Editor’s note: This is the first in a series on key Amarillo area figures in honor of Black History Month. This provided column focuses on Mathew “Bones” Hooks, in whose namesake park had a historical marker placed and celebrated in 2024.
On Saturday, September 18, 2022, my husband and I had the honor to be a part of history at the National Cowboy Western Heritage Museum Awards Ceremony, where we accepted the posthumously given Western Heritage Wrangler Award for Mathew “Bones” Hooks as he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners.
Just before going to Oklahoma City, Alphonso and I drove to Llano Cemetery to visit his gravesite and share what we would say at the awards ceremony. From all the stories I had heard about him as a girl, he was such a kind man who loved life, people, and horses…