MEMORIES OF BELTON,
TEXAS
JULY 4th CELEBRATIONS
Memories of the children of Mart & Pearl (Griffin) Digby:
The Kids of Mart & Pearl (Griffin) Digby (Back yard of Glenn & Jeannine Blair in Belton, Tx. - 2006) |
1 4 1. Dwayne Digby
2 3 5 2. JoAnn (York) Digby (Dwayne's wife)
6 3. Rita (Digby) Locklin
4. Mattie (Digby) Wesson
5. Gale (Digby) Cosper
6. Jeannine (Digby) Blair
Memories of Wanda Jeannine (Digby) Blair (“Jeannine”):
Jeannine Digby (just before marriage) |
Wanda Jeannine Digby |
“In the 1950’s and 1960’s my husband, Glenn Blair, and his dad owned Hill Top Courts Motel, Restaurant, and Service Station (a truck stop) just south of town, on South I.H. 35. Many of the rodeo contestants and performers stayed there. Our home was also on the premises. My older children remember a group of Native Indian dancers that stayed there and built a campfire in the gravel driveway and practiced their songs and dances for their rodeo performance. I think they were an Anatonka tribe from Oklahoma. There were lots of horse trailers on the empty land, so there were always a lot of cowboys around. Of course, when I was still a kid at home, we wanted to go to the carnival in Yettie Polk Park. We didn’t have much money to spend, but it was still fun to go.”
“My earliest July 4th memories in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, are of picnics in Yettie Polk Park with our parents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We would spread our quilts on the ground to sit and eat on. We would have fried chicken with all the trimmings and ice cold watermelon. There was country music, fiddle contests and singing. I remember how clear and pretty Nolan Creek was then and the three beautiful swans that were always there. There was one solid black one and two white ones. They looked so graceful as they swam by.
“I loved
playing on all the playground equipment, but my very favorite was the big
carousel merry-go-round. I’m not sure
exactly when we started doing the carnival thing, but when we were pretty
young, I guess, because I can remember riding those little kid rides like the
little cars and stuff, and of course the merry-go-round. As I grew older, my favorite rides were the
Ferris Wheel and the Merry-Go-Round. I’m
prone to motion sickness, so rides like the Tilt-O-Wheel, Octopus, and such
always made me sick, but I rode them anyway.
I’m sure I would ride very few of what they have today, but now in my
late 70’s, I will never be too old to
ride the Merry-Go-Round.
My best
memories of the rodeo are probably since
the late 1940’s. The rodeo
ground was down across from the Confederate Park in the area of where the Park
& Ride is now. We spent a lot of
exciting nights and July 4th afternoons at the rodeo. There have been a lot of “good ole cowboys”
from the Bell County area and the rodeo isn’t the same for me since they aren’t
around or aren’t involved anymore. Those
our family probably knew the best are Johnny Melon, Johnny and Eddie Boren,
Cotton Proctor, and Cecil Elllis (clown).
They were all close friends of our family. Johnny Mellon was related to us by
marriage. We had lived across the street
from him on Avenue J two different times.
He used to pitch my older sister and me up above the rafters in his
barn. He was a good catcher, because we
are still around. Johnny Boren was a
business partner of my brother, Dwayne, for a number of years.
When I was very young (1930’s/ early 1940’s), my uncle Emmitt Digby, owned a gray
horse named Grey Buck that he had trained to do tricks, and they performed at
the rodeo. Pat Digby and Kay (Digby) Claunch said that Grey Buck used to bite other horses as well as people, but would never bite when Emmitt was around. Jeannine (Digby) Blair was scared of Grey Buck for this reason. A girl named "Bunkey" used to take care of Grey Buck.
