Every February, more than 2,000 riders travel on horseback to Houston. Following 10 different trails, they meet at Houston’s Memorial Park. The next day, the riders lead the parade that opens the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
“All Trails Lead to Houston: Riding to the Rodeo,” by Ray Viator, tells this story with text and photographs. The tradition started more than 70 years ago, when four riders followed the old Salt Grass Trail to Houston from Brenham. It captured the attention of the Texas riding community. They continued—and expanded—the rodeo trail rides to memorialize Texas’s ranching heritage.
Mr. Viator tells the tale magnificently. He opens with a history of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which started in 1932. Today, it’s part of what makes the city of Houston, attracting 2.5 million visitors each year. This section closes with a brief history of the trail ride, showing how it has become an important part of the Rodeo.
A chapter presenting life on the trail ride follows. In it, Mr. Viator shows how the riders spend each day on the road. It depicts how the rides are organized, the logistics involved, the rules the riders follow, and who the various bosses are.
Next, Mr. Viator offers a one-page history of each of the 12 trail rides followed each year. This provides separate discussions of each trail, including the 10 active and two inactive trail rides. (They were suspended in 2022 because of safety concerns.) A photo essay follows the text, illustrating each ride in pictures.
Subsequent chapters examine the spectators who watch the trail riders, Texas heritage (Go Texan Day), and what happens in Houston once the riders arrive and attend the show. He closes with a tribute, memorializing longtime participants and organizers who have died over 70 years.
At least as compelling as the text are the 245 color photos included in the book. Most were taken by Mr. Viator, a longtime and highly talented photographer based in Houston. Many are full-page, and there are several two-page spreads. The photography is the fruit of five years of following and photographing the various rides, and the photos are the next best thing to actually being on a trail ride.
“All Trails Lead to Houston” captures the best of Texas and Houston. It shows people who want to preserve something vital in Texas history, the cowboy and the independence and self-reliance that was part of Texas’s agricultural past and still inspires people today.
