Fort Concho gets ready for back-to-back historic celebrations

SAN ANGELO, Texas ( Concho Valley Homepage ) — The Fort Concho National Historic Landmark is in for a weekend of back-to-back celebrations with the arrival of National Cowboy Day and National Buffalo Soldiers Day.

Cowboy Day

According to the City of San Angelo , the fort’s festivities are scheduled to begin on July 27, this year’s Cowboy Day. The Cowboy Day fun will last from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in Fort Concho’s Quartermaster Building near the intersection of East Avenue C and Burgess Street.

Free refreshments will be offered at the building alongside multiple programs, including a performance by the Concho Cowboy Company and a talk about the American Plain Artists Western Art Show.

The City stated that this year’s art show is slated to feature “around 75 paintings and numerous sculptures by artists from across the nation.” The show’s regular hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

All artworks displayed will be for sale, and a percentage of their cost will benefit The American Plains Artists Association and Fort Concho. Any purchased art will be left on display until the show concludes on Aug. 4.

Art show attendees can also vote for their favorite work of art, with the City stating that those that receive the most votes will be “invited back for a special summer show at the fort in 2025.”

Buffalo Soldiers Day

July 28 marks Buffalo Soldiers Day, and much like Cowboy Day, Fort Concho has plans for observing the occasion. The City stated that the celebration will last from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Buffalo Soldier Memorial, located across from the fort’s South Oakes Street side.

At the memorial, a presentation will be given by Sherley Spears, former president of San Angelo’s NAACP chapter and founder of the Buffalo Soldier Memorial Project. The programming will then shift to Fort Concho’s Commissary Building, located at 301 E. Ave. C, at 2:30 p.m., where the West Texas Archaeology Society’s C. A. Maedgen will give a lecture on the Concho Mail Station.

This Buffalo Soldiers Day also serves as the one-year anniversary of the Buffalo Soldier Memorial in San Angelo, a monument dedicated to the Buffalo Soldier units who were stationed at Fort Concho over 140 years ago.

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