The following quote came from The Victoria Advocate newspaper dated October 2, 1938 in an article titled "Hi School Horses Among Attraction at Prison Rodeo":
Emmitt Digby rode the last leg of a Pony Express public relations event to the State Capital in Austin. Each leg of the event from Houston to Austin was five miles. Emmitt was proud to get to ride the last leg and have his picture taken with Grey Buck and the Governor (see the above, right picture). After Grey Buck no longer performed, we kept him on our place outside of town, and it was my job to take care of him. I fed and groomed him and got to ride him a lot. I loved that old horse. In my teenage years, I remember the Barbee girls from Dublin, Texas who were trick riders in beautiful costumes. They performed for several years. That was in the mid 1940’s through sometime in the early 1950’s. Finally, Grey Buck was sent to Red ________ in Dublin for pasture.
The parade has always been a must for the Digby clan. We’ve always had family in the parade in some way or another – on horseback, with little league teams, in the band, on floats or pulling floats, with cheerleaders, on fire trucks, or in vehicles representing city/ county governments to name a few. There are certainly always people we’ll be watching for. My favorite spot for watching the parade was always the Carnegie Library (now the Bell County Museum).
Grey Buck (also spelled Gray Buck) (Source of Image: Mattie Digby Wesson. Emmitt gave her this picture) |
Emmitt & Alta (Ray) Digby with Grey Buck, July 1938 (Source of Image: Pearl Griffin Digby) |
The following quote came from The Victoria Advocate newspaper dated October 2, 1938 in an article titled "Hi School Horses Among Attraction at Prison Rodeo":
"Huntsville
...A new performer to prison rodeo fans this
year will be Gray Buck, high school pony belonging to Emmett D. Digby, of
Belton, Texas. Digby just recently returned to Texas from Hollywood to
take part in the annual Huntsville show. He spent two months in the movie
capital showing his trick horse at various resorts. Booked for an
afternoon performance at Hollywood Rodeo in Gilmore stadium, Digby and the
intelligent pony made such a hit with the audience that they were promptly
billed for the night show. On both occasions they were called back for
encore appearances. Grey Buck and his trainer also appeared in
"Covered Wagon Days" at Redondo Beach, on of the most popular
pleasure centers in California, and in the big Spanish Fiesta at Venice Beach.
They performed at several of the best nightclubs in Los Angeles,
Hollywood and Culver City, and were photographed by Look magazine and Universal News Reel."Emmitt with Gray Buck in front of O'dell Hyer's gas station in Belton. Leonard Cosper is standing on Gray Buck. (View is SW to NE). |
Emmitt Digby on Gray Buck. |
Emmitt Digby & Grey Buck in Belton, Texas. |
Emmitt Digby's Business Card (Source: Pearl Griffin Digby) |
Emmitt & Jeannine Digby with Grey Buck. |
Emmitt Digby gives proclamation to Texas Governor Pappy O' Daniel at the State Capital in Austin. |
Emmitt Digby rode the last leg of a Pony Express public relations event to the State Capital in Austin. Each leg of the event from Houston to Austin was five miles. Emmitt was proud to get to ride the last leg and have his picture taken with Grey Buck and the Governor (see the above, right picture). After Grey Buck no longer performed, we kept him on our place outside of town, and it was my job to take care of him. I fed and groomed him and got to ride him a lot. I loved that old horse. In my teenage years, I remember the Barbee girls from Dublin, Texas who were trick riders in beautiful costumes. They performed for several years. That was in the mid 1940’s through sometime in the early 1950’s. Finally, Grey Buck was sent to Red ________ in Dublin for pasture.
The parade has always been a must for the Digby clan. We’ve always had family in the parade in some way or another – on horseback, with little league teams, in the band, on floats or pulling floats, with cheerleaders, on fire trucks, or in vehicles representing city/ county governments to name a few. There are certainly always people we’ll be watching for. My favorite spot for watching the parade was always the Carnegie Library (now the Bell County Museum).
My daughter
told me not to forget the fire truck. In
1964, our dad had purchased
an antique fire truck from the Holland Fire Department. He drove it in the parade, and all the
grandchildren were dressed in matching outfits riding on it. It had a siren that had to be cranked by
hand. I can’t remember who rode up front
and cranked the siren, but they had it going most of the way. The grandchildren really thought it was
special to ride on that old fire truck.
I remember when
everybody in Bell County and beyond that owned or could borrow a horse,
probably rode in the parade and the rodeo grand entry every night. After
I married in 1950 my husband,Bill, and I continued to enjoy all the 4th
activities. He had a horse and rode in
the parade and I was always there to watch.
We always attended the rodeo too.
As our
children were growing up, they were in the parade a lot. Riding horses with their aunt and uncle, Joe
and Gale Cosper, on little league baseball floats and such. Our daughter was in the band and on the drill
team, so naturally, she was in the parade each year. In 1973,
our band boosters club was raising money for the band to go to the Rose
Parade. One of the fundraisers was
selling helium balloons at the July 4th parade, so naturally the
parents got that job, because the band was marching. Along with other parents, I painted my face,
dressed as a clown, and joined other parents walking the streets during the
parade selling balloons. It turned out
to be a good fundraiser, but I never wanted to do that again.
In the 1950’s and 1960’s, businesses
went together to sponsor professionally decorated floats. They were beautiful, and along with the
floats decorated by local organizations, churches, clubs, etc…, we had a lot of
pretty floats. Mary Hardin-Baylor
College/ UMHB has always had a beautiful float in the parade. We don’t have very many floats in the parade
now, and I miss that a lot.
My favorite
parade things: floats, army bands, Marching 100 Band, anything military, and
the horses! There are a lot of places
around here having 4th of July celebrations now days, but there is
still no place I’d rather be than Belton’s July 4th festivities.”
Memories of Martin Dwayne Digby (“Dwayne”):
Dwayne Digby |
Dwayne & JoAnn Digby and their children (Craig, Cindy, and Dawn, in front) |
“I have always loved the parade. The first time I rode in the 4th of July parade, I must have been about five years old and rode a Shetland pony. When I was in Jr. high and high school, I always had a horse, and I loved to ride. I always looked forward to the 4th of July, so I could ride in the parade. Back then, all the horses were at the end of the parade and were there a lot of horses! Mack Hyer and I would always get as close to the front of the line of horses as we could, and by the time we got to the end of the parade route, we would have time to ride back and ride through again. There was not a charge to ride your horse in the parade as there is now.
I remember
John Mellon. He was a deputy sheriff and
a calf roper. He also loved kids. If he saw a young child sometime before the 4th,
he would always tell them, ‘If you get your dad to bring you to the parade on
the 4th, I’ll have you a horse to ride’. I do not know what he would have done if they
had all taken him up on it.
After high
school and I had to make my own way, I could not afford a horse, so I always
made sure I had a good place to watch the parade.
The 4th
of July in 1959, the year
before my wife JoAnn and I married, she spent the holiday with my family. I borrowed a pony and cart from Windy
Wallace. JoAnn and I rode this cart in
the parade. I thought that was a good
way to introduce her to Belton’s 4th celebration.
After we married and had children, we would
never miss a 4th celebration: the parade in the morning, the park in
the afternoon, and the rodeo at night.
We did it all and still enjoy its good family fun.
The rodeo was
always a fun time for me. Belton had a
Riding and Roping Club when I was in high school, and back then they had a
grand entry at the start of the rodeo.
It would consist of rodeo contestants, trick-riders would carry the flags, and the riding clubs from Belton and other area towns – almost anyone who owned a horse would ride in the grand-entry. It was fun!
Belton Rodeo Ticket (Source: Barbara Thornton Gillam scrapbook) |
The Belton Rodeo "Grand Entry" in process. |
It would consist of rodeo contestants, trick-riders would carry the flags, and the riding clubs from Belton and other area towns – almost anyone who owned a horse would ride in the grand-entry. It was fun!
The Riding
Club would help promote the 4th celebrations. The week before was western week in
town. If you got caught without at least
two pieces of western attire on, you got put in jail (which was an iron cage
placed on the courthouse lawn). They
would keep you locked up for a while.
One year we borrowed a covered wagon from Jr. J.W. Pittman and parked it
next to the curb on the north side of the courthouse. We tied a goat to it, and stacked some wood
to look like a camp fire. Dude Wallace
manned the wagon during the day.
My dad played the sheriff and would lock businessmen, like Halley Cox, up in the jail cell for not having western wear on.
