Rare Ranching Artifacts on Display at John Nance Garner Museum
UVALDE, TEXAS – March 28, 2007 – The Center for American History’s John Nance Garner Museum in Uvalde, Texas, announces a new exhibit, April 10 through August 18, 2007, featuring rare ranching artifacts and documents that depict cattle ranching from early Spanish Colonial Texas to the twentieth century. The exhibit, titled “Lone Star Treasures: Two Hundred Years of Ranching in Texas,” includes items rarely seen outside of the Center’s archives at The University of Texas at Austin.
Elegant and regal, this 1800s Charro saddle has a wooden saddle tree covered with rawhide, silver metal repoussé pommel with dinner plate horn, and stirrup leathers that are stitched with silver metal embroidery.
Visitors to the exhibit will view rare documents such as the “History of Cattleraising in San Antonio” (1762, Bexar Archives) with sketches of the early cattle brands. The exhibit also contains several saddles from the 1800s, the XIT horn chair and footstool ca 1890, as well as other ranching artifacts from the James Frank Dobie Collection.
“Ranching played an important role in shaping the diverse history of our state, from its beginning in the early Spanish Colonial Texas, to the 1877 formation of the Cattle Raisers Association of Texas, to the long cattle drives that originated in south Texas,” stated Dr. Patrick Cox, associate director of the Center for American History. “This exhibit highlights some of the seldom seen documents and artifacts from this important era in Texas history. We are very proud that we are able to bring this exhibit to Uvalde and the surrounding communities which are so historically rooted in ranching.”
A gala fundraising dinner hosted by the Friends of John Garner Museum and First State Bank of Uvalde on Tuesday, April 3, will celebrate the opening of the exhibit. The exhibit will be open to the public in the bank’s McNelly Room, April 4 – 5, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and on April 6, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The exhibit will then move to the Center for American History’s John Nance Garner Museum, where it will be on display Tuesday, April 10, through Saturday, August 18. The John Nance Garner Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Entrance to the museum is free of charge.
As an Organized Research Unit of The University of Texas at Austin, the Center for American History facilitates, sponsors and supports teaching, research, and public education in U. S. history. In support of its mission, the Center acquires, preserves and makes available for research archival, artifact, and rare book collections and sponsors exhibitions, conferences, film and video documentaries, oral history projects, grant-funded research, and publications. The Center’s resources and services support the University’s curriculum and University faculty, student and staff research, as well as research by the general public.
For more information regarding the exhibit or to attend the fundraiser, call Beverly Hadley (830) 278-5018.
