Enterprise - Spreading the word since 1878
