South Carolina returns to Texas for Palmetto/Lone Star Day 2021

If you’re old enough to remember Will Rogers, or movies from the heyday of Westerns, you know all about the deft artistry of masters of the lasso, although you probably haven’t seen it for awhile.

And if you’re not that old, well, you’re in for a treat.

That’s because lasso demonstrations will happen repeatedly throughout the day when the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum presents the 2021 edition of Palmetto/Lone Star Day. It will be on Saturday, Oct. 23, the same day the South Carolina Gamecocks face the Aggies of Texas A&M.

Maybe you can’t make it to Kyle Field in College Station, but you can come to the museum and join us in another celebration of the many historical and cultural connections between the great states of South Carolina and Texas.

We did this once before, in 2019, and visitors met historical re-enactors from the 1830’s “Texian” era, though the 1916 deployment of South Carolina soldiers near El Paso during the “Blackjack” Pershing’s Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa. We all remembered the Alamo, and the 13 South Carolinians who fought and perished there. And we learned more about what a Western gunfight was really like.

And now we’re doing it again, only with some different elements thrown in – such as the aforementioned lasso artist.

Right now, here’s what the schedule looks like:

10:00 a.m. – Opening of event, including a presentation of South Carolina and Texas colors.
10:30 a.m. – First lasso demonstration by Bill Small, a lasso artist who has appeared at numerous rodeos.
11:00 a.m. – Education room presentation: “Guns of the Western Settlers; The Guns That Really Won the West.” The presenter is Kevin Krist, a retired attorney whose love of shooting sports and historic firearms led him to membership in the National Congress of Old West Shooters.
High Noon – Historic gunfight re-enactment at building entrance.
12:30 – Alamo presentation by Richard Peterson. Will talk about the Bonham Trophy, a statue of a South Carolina hero, James Bonham. He carried the message out seeking, then doomed himself by riding back with the news there was no help coming. Trophy awarded each year to winner of the Gamecocks/Aggies football game.
1:30 p.m. – Kid’s costume roundup.
2:00 p.m. – Second lasso demonstration.

And throughout the day, these things will be going on:

• 4-H Marksmanship/gun safety display.
• NCOWS Shootists displaying equipment and answering questions about the modern sport of Cowboy Action Shooting.
  • Bill Smalls at lasso station for kids.
• Living History Texas Timeline displays, including such things as a “Texian” re-enactor from the Texas War of Independence period, and a fur trader/trapper table.
• Volunteer-led museum tours focusing on Old West weapons and South Carolina/Texas Connections, especially highlighting our “Ploughshares to Swords” exhibit.

So climb into the saddle – or into your sedan or SUV or whatever – and ride on down to the river and join us.

About the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum

Founded in 1896, the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum is an accredited museum focusing on South Carolina’s distinguished martial tradition through the Revolutionary War, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, Vietnam, the War on Terror, and other American conflicts. It serves as the state’s military history museum by collecting, preserving, and exhibiting South Carolina’s military heritage from the colonial era to the present, and by providing superior educational experiences and programming. It is located at 301 Gervais St. in Columbia, sharing the Columbia Mills building with the State Museum. For more information, go to https://crr.sc.gov/.