Black Cowboy Festival happening now preserves almost erased Western history

REMBERT, S.C. – When Mark Myers, long-time cowboy, sold the family home in Horatio, Arkansas to purchase a horse farm in 1991, he achieved his wildest dream.

For his wife, Sandra, it was bigger than that – centuries bigger.

Now, she drives her golf cart through the short grass, around spacious pens where her family’s horses flick their tails and whinny, directing visitors and greeting family members from beneath the brim of her cowboy hat. Thousands that have flocked to Greenfield Farm for the 29th annual Black cowboy festival mill on top of Sandra’s ancestral land.

The land on which the Myers’ farm sits was once worked by her ancestors, first as enslaved people and, following emancipation, as sharecroppers.

“This land is land that my parents, my family grew on, and everything, they just never owned it,” Sandra said. “It’s very sentimental to me and the rest of my family, because it is historical property, as far as we’re concerned.”

Growing up in Rembert near the property her family now owns, she remembers exactly where the dairy barn and feed silos were when she was a child, pointing them out where mobile homes and grass have taken their place.

But reminders of a darker history remain.

Greenfield Farm holds a replica of Sandra’s great-great-grandmother’s cabin, where visitors can experience and learn about her living conditions as an enslaved person on the Spencer family’s plantation. Sandra says the family believes there is also a slave burial ground on the property, though they haven’t been able to pinpoint the exact location of the unmarked burials.

The reclamation of her family history and land means a lot to Sandra and the Myers family, inspiring them to use the land to educate and shape the people around them.

“This land is land that my parents, my family, grew on, they just never owned it,” she said. “It means a lot to us, so when Mark and I was able to purchase it in 1991, we thanked God for it. We promised the Lord that we will use it and give back to the community in some way.”

In 1991, based on the average price per acre of farmland in the area, the 60-acre plot would have been worth more than $60,000.

On a usual day at the farm, the loudest sounds cutting through the humid air may be the brush of hooves on the ground or a few scattered conversations.

When the Black Cowboy Festival is underway, it could not be more different. Greenfield Farm transforms into a hub of activity – host to rodeos, a fish fry and line dancing, among other events.

But for many, the real draw is celebration of a history long erased.

Founding the annual festival nearly 30 years ago, the Myers grew what was originally a fundraiser for Love Covenant Church into a destination for thousands to celebrate the history of the Black cowboys. An estimated quarter of all cowboys were Black, according to the Autry Museum of the American West, but cowboy movies and TV shows have generally only depicted white men in these roles.

Education sessions and presentations paint a detailed picture of these men and the continued tradition of rodeo in Black communities. One presentation singles out the Buffalo Soldiers, the nickname given to regiments of Black soldiers who fought on the Western frontier in the Plains Wars and became some of the first stewards of America’s national parks.

“The reason why we do this event is mainly just to reach people, to enlighten them on the history of the African American cowboy and other aspects of our history as well,” Sandra said. “This is the only way people get along. If I don’t know you, then I am either leery or afraid of you.”

The festival kicked off with Education Day on Thursday, which included agricultural training from USDA representatives and presentations on the history of the Black cowboy in America.

Rodeo events and the horse show begin on Saturday, as well as a gospel show, further historical presentations and line dancing. A ticket may be purchased on the festival’s website for the day’s activities, which will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday activities include a church service and brunch.

The festival has, at times, had trouble securing funding because prospective donors have accused them of sowing division, according to Sandra.

“How’s that promoting separation?” she said. “It’s about educating people. It’s a sad thing, but we have to be real, and we have to be honest about it, that our history was stripped from us.”

The Myers hope that the festival can call attention to this erasure and provide knowledge to the unaware, especially the younger generation.

“This is what keeps the people down – when they don’t know who they are,” Sandra said. “Our children needed to know.”

The effort of putting on the huge festival each year spans generations.

Sandra and Mark’s granddaughter, Shay Dennis, has been tasked this year with collecting the $5 parking fee from arriving guests who will not be staying the night in the farm’s small RV park. She loves sharing the experience with her family and people from around the country.

“Everybody just wants to come out just to see our little family and our big old farm,” Dennis said. “It makes me happy, and it makes my soul smile.”

Sandra says they plan to have many more festivals to come, even after her and Mark are gone.

“We’re hoping to be able to pass it down to them,” she said.

The reach and impact of the festival would have been unthinkable to the family when Greenfield Farm first opened on Sandra’s ancestral land.

“People come from everywhere, they come from all over the world,” she said. “Their thing is ‘I want to come, I want to see them ride, I want to see my people.’”