Who was the Goat Man?
Prichard’s major Mardi Gras celebration – the Goat Man Parade – originates with a legend from the 1920s of a man who tended a small herd of goats in the Bullshead area. He wore handmade garments of bright, glorious colors from discarded fabric remnants – and made all kinds of treasures: cookies, wooden whistles, marbles and popguns. The story goes that he would put the trinkets in his homemade cart – pulled by a dozen or so goats – and then travel up and down the narrow dirt roads yelling for the attention of on-lookers. He tossed away all his handiwork – then off he went until the next year. Every year the Prichard Mardi Gras Association revives this legend and names a Goat Master to lead the Saturday parade – with two real goats at his side.
Prichard’s major Mardi Gras celebration – the Goat Man Parade – originates with a legend from the 1920s of a man who tended a small herd of goats in the Bullshead area. He wore handmade garments of bright, glorious colors from discarded fabric remnants – and made all kinds of treasures: cookies, wooden whistles, marbles and popguns. The story goes that he would put the trinkets in his homemade cart – pulled by a dozen or so goats – and then travel up and down the narrow dirt roads yelling for the attention of on-lookers. He tossed away all his handiwork – then off he went until the next year. Every year the Prichard Mardi Gras Association revives this legend and names a Goat Master to lead the Saturday parade – with two real goats at his side.
