2026 Conference Tickets

1:00 PM: Trails End Tour (Hwy 65 & 16th Street - Starline Brass Trails End Plaza) — welcome to Sedalia's cattle trail history on the Missouri State Fair Grounds

1:45 PM: Board bus & depart — on-board tour guide shares Sedalia history

1:45-2:30 PM: Visit to Katy Depot (600 E. Third Street) — brief tour and restroom break

2:30 PM: Bus departs for Historic District Tour (Red Light District, Scott Joplin Maple Leaf Site, historic brothel with cast performance of "soiled doves")

3:00 PM: Depart to Marshall Junction (18 miles) — on-board historic narration

3:30 PM: Bill Smith Longhorn Ranch Tour — working ranch operation

4:45 PM: Board bus to return to Starline Brass Trails End in Sedalia

Thursday Evening Entertainment
Tickets available onsite
Location: Liberty Center Association for the Arts - 111 W. 5th Street, Sedalia, MO

7:00–8:30 PM: Jeff Davidson (musician & poet); Diamond W Wranglers (cowboy and Western music band)

8:30–8:45 PM: Break (LCAA bar open) — William Westfall, ragtime piano

8:45–9:45 PM: Ron Wilson (cowboy poet); 3 Trails West (Western music with tight harmonies)

• Breakfast on own at hotels
• Coffee available upon arrival

8:00 AM: Welcome and Opening Remarks — conference hosts

8:00–9:00 AM: Keynote: "Jack Thorp and the First Book of Cowboy Songs — Mark Gardner

9:00–10:15 AM: Trail overviews: 5 trails — 15 min each — trail representatives

10:15–10:30 AM: Break - coffee cake, juice & coffee

10:30–11:30 AM: "Vaqueros and the Spanish cattle history" — William Scott, history professor, Texas Tech

11:30 AM–noon: Legislative update and Consortium business — Ron Wilson

12:00–1:00 PM: Lunch

1:00–2:00 PM: CVB Roundtable — led by Carolyn Crooker

2:00–2:45 PM: Raising Longhorns in Missouri — Bill Smith

2:45–3:00 PM: Break

3:15–4:00 PM: TBA

4:00–4:45 PM: Western Art History and Culture — Michael Grauer

5:00–7:00 PM: Artist Reception and Ragtime music by William Westfall at the Daum Museum; heavy hors d'oeuvres served

after 7: Dinner on your own

• Breakfast on own at hotels
• Coffee available upon arrival

8:00–9:00 AM: "Cavalry, Indian, Freed Slaves, Women Drovers" — William Scott

9:00–10:00 AM: "Wyatt Earp and the Cowboys: Law Enforcement in the Cow Towns of Wichita and Dodge City" — Mark Gardner

10:00–10:15 AM: Break

10:15-10:30 AM: "Train History, Cattle Drives, and Western Expansion" — Doug Kiburz

10:30–10:45 AM: Shawnee Trail Poem and Southern Shawnee Trail Update — David Smith

10:45 AM–11:30 AM: "Engaging Younger Generations with Western Heritage" — Cody Assman

11:45 AM–12:00 PM: Closing remarks, open mic, questions — conference hosts

12:00 PM: Sack lunch provided (to go)

Following lunch: final Trails End tour; Consortium Cow Chip Throwing Championship