The Smith County Wagon Train traveled through Taylorsville and Mize Friday through Monday, February 1-3, on their way to the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson on Saturday, February 9.
The wagon train was formed in 1990 and chartered in 1992. This year’s train has about 30 covered wagons along with over 100 horseback riders. Participants include a large number of Smith County citizens along with riders from neighboring counties and riders from Louisiana, Texas, and Alabama.
They spent Friday night on the property of Wagon Master Kenneth Jernigan, and his wife Jennifer, on SCR 33 north of Taylorsville, Saturday night on Baker Ford’s land on Highway 37 in Taylorsville, and Sunday night at Meadows Livestock Barn in Mize. They began Sunday morning with a Cowboy Church Service at 8:30 a.m. and began their ride toward Mize after the service arriving at Meadows about 3:45 p.m.
Kenneth Jernigan has led the train for many years along with his wife, Jennifer, and their daughter, Harley. Traveling about 20 miles a day, utilizing the back roads to avoid traffic problems, they traveled through the Mendenhall area on Monday and Tuesday, and are traveling to Braxton and Pearl on Wednesday and Thursday. They will route through the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield Friday morning and into the Jackson area Friday afternoon for the Dixie National Parade and Rodeo on Saturday, February 9. The riders move their trucks, trailers, and campers to their next camp site each morning and catch buses back to the wagon train to drive it to their next camp site.