Mart Digby (2nd from left, as "sheriff"; Johnny Mellon (behind child in middle) |
My dad played the sheriff and would lock businessmen, like Halley Cox, up in the jail cell for not having western wear on.
The Chamber of Commerce organized booster
trips to surrounding towns as far as Lampasas to the west, Cameron to the east,
and Taylor to the south. They would have
a flatbed truck for the band to set up on.
Cars would follow each other from town to town, stop for about 20
minutes and promote the rodeo, then head to the next town. On these trips I had the job of going to the
stores and putting out posters in their windows.
Another thing
that I always enjoyed was at the rodeo.
There were always many good local cowboys – Johnny and Eddie Boren,
Cotton and Bill Proctor, Bud Humphries, Red Walker, Harold Watson, and Johnny
Mellon. Not only were they local, but
they were good.
I think my best
memories of the 4th will be the times when my wife and myself had
our grandchildren riding in the parade with us.
The years I served on the city council and as mayor of Belton, my family
would ride with me in the parade. One
year, then Governor George W. Bush, marched in the parade. My wife, JoAnn, had brought a red, white, and
blue quilt which her mother made. We
were going to use it to pad the seat of the convertible we were riding in
during the parade. Governor Bush was
signing autographs. Not having anything
handy for an autograph, JoAnn remembered the quilt. That was, and still is exciting. Which one of our children will that be passed
down to?”
Memories of Gale (Digby) Cosper (“Gale”):
Gale Digby, 1950-51 (Tyler Elementary photo) |
Gale Digby |
“Late 1950’s – Miss Belton Contest:
Each year
before the 4th celebration, there would be a “Miss Belton” contest
where different businesses would sponsor contestants. Each dollar the contestant raised counted as
a vote. In 1958, I was selected as a
contestant. My sponsor was T.E.
Sanderford, Southwest Transit. His
daughter, Jane Potter, loaned me a formal to wear on the float in the
parade. I thought it was the most
beautiful dress I’d ever seen.
July 4th, 1968 Belton Parade Back left to front right: Gale Digby, Carolyn Ketchum, Zona Preece, and Nona Ratliff. |
Gale Digby - 1958 Belton parade. |
Gale Digby - 1958 Belton parade. |
Gale Digby on Seashell float, 1958 Belton July 4th parade. |
I’m sure
my Mom and Dad were thankful, as they did not have to purchase one.
1958 "Miss Belton" - Belton Rodeo Arena (Gale Digby on bottom right; Linda Long as child at bottom center). |
1958 "Miss Belton" - Belton Rodeo Arena (Gale Digby - front right; Charlie Griggs with cowboy hat). |
1950’s – Courthouse Square:
One year there
was a covered wagon set up on the courthouse square. Refreshments were served from this
wagon. They set up a fake jail cell on
the courthouse lawn.
Johnny Mellon and our father Mart Digby played sheriff, and even wore guns. My dad did not like guns at all, so I’m sure they were not loaded. They would go into the different stores and arrest any employee not wearing western wear, lock them up, and someone would have to pay a fee for their release.
Mart Digby (right) & ? dressed as "Sheriff" on July 4th in Belton, Texas. (Note the booster club flatbed truck in the background). |
Johnny Mellon and our father Mart Digby played sheriff, and even wore guns. My dad did not like guns at all, so I’m sure they were not loaded. They would go into the different stores and arrest any employee not wearing western wear, lock them up, and someone would have to pay a fee for their release.
I remember
they staged a fake hanging on the courthouse lawn. The victim I remember them “hanging” was
Halley Cox from Peoples National Bank. I
believe there is a picture of this in the 1st Edition/ Bell County
History. It really looked real!
1950’s –
Booster Trips:
Each year the
week before the 4th celebration in Belton there would be a caravan
of cars that would go from town to town advertising the celebration. The cars were decorated with crepe paper
streamers, signs and balloons. In the
caravan there was a flatbed truck. When
we stopped in the different towns, a band would set up on the truck and play
music. One of the popular songs then was
“Davy Crockett”. People would gather
around and listen to the music, dance in the street, or sing along with the
band. Dan Coats, rodeo announcer, was
always along on these trips advertising the rodeo in Belton. Dwayne would help him display posters in
store windows. This was something we
always looked forward to and Dad always made sure he was free to go with us.
