MARFA — “From my understanding, no one really knew we were here,” Lucas Salcido says from inside the Marfa Rodeo Arena, tugging his horse, Nino, towards his trailer parked alongside the agriculture barn. “They thought that the Marfa 4-H club had already been terminated.”
It wasn’t until a couple of months ago when, unlikely enough, a group of Parisian filmmakers inquired about the use of the arena to shoot scenes for an independent film, that the Salcidos, with much help from County Commissioner Deirdre Hisler, got the electricity back on in the arena. Though he’s used to a mostly fruitless labor at the arena since 2017, Salcido smiles widely and asks if I’d like to finally see the place with the lights on.
Director Romain Jaccoud’s hopes of using a lit-up arena in his film, Born Reckless, which explores themes of cowboy culture and the queer experience, reengaged a conversation between Salcido, Hisler and AEP, the power company. “A lot of people at the courthouse got involved. It was a big effort,” Salcido says. Hisler, who previously worked as the state parks West Texas regional director, is committed to breathing life back into the Marfa 4-H. Having once overseen 22 state parks, she is no stranger to organizational challenges. “When you start delving into 4-H, it’s a fascinating organization,” she says. “The skills they can teach to youth who want to stay connected with our western heritage are amazing.” Her hope is that hosting activities, such as roping events, will provoke new interest surrounding the Marfa 4-H.
After the Parisians’ filming wrapped around the new year, Hisler says she got a lot of interest and thanks for making the set happen. “It was a good thing that film happened, because it opened the doors to what the potential is. I got to meet Lucas and [his wife] Rebecca, and I got to go to some of their 4-H shows to see how they’re run and get ideas about how we can breathe that life into Presidio County.”
Salcido’s children, Annaka, 18, and Landin, 11, are the only youth in town utilizing access to the arena for things like roping, team roping, and preparing to compete in livestock shows. This year, they competed in both the San Angelo and San Antonio major shows. But they competed under Brewster County’s 4-H program, because, technically, right now, there is no Marfa 4-H. “Aside from my own kids, people aren’t really interested in getting involved,” Salcido says. “They’re worried about the cost of feed and getting started and taking care of the animals.”
Salcido says that the real issue with growing the Marfa 4-H’s popularity and resources starts with the ever-revolving door of county extension officers, who help run the program. Having gone through three different officials since 2017, Marfa 4-H’s most recent county extension official, Micki Harris, was incredibly helpful to the Salcido’s showing career before her position was cut. She encouraged them to expand their involvement beyond just the local county shows. Today, Salcido says Hisler has also been a huge help in moving projects forward for Marfa’s 4-H club.
“Lucas and Rebecca have been the heart and soul that has kept that energy alive, and I want to support that,” Hisler says.
Before the Marfa Rodeo Arena came under the care of Salcido, it was run by Natalia and David Williams, and before that, Mem and Jeannie Hall. In 1980, the Presidio County 4-H Adult Leaders Corporation was formed to involve 4-H leaders in the development of a county 4-H program. That same year, the agriculture barn was constructed, funded entirely through donations from businesses and individuals in the community. Presidio County still owns the land on which the building is situated, and the names of the ranchers and community members who built the barn still hang proudly from branded wooden boards that line its walls. The boards serve as a memorial to several community members who have passed on.
The Halls presided over the arena until around 2004, at which time Mem retired from his role as roping club president. Marfa’s roping club dissolved in 2008, which resulted in decreased roping events.
In 1991, Sheriff Rick Thompson was arrested for storing a two-stall horse trailer filled with 2,400 pounds of pure Colombian cocaine — a nearly $400 million smuggling operation for which he pled guilty and was given a life sentence — on the property. At that time, the arena and its surrounding land was referred to as the Presidio County Fairgrounds. The infamous horse trailer, though rumored to still be on the premises, was sold at a sheriff’s sale and auction on the steps of the Presidio County Courthouse in December of 1992, at which time the trailer was said to be destined for a ranch in Wyoming. Thompson’s portrait still resides on the wall of the Presidio County Sheriff’s Office.
Nowadays, events at the arena are infrequent. Crew members on Jaccoud’s set shot off fireworks while filming a scene sometime after midnight, which disturbed and caused a ruckus among several nearby residents. Salcido said that residents were warned that fireworks would be set off, but the filming of the scene was pushed later into the evening than planned.
It has been proposed that the entrance road to El Cosmico’s latest development project run through the land associated with the roping arena, but it has not yet been voted on in the commissioners court. Salcido says that initially, he was against this idea, but now he’s come around to the possibility of “what money it can generate and contribute to the county.” In early conversations, it was proposed that the entrance road run through adjacent Vizcaino Park, but that plan has not yet been voted on at the commissioners court either. For now, the final location for the entrance road remains undetermined.
“If they took out some of the holding pens and then built the arena to regulation, there would be plenty of room for both the arena and road,” Hisler says.
