Tex Austin is a blogger who lives in Austin Texas and writes reviews on various Good and Bad Austin establishments. Tex Austin reviews restaurants, shopping, places to hang, places to walk a dog, bands to see and things to do in Austin, Texas. Tex Austin was also a legendary rodeo promoter, see below. Austin, Texas is the Capital of Texas and it is considered by many to be the "Live Music Capital of The World" because of all the great bands and live music scene. From 6th street to Guadalupe, and from Austin Bergstrom to Lake Travis, Tex Austin is there to find out, and share with you. Austin, http://www.texaustin.com

FROM WIKIPEDIA
John Van "Tex" Austin (1886 — 26 October 1938 was an American rodeo promoter, known as the King of the Rodeo or "Daddy of the Rodeo" because of his efforts to popularize the rodeo outside of its core American West demographic.

He owned the Forked Lightning Ranch in New Mexico. From 1925 to 1929 he was promoter, manager and director of the Chicago Roundup.

Austin's birth name in St. Louis, Missouri was Clarence Van Nostrand. In 1908 he left St. Louis and adopted a new persona changing his name (and usually was called Tex Austin) and saying that he was raised on a cattle ranch in Victoria, Texas.He worked at the L.F.D. Ranch in Roswell, New Mexico and then at a ranch at Las Vegas, New Mexico.

He claimed to have worked for Don Luis Terrazas, the Chihuahua cattle baron of the Creel-Terrazas Family. In 1910 he was a captain under Francisco Villa in Madero's revolutionary forces against Diaz,

His first produced rodeo was in El Paso, Texas. In 1918 in Wichita, Kansas he produced the first indoor rodeo. (This fact is disputed. The Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show, held in Fort Worth in February, 1918, also claims to be the first indoor rodeo.)

In 1920s Austin put together a rodeo and played in Chicago Stadium, New York's Madison Square Garden (1922), and in Hollywood.
He even took his rodeo to the newly opened Wembley Stadium in London, in 1924..Austin took to Britain such rodeo stars as: Ike Rude, Manerd Gayler, Dave Campbell and Rube Roberts.The rodeo was challenged by animal rights activists attempting to get a court order barring the rodeo on the basis of animal cruelty. The Wembly rodeo, in which Austin lost $20,000,was to cause Parliament to pass the Protection of Animals Act 1934 which made it an offense to rope an untrained animal or to ride one using a cruel appliance such as a strap cinched tight around its genitals. Tex Austin returned to London with his rodeo in 1934 and they performed before the king and queen. Bronc riders including Herman Linder, Frank Sharp and Pete Knight rode in the 1934 London rodeo; the featured bucking horse of the show was the legendary Midnight.

In the early 1920s he was involved with the Vermejo Park Ranch guest ranch.

In 1925 he bought land in the old 5,500 acres (22 km2) Pecos Pueblo Grant for a guest ranch called Forked Lightning Ranch. The main ranch house was one of the first works of John Gaw Meem. The ranch is now part of the Pecos National Historic Park. Austin would hold cattle drives between the ranch and Las Vegas, New Mexico recruiting city folk back east to participate in the drives.The ranch was later owned by Buddy Folgeson and the actress Greer Garson.

After losing the ranch in the Great Depression Austin retired to Santa Fe with his wife Mary Lou McGuire of Albuquerque. They opened a restaurant in Santa Fe called "Tex Austin's Los Rancheros."

He committed suicide in 1938 a few weeks after getting diagnosis that he was going blind. He died of carbon monoxide inhalation while he was in his car at his home. Photographs of his rodeo days were found stacked on the couch of his home.