Authentic Texas 2017 Summer

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AUTHENTIC

T H E

H E R I T A G E

M A G A Z I N E

O F

T E X A S

Highways & Byways:

100 YEARS of TxDOT

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Out Among the Stars:

McDONALD OBSERVATORY

Astronaut ALAN BEAN paints the moon “because I’m the only one who knows whether it’s right or not.”

TEXAS ICON: GULF SHRIMP DARK SKIES & STAR PARTIES BETH MARIE’S OLD FASHIONED ICE CREAM

APOLLO

STAMFORD’S COWBOY REUNION

ARTIST APOLLO 12 ASTRONAUT ALAN BEAN IN 1969 AND (LEFT) TODAY IN HIS STUDIO

FROM THE TEXAS HERITAGE TRAILS LLC

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THIS IS the sixth quarterly issue of Authentic

Texas, published by Texas Heritage Trails LLC, an enterprise formed by representatives from five of the 10 Texas Heritage Trail Regions. The Texas Heritage Trail Program is funded primarily by the State of Texas through the Texas Historical Commission. The magazine and other activities of Texas Heritage Trails LLC are not.

The magazine is supported by advertisers across Texas who serve heritage travelers.

There are many great destinations to visit, places to eat and things to do in the search for local heritage experiences. Our goal is to shine a light on as many of them as possible. Of course, this is a big state — so the task is daunting. But nobody has more fun than we do sharing these stories.

This issue has a couple of themes running through it.

First, look up at the Texas sky! There’s a long history of marveling at the wonders of the night sky, whether taking an in-depth look by visiting the McDonald Observatory, our Authentic Place this issue, or just taking advantage of Star Parties at many places across Texas. Taking exploration to a new level, the Johnson Space Center should be on everyone’s bucket list for a visit, although it’s only one

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of many heritage destinations in Houston.

Our Authentic Person this issue is Capt. Alan Bean, one of the few astronauts who made it to the moon.

Then look down! Western cowboy boots are ubiquitous footwear in Texas and thus serve as our Authentic Thing in this issue. And a Trail Drive article highlights some terrific bootmakers who cater to this Texas passion.

With this summer issue, you’re invited to experience unique places all across Texas. And please consider one of our iconic highways for your travels: U.S. 83, which extends from Perryton in the Panhandle to Brownsville in the Rio Grande Valley.

Enjoy the Texas experience,

Rick Stryker President, Texas Heritage Trails LLC

Contents SUMMER 2017

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AUTHENTIC PERSON

AUTHENTIC PLACE

AUTHENTIC THING

Alan Bean, the fourth person to walk on the moon — as part of the Apollo 12 crew in 1969 — took a different path than his fellow astronauts once he retired. He began to paint, developing an idiosyncratic style used to capture astronauts and spacecraft.

The McDonald Observatory, 13 miles west of Davis Mountains State Park, is an astronomical research unit of the University of Texas that features a stateof-the-art visitors center, world-famous telescopes and some of the darkest skies in the continental United States.

The cowboy boot has its origins in 19thcentury Texas, when working cowboys needed sturdy footwear that could slip quickly and safely into saddle stirrups as they herded cattle. German cobblers who settled in Texas crafted narrow-toed boots with high heels to aid the horsemen.

AU THENTIC TEX AS

BARBARA BANNON/TEXAS PLAINS TRAIL

FEATURES

Contents 63 LIVE SHOW

Viva Big Bend

Viva! El Paso

65 HAPPENINGS

LEGACY

72 HISTORIES

History of TxDOT

A new book, Miles and Miles of Texas, tells the story of the Texas Highway Department’s 100 years.

Departments LOCAL

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24

52

Space Center Houston

Beth Marie’s Ice Cream

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Pecos Cantaloupes

Linda Pelon

CITY LIGHTS

The official vistor center at NASA shares the thrill of space exploration.

TEXAS ICON

Shrimp

Wild-caught Gulf shrimp are a crustacean delicacy, and seafood markets from Brownsville to Port Arthur offer fresh shrimp direct from their boats.

WWI Georgetown

The Williamson Museum tells a local story of the Great War.

LIFE

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YONDER

TRAIL DRIVES

Stamford Cowboy Reunion

Star Parties

Eighty-seven years ago, Stamford began celebrating the legacy of the West Texas cowboy.

Caddo Mounds

Dark skies reveal galactic wonders.

U.S. 83

The state’s longest two-lane highway begins at the Oklahoma panhandle and ends in Brownsville.

During its height, the Caddo civilization thrived in northeast Texas, and its history is remembered at the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site.

Caverns

Cal Farley Rodeo

Bootmakers

The 73rd annual rodeo at Boys Ranch helps at-risk boys and girls.