Misc. Memories:
Mart Digby in front of his office at Belton Car Mart in 1966. (Last picture taken of him; note the hospital bracelet). |
1966 – On July 4th,
1966, my father was ill with cancer, and my first child had just been
born. Mr. and Mrs. Heartfield invited us
to watch the parade from inside the Florist shop where it was cool.
1950’s – I don’t remember the
carnival much, due to the fact my parents did not take us. Back then, the traveling shows were not clean
and there was a big scare of polio. Rita
remembers winning a big bear at the carnival, so I guess at some point we were
allowed to attend.
The store
windows in town were decorated by local artist Jimmy Coppin to advertise the
rodeo. His paintings of the rodeo events
were so real looking you would think that bull was coming straight at you.
The parade had
beautiful floats and lots of horses. My
favorite was always the Army Band from Fort Hood, and of course the Marching
100 from school. That music made anyone
proud to be an American!
Can’t remember
the year (in the 1950’s), the western movie star Audie Murphy was attending the
Belton Rodeo (He was here from Fort Hood).
I was lucky enough to get his autograph, which I still have today.
My father’s
car dealership, Belton Car Mart, was on East Street, directly behind the
Carnegie Library on Main street.
On the day of the parade, my Mom and Dad would ice down soft drinks and have the urn full of coffee. Friends and family, many from out of town, would meet at the car lot, have refreshments, visit, and then walk over to main street and watch the parade in front of the library.
Family & friends gather at the Belton Car Mart.in Belton, Texas. (Mart Digby's office is directly behind Mart & Pearl Digby; view is S. to N.) |
On the day of the parade, my Mom and Dad would ice down soft drinks and have the urn full of coffee. Friends and family, many from out of town, would meet at the car lot, have refreshments, visit, and then walk over to main street and watch the parade in front of the library.
Dwayne, Rita,
and myself almost always rode our horses in the parade, and some years our dad
would join us. Mom never did the horse
thing, but she always had our shirts starched and our boots polished.
1960’s and
later – After I married in 1960, my husband and I continued our family’s
traditions of riding in the parade, often letting our young nieces and nephews
ride with us. That long line of horses
was always the last thing in the parade, as they left a trail no one wanted to
follow.
After my
father passed away in 1966, the 4th of July was never the same for
me.
When my
children came along we gave up the horseback riding but would still attend the
festivities. When my two children got
older, they would ride in the parade with their ball teams, etc. But, it was not until my son was a teenager
that my family had someone back riding a horse in the parade, and then his son
after him.
Some of the ‘ole time rough and tough’ cowboys we
remember are:
The Hoods – Joe, Les, Marshall, Charley
Cecil Ellis – one of the most well-known rodeo clowns
Bill and Cotton Proctor
Johnny and Eddie Boren
Dan Coats, Rodeo Announcer
Mart Digby & Dan Coats (right) at outdoor rodeo arena in Belton. (Taken on south end of arena; view is east to west. The animal chutes are located just behind them). |
Dan Coats, Rodeo Announcer
Duke Gibbs, Rodeo Producer
Johnny Mellon (Who did not love that man?)
The Prater and Elms boys
Harold Watson
Red Walker
Bud Humphries”
Source: Rita (Digby) Locklin (“Rita”):
“July 4th
was always one of the favorite holidays in the Digby house. I was the youngest of five children. Jeannine and Mattie were the oldest two and
were married and out of the house before I really started to participate in the
4th activities, other than going to the parade and getting together
with family and friends for bar-b-que.
We had moved
to town, when I was 3 years old. So I
guess you would call us “city cowboys and cowgirls.” Dwayne, Gale, and I each had our own horse,
and we were members of the Belton Riding Club.
One of my
favorite things we did each 4th was the booster trips. The Chamber of Commerce would organize the
trips and half the town would participate.
