By West                                              H.C.R. No. 206

         75R11811 JTR-D                           

                             HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 1-1           WHEREAS, Texas is known throughout the world for the

 1-2     abundance and variety of its wildlife, and of the many species of

 1-3     animal that populate the state, Lepus californicus texianus, better

 1-4     known as the black-tailed jackrabbit, is one of the most

 1-5     distinctive; indigenous to the West Texas plains, this member of

 1-6     the hare family is known by its dark tail and ear markings, its

 1-7     fleetness of foot, and its voracious appetite for vegetation; and

 1-8           WHEREAS, The city of Odessa's association with this hardy

 1-9     native Texan stretches back in history to the community's origins

1-10     and beyond; valued as a source of nourishment by the Native

1-11     Americans who were the area's first inhabitants, the jackrabbit was

1-12     less popular with later settlers, whose livestock competed with the

1-13     smaller animal for the region's scarce forage; and

1-14           WHEREAS, The prolific prairie hare's predations eventually

1-15     invited official opposition, and for many years area residents

1-16     could augment their incomes by hunting down the whiskered outlaws,

1-17     producing pelts as proof of dispatched desperados; and

1-18           WHEREAS, The tradition of rabbit rustling culminated in 1932

1-19     at the Odessa rodeo, when the first jackrabbit wrangling event took

1-20     place, and local history was made later that year when Grace

1-21     Hendricks roped a rabbit from horseback in five seconds, a

1-22     remarkable record that stands to this day; and

1-23           WHEREAS, Odessa's identification with the jackrabbit was

1-24     permanently memorialized in 1965, when a statue of "The World's

 2-1     Largest Jackrabbit" was unveiled; nicknamed "Jack Ben Rabbit" after

 2-2     its foremost advocate, John Ben Shepperd, the monument remains

 2-3     today as a reminder of the city's close connections with this

 2-4     denizen of the desert; and

 2-5           WHEREAS, Although rancher-rabbit relations have sometimes

 2-6     been less than cordial, West Texans have always acknowledged the

 2-7     jackrabbit's stature as a mainstay of the region's environment and

 2-8     culture, and in paying sincere tribute to this noble animal, the

 2-9     people of Odessa have established their hometown as the

2-10     jackrabbit's spiritual home; now, therefore, be it

2-11           RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas

2-12     hereby designate Odessa as the Jackrabbit Capital of Texas; and, be

2-13     it further

2-14           RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be

2-15     prepared for display in the city of Odessa as an expression of high

2-16     regard by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate.