Cowboy Cemetery
Brady, McCulloch County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Cowboy Cemetery According to legend, this cemetery's name is a reference to a cowboy who died while passing through this area and may have been the first interred here. It is known that W.G.S. Hughes (1851-1925) and wife Sarah (1854-1945) donated the land for this site, likely upon the 1882 death of their four-year-old son, William, the cemetery's first recorded burial. They gave an additional acre for a school. In 1932, Sarah Hughes and family deeded another 4.65 acres to the Cowboy Cemetery Association. This group has since overseen many improvements and cared for this burial ground that records the heritage of the Deep Creek Community. Historic Texas Cemetery-2001
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Legend gives this burial ground its name from a cowboy who died passing through and may have been its first grave, but the record begins with four-year-old William Hughes in 1882. His parents, W.G.S. and Sarah Hughes, donated the land — and an additional acre for a school — that year, with Sarah and family deeding nearly five more acres to a cemetery association in 1932. The grounds preserve the heritage of the Deep Creek community on the Central Texas frontier.
Why it matters
With its cowboy namesake and pioneer-family gifts of land for graves and a schoolhouse, the cemetery embodies the ranching frontier culture of the Texas Hill Country.
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Related people
- · W.G.S. Hughes
- · Sarah Hughes
- · William Hughes
Themes & tags
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