The week before the 4th was when we would have the booster
trips. Each day we would go a different
direction. Our cars would all be
decorated with signs and red, white and blue crepe paper. There was a flatbed truck with bales of hay,
and each town we would go through, we would stop and the country western band
would set up on the flatbed truck and play.
It would really bring the town people out and we’d all dance in the
street. Dwayne would help Dan Coats
(rodeo announcer) put signs in the store windows, and Gale and I and some of
the other kids from the riding club would
pass out flyers.
The parade was
one of the grandest. Two or three of the
businesses would go together and have a float made. Some of the prettiest you’ve ever seen. Miss Belton and the Dutchesses would ride on
the floats. We always had a lot of
floats.
We always rode
in the parade. We always had to have our
horses clean and groomed. This was
always great family fun: Dad, Dwayne, Gale, and I getting our horses ready and
mom getting us ready.
Mart Digby at the Belton Car Mart. |
We’d go to Dad’s car lot after the parade. There was always lots of family, and friends from all around would gather there. We would take our nieces and nephews riding on our horses. We would ride our horses home, unsaddle them, rub them down, and feed them and then back to the fun in town. Some of us kids would walk to the carnival from the car lot (Belton Car Mart behind what is now the Bell County Museum) to Yettie Polk Park. I’ll never forget winning a big black and white teddy bear for a nickel. I had to pitch nickels and try to get it in a little glass bowl. I won that bear on my first pitch. Then I think I tried 5 or 6 more and never got it in. We could go to the carnival with $ 2.00 and we thought we had a lot. Today, you can’t play but one game for that.
Rodeo:
We would go to
the rodeo every night. We always rode in
the grand entry each night. We always
wore our boots, hats, jeans, and those starched, long sleeved western
shirts. The rodeo arena was outdoors
(where the youth center is now), and back in those days, the 50’s and 60’s, we
never thought much about the heat. We
were having too much fun.
There were a
lot of Bell County cowboys riding in those days. Many of them were friends of my family and we
really cheered them on.
Parade:
I got married
in 1963, and my husband wasn’t a cowboy (He liked fast cars), but he loved the
4th of July. He was in the
army in Fort Sill, Oklahoma when we got married – but he made sure we got home
on the 4th.
I had kind of
given up my horses then to raise a family.
We had four children and I don’t guess we ever missed a parade with them
– Loyd would always go early to get a spot on the courthouse lawn. We enjoyed the music and goings on before the
parade started. Our daughter was in the
Marching 100 and always marched in the 4th parade, and the boys
would ride their ball team floats. One
year we had a float for First Texas Bank (where I work), and some of my
grandkids rode on it with water guns.
The Park:
After the
parade, Loyd and I (with the kids and later we added the grandkids) and some
out of town friends would go to the park with our lawn chairs, blankets, and
picnic lunch and spend the rest of the day.
We would listen to the Old Fiddler’s Contest and other music. Us girls enjoyed the arts and crafts. The kids loved the activities for them, and
it was hard to keep them out of the creek.
We really enjoyed visiting with so many old friends from out of
town. So many people always would come
home for the 4th of July.”
Misc. memories of 1950’s – 1960’s of Billy Blair
regarding July 4th events in Belton, Texas:
1.
I
remember that there were always 1-2 black men with shovels and trash cans on
wheels to scoop up all the horse poop at the end of the parade.
2.
I believe that two trick riders with the U.S.
and Texas flags would sprint their horses side by side down the length of the
rodeo arena (south to north) to begin
the grand-entry. There were so many
horses that followed them in that you weren’t sure any more horses would fit
into the arena.
3.
I remember our family watching the parade from
inside First National Bank in later years (high school). My dad would open the doors, but leave the
black, iron gates in front of them locked so that we could hear the sounds of
the parade. I remember that Noah, who
worked at the bank, was usually there with us.
4.
I remember being on a float as one of the men in
uniform raising the flag at Iwo Jima.
Bucky Couch was across from me
and I think both of us leaned on the flag too much, making it difficult
to stay in the correct position. This
was the only time I was ever in the parade.
5.
I remember that during the outdoor rodeo one
night, a calf got injured during the calf roping and had to be killed. After the rodeo, our family, relatives, and
several of the cowboys stayed around while it was butchered. I remember seeing the stomach being hung over
the wooden fence.
6.
Carnival: I remember playing the game where you
threw darts to break the balloons and was amazed that I seemed to hit every
available space OTHER than the balloons.
I also remember throwing balls to knock over wooden bottles (painted
white). Even though I would hit them
square in the middle, they would not fall (except for maybe the top
bottle). I also remember tossing plastic
rings into glasses of water (the reflections from the many evenly spaced
glasses disoriented your view). I
remember the penny arcade (“grip” machine; scantily clad “girly”photo cards you
could look at through a viewer – which all kids were scared to do because their
parents would find out; shooting gallery…).
7.
Main street (going north to south), then west to
east on Central Avenue was the normal parade route. Those streets were lined with people (several
deep). Getting to downtown early enough
to get somewhere with a decent view was a big consideration on the day of the
parade.
Other memories/ stories:
a. Billy Ed Wilson (who was Mart Digby's nephew and a small child at the time) and Mart Digby were at the outdoor Belton Rodeo. They were sitting on the east side in the stands enjoying the rodeo when a man pulled up in a van outside the rodeo fence behind them. He was trying to see the rodeo without buying a ticket. The man sat on top of his van. Billy Ed would occasionally stand up and yell while he was enjoying the rodeo. The man on the van would yell out, "Sit down, you little bastard!" He said this several times. Mart Digby quietly got up, walked over to the man, yanked him off the van, and punched him out.
Other memories/ stories:
a. Billy Ed Wilson (who was Mart Digby's nephew and a small child at the time) and Mart Digby were at the outdoor Belton Rodeo. They were sitting on the east side in the stands enjoying the rodeo when a man pulled up in a van outside the rodeo fence behind them. He was trying to see the rodeo without buying a ticket. The man sat on top of his van. Billy Ed would occasionally stand up and yell while he was enjoying the rodeo. The man on the van would yell out, "Sit down, you little bastard!" He said this several times. Mart Digby quietly got up, walked over to the man, yanked him off the van, and punched him out.
Sources: Bernetta Peebles wrote an article in The Belton Journal about the history of Belton’s July 4th activities and asked the Digby family if they would submit their memories, which they did. Mattie (Digby) Wesson’s daughter, Diane, knew that I would enjoy having this information, so she typed it up and sent it by way of her mother to me, along with a copy of the newspaper article. I am forever grateful to them for doing this. I will continue to add photos and other information/ memories regarding July 4th Belton activities to this blog post as I find them. – Billy Blair.
1. The Belton Journal newspaper article by Bernetta Peebles about the Belton Rodeo.
2. Photos from the Belton Public Library.
3. The children of Mart & Pearl Digby: Jeannine Blair; Mattie Wesson; Dwayne & JoAnn Digby; Gale Cosper; Rita Locklin.
4. Billy Blair
5. Photos from the children of Mart & Pearl Digby (especially Gale Cosper) as well as Pearl Digby.
6. Barbara (Reed) Thornton Gillam scrapbook (Image of Belton Rodeo ticket from the 1960s).
7. Billy Ed Wilson (memory of he and Mart Digby at the outdoor Belton Rodeo).
8. Article referring to Emmett Digby and his trick horse, Grey Buck, in The Victoria Advocate dated October 2, 1938.
9. Mattie (Digby) Wesson & Jeannine (Digby) Blair: July 26, 2006.
10. Pat Digby and Kay (Digby) Claunch: September, 2006.
7. Billy Ed Wilson (memory of he and Mart Digby at the outdoor Belton Rodeo).
8. Article referring to Emmett Digby and his trick horse, Grey Buck, in The Victoria Advocate dated October 2, 1938.
9. Mattie (Digby) Wesson & Jeannine (Digby) Blair: July 26, 2006.
10. Pat Digby and Kay (Digby) Claunch: September, 2006.
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