Salcido grew up riding horses in Marfa. He looked forward to every holiday, when he would team up with his grandparents and uncles to ride, growing his love and understanding of the sport. Today, his undeterred commitment to Marfa’s 4-H club and his children’s involvement reflect that love.
“I’m trying to do my part to give the kids an opportunity to show,” Salcido says. “It’d be nice to see more kids compete at the major livestock shows, or at least at the county shows. If we can get enough people involved, I’d like to have a Marfa livestock show.”
Many surrounding towns — Fort Davis, Alpine, Balmorhea, Fort Stockton and Pecos — all host annual shows that range from August through January. Salcido proposes that Marfa host a livestock show around the same time as the Marfa Lights Festival, in early September or late August. “The shows are kind of where you get your bragging rights,” Salcido says.
As far as bragging rights go, his children are currently the sole youth in Marfa practicing skills like team roping and participating in livestock shows. Salcido says that many of the ways the Marfa interacts with ranching culture have changed. The Sentinel was once a funeral home; the distillery across the street was a feed store. Once, it was a weekly occurrence to read headlines about Tri-County Livestock Association events, bull riding tours, feeder cattle sales and FFA members competing in the Houston and Dallas livestock shows. But today, Marfa’s FFA program no longer exists, and local 4-H involvement is near null.
County Commissioner David Beebe says that when he arrived in 2007, there was still a semi-active FFA program and families raising animals. “At best, you’re scraping seven or eight kids out of the Presidio schools and seven or eight kids out of the Marfa schools. It’s tough,” he says.
Salcido remembers, not too long ago, a time when the annual Old Timers Roping event was a “really big deal,” and while it’s still alive today, involvement feels minimal. “Marfa’s main source of revenue used to be from the ranchers,” Salcido says. “A lot of the ranchers around Marfa now, they’re still competing in events like team roping, ranch rodeos and all that stuff to make money, [but] you just don’t see them around town. A couple of people in town haul bucking bulls. But a lot of it is big city stuff, because that’s where the money is.”
Beebe says that one of the present-day issues with the management of county spaces such as the rodeo arena and golf course is that there’s “just not enough going on” to justify the maintenance of the spaces. “Every month there’s an electric bill and water bill and fence repair and hardly anyone out there. A balance has to be struck,” he says. “We run a deficit budget and the county has to cover these costs.” There are four electric meters at the rodeo arena, eight at the golf course, and the county pays $18 per meter each month, whether they’re in use or not.
The ways that the bull barn and agriculture barn were once used — as traditional agricultural spaces — no longer take precedence in Marfa. Much of the agricultural trade that’s happening, with regard to live animals, takes place in the Presidio stock yards. “We don’t have stock yards here in Marfa, and we’re not going to again. That era is over. People get really upset to hear that the past isn’t coming back,” Beebe says.
But Salcido encourages locals to get involved with the 4-H for the learning and bonding experience that it brings to both parents and their children. “If parents want to get involved, it gives them the chance to teach their children something new, a chance for discipline and to run around with them.”
Hisler echoes much of the same, mentioning that the influx of new parents around town could provide a new future for the 4-H. “I’m starting to see some of the young couples having babies in Marfa, and I think if there were offerings to teach their children things like this, some folks would jump all over it. All those people making things happen at the agriculture barn aged out and their kids grew up. But now there’s a new wave.” She also proposes that a library be made in the meeting room of the agriculture barn to preserve historic documents and equipment purchased by the club over the years.
Salcido says a 4-H club could offer archery, rifle and rodeo events, but it lacks the sponsors and volunteers, as well as general interest necessary, to successfully run each event. “If we could round up a batch of kids, we could practice shooting bow and arrows at targets at the arena,” he says.
Salcido plans on throwing some more roping events in the future and hopes to host “play days”— a kids’ rodeo which includes barrel races and team roping — but right now, he’s hopeful for a new county extension officer. “It’s something we really do need,” he says.
Hisler is working to formalize agreements between the Marfa 4-H and the county, and the arena and barn could use some TLC –– much of it cosmetic, such as painting the fence and repairing some holding pens –– to successfully run roping events.
As far as function goes, the property has much of what it needs aside from enough local interest, Salcido says. “I have a couple of barrels, but we still need a barrier, buzzer and a clock,” he says. “Now that we have the power on, we can use the speakers and PA system. We need the poles and basic equipment still required to host the events. But the power was a big part of it. That changes things big time.” Salcido is hopeful to gain a new county extension officer and recruit enough sponsors and volunteers to host annual 4-H events long into the future, but it will take a village.
“We have miles to go before we sleep,” Hisler says of the work ahead.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that TxDOT would be responsible for maintaining the entrance road to El Cosmico. Should it be realized, El Cosmico would be responsible for maintaining the entrance road. TxDOT is accountable for improvements on the adjacent Golf Course Road, to which County Commissioner Deirdre Hisler was speaking.