![]() | ||||||
![]() |
![]() |
|||||
|
||||||
Hooves and Heritage
|
Hooves and Heritage by Aaryn Degn, Archivist-Museum Curator A special exhibit, "Hooves and Heritage: Ranching in Southeast Texas," will run through November 2000 at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center in Liberty, Texas. The exhibit features artifacts, original documents, and photographs that document the history of ranching in Southeast Texas. Objects and records on display date from 1831 to 1998. Noteworthy items in the exhibit include cattle records and branding irons; cattleman's gear; artwork by Frank Abshier; twelve saddles, including two sidesaddles, a child's saddle, and one owned by Governor Price Daniel; a saddle blanket presented to G.T.J. Hardeman by General Sam Houston; a public notice posted in the Atascosito District by the Municipality of Nava in 1831 listing stray livestock and their brands; and spurs, including some made by John Henry Key. Cattle ranching has been one of Southeast Texas's largest industries since the eighteenth century. The first cattle in Texas were brought here in the 1690s by Spaniards. The Spanish cattle, possibly Andalusian stock, were tough; they survived and flourished, roaming freely in the Texas wilderness. When the first Anglo-Americans began moving into Texas in the early nineteenth century, they brought with them English cattle, especially Longhorn Herefords and the English Bakewell stock. The Texas longhorn emerged as a hybrid breed caused by the random mixing of Spanish criollo cattle and the English cattle brought by the Anglo-Americans. Modern scholars place the beginnings of the Texas ranching industry in the Southeast Texas-southwestern Louisiana region. In the early days of cattle ranching, cattle roamed the open range, grazing for food. Because there were no enclosures within which to keep one's herd, ranchers adopted the Spanish way of identifying their cattle: branding. The brand, registered by county in Texas after 1836, showed ownership and helped prevent theft. The end of the open range came after the invention of barbed wire in 1874; the first barbed wire fence in Southeast Texas was built by James Taylor White, Jr. in the 1880s. Despite the fencing of property, ranchers continue to brand their cattle today as a means of identifying their stock. The first ranchers in Southeast Texas did not drive their cattle to market in the north; instead, cattle were driven to New Orleans. The major cattle trail was the Atascosito/Opelousas Road, an east-west Indian trail in Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas. An alternate route, the Old Beef Road, crossed through the northern portions of Jasper and Newton Counties on its way to Louisiana. The cattle drive was an arduous undertaking, but well worth the effort, as cattle sold in New Orleans for more than twice what they brought in Texas. Cattle were also transported to New Orleans via steamboat. In the 1880s, the railroad began to replace the dusty cattle trail as the primary means of transporting cattle to market in Louisiana. For over 200 years, cattle ranching has been an important industry in Southeast Texas. Historically, ranchers in this area have raised large numbers of cattle; according to the 1856 tax rolls, Jefferson and Liberty counties ranked as the second and third largest cattle-raising counties in the state, respectively. In the past, women and African-Americans played important, if perhaps less known, roles on the ranch. Slaves were used as drovers and herders on roundups and cattle drives, and women often controlled ranches when widowed. Today, women ranchers are more common in Southeast Texas and African-Americans continue to work as ranchers, cowboys, and cow hands. Contributors and DonorsMany of the items on display come from the following major collections: Benjamin Franklin Abshier, Jr. Family Collection, Leila Boyt Jeffrey Collection, Governor Bill Daniel Collection, Don Kelly Southeast Texas Post Card Collection, J. H. Manthey "Cleveland Advocate" Collection, Watson A. Neyland Collection, W. D.Partlow Collection, Pickett Family Photographic Archives, Tennie Bell Sloan Collection, and Julia Duncan Welder Collection.
We appreciate the following donors, whose generous
donations helped make this exhibit possible: Dana Abshier, Barbers
Hill Mont Belvieu Museum, Mary Elizabeth Gay Bennett, Barbara Fitzgerald
Benson, Bobbie Blake, Anna Lou Palmer & Bill Brett, Otis Perry Cessna,
Mary Cobb (Newton County Clerk), Houston & Charlotte Daniel, Jean
Houston Daniel, Charles W. Fisher, Jr., James E. Fregia, Mary Welder
Gay, Donece Gregory (Tyler County Clerk), A. J. Guedry, Dee Hatton
(Hardin County Clerk), Lanelle Abshier Jolley, Ann Welder Jolly,
Carlton Jones, John Henry Key, Peggy Lopez, Wilma McCreight, Jeff
Oran Meacham, Catherine J. Merchant, Maxine Merchant, Barbara Middleton
(Polk County Clerk), Debbie Newman (Jasper County Clerk), Mr. &
Mrs. Allen Neyland, Howard Oldham, Dick Partlow, Dozier Partlow,
Sam Partlow, Ben & Ellen Pickett, Norma Rowland (Chambers County
Clerk), Christine Moor Sanders, Earl F. Scott, Delia Sellers (Liberty
County Clerk), Michael Shannon, Robert Shivers, E. B. Stephenson,
Zachary Taylor, C.C. Thornton, Mary Welder Urban, Karen Jo Vance
(Orange County Clerk), Charlene Vann (San Jacinto County Clerk),
Sandy Walker (Jefferson County Clerk), Rosella Welder, William Duncan
Welder, Jr., Mrs. Jessie Wood, Pat Worthy, and Horace & Geraldine
Young.
Exhibit HighlightsFrom Horace and Geraldine Young: From the W. D. Partlow Collection: From Gov. Bill Daniel: From Bill Brett: From Ben Pickett: From the Don Kelly Southeast Texas Post Card Collection: From Otis Perry Cessna: From the Julia Duncan Welder Collection: From Houston and Charlotte Daniel: From Mrs. Clyde (Wilma) McCreight: From James E. Fregia: From the Abshier Family Collection: From the Samuel Max Smith Collection: From the Leila Boyt Jeffrey Archives: From Jean Houston Daniel: From Catherine J. Merchant and Maxine Merchant:
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
|
|
|
|