In the 1880s, there wasn't much in Anson, Texas, in the way of entertainment for the area's cowhands. But Star Hotel operator M.G. Rhodes changed that when he hosted a Grand Ball the weekend before Christmas. William Lawrence Chittenden was so impressed that he penned the poem "The Cowboys' Christmas Ball”. Far more than a history of the Jones County dance, Paul Carlson analyses the long poem, defining the many people and events mentioned and explaining the Jones County landscape Chittenden lays out in his celebrated work.