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Texas State Library

In 1970, the crew of Apollo 11, the first astronauts to walk on the moon, received the Texas Medal of Valor.

The lure of the cave is irresistible to many travelers. We explore five of Texas’ cavernous wonders.

Who makes the state’s iconic footwear? Here’s your boot camp.

EATS & DRINKS

King Ranch Cookies

58 DEEP IN THE ART

Cynthia James

Granbury’s studio artist reduces her art to wearable jewelry and small sculptures.

Peterson Brothers

Bastrop’s blues brothers are on the road to fame — but they won’t forget Maxine’s.

TEXAS ORIGINALS

The Comanche Nation historian searches for links to the tribe’s past .

Trails in This Issue Brazos 26 Forest 20, 48 Forts 18, 44, 48 Hill Country 44, 46

Independence 24, 48, 60

Lakes 52, 58 Mountain 42, 48, 63, 64

Pecos 46, 54 Plains 22, 44, 48 Tropical 44, 56 DENTON’S BETH MARIE’S OLD FASHIONED ICE CREAM P. 52

FROM TOP: ROD WADDINGTON; COURTESY BETH MARIIE’S

AUTHENTIC THING, COWBOY BOOTS P. 38

TRAILS MAP THE TEXAS HERITAGE TRAILS program is based on 10 scenic driving trails created in 1968

by Gov. John Connally and the Texas Highway Department (now the Texas Department of Transportation) as a tool for visitors to explore the Lone Star State. The trails were established in conjunction with HemisFair, an international expo that commemorated the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio.

In 1997, the State Legislature charged the Texas Historical Commission with creating a statewide heritage tourism program. The THC responded with a program based on local, regional, and state partnerships, centered on the 10 scenic driving trails. Today, each trail region is a nonprofit organization governed by a regional board of directors that supports educational and preservation efforts and facilitates community development through heritage tourism.

PUBLISHER

Stewart Ramser EDITOR

Tom Buckley COPY EDITORS

Julie Seaford, Michael Marchio

ART DIRECTOR

Martha Gazella-Taylor, Gazella Design ADVERTISING DESIGN & PRODUCTION

Lisa Reiley PLAINS TRAIL REGION

CONTRIBUTORS

Valerie D. Bates, Mike Carlisle, James M. Decker, Megan Forgey, Trey Gutierrez, Elizabeth Hogue, Kira John, Stew Magnuson, Roger Polson, Mike Pacino, Kim Phillips, Stephen Siwinski

LAKES TRAIL REGION FORTS TRAIL REGION MOUNTAIN TRAIL REGION

PECOS TRAIL REGION

BRAZOS TRAIL REGION

EDITORIAL BOARD

FOREST TRAIL REGION

Jeff Salmon, Texas Forts Trail Region Patty Bushart, Texas Lakes Trail Region Ron Sanders, Texas Mountain Trail Region Kay Ellington, Texas Plains Trail Region Rick Stryker, Texas Tropical Trail Region

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS OF PARTICIPATING

HILL COUNTRY TRAIL REGION

INDEPENDENCE TRAIL REGION

TEXAS HERITAGE TRAIL REGIONS

Margaret Hoogstra, Texas Forts Trail Region Jill Campbell Jordan, Texas Lakes Trail Region Wendy Little, Texas Mountain Trail Region Barbara Brannon, Texas Plains Trail Region Nancy Deviney, Texas Tropical Trail Region

TROPICAL TRAIL REGION

Legend

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Texas Heritage Trails LLC 3702 Loop 322 Abilene, TX 79602 AuthenticTexas.com (325) 660-6774

BRAZOS TRAIL TexasBrazosTrail.com

INDEPENDENCE TRAIL TexasIndependenceTrail.com

FORTS TRAIL TexasFortsTrail.com

MOUNTAIN TRAIL TexasMountainTrail.com

FOREST TRAIL TexasForestTrail.com

PECOS TRAIL TexasPecosTrail.com

Texas Heritage Trails LLC member organizations are participants of the nationally award-winning Texas Heritage Trails Program of the Texas Historical Commission.

HILL COUNTRY TRAIL TxHillCountryTrail.com

PLAINS TRAIL TexasPlainsTrail.com

Texas Heritage Trails, LLC dba Authentic Texas is a member of the Texas Travel Industry Association and is a Go Texan partner.

LAKES TRAIL TexasLakesTrail.com

TROPICAL TRAIL TexasTropicalTrail.com

AU THENTIC TEX AS

Texas Heritage Trails LLC is owned and operated by five nonprofit heritage trails organizations.

advertisement

LOCAL

TEXAS ICON p. 16 H YONDER p. 18 H CITY LIGHTS p. 24 H FEATURES p. 28

REACH

DAVID R. TRIBBLE/PICASA

for the

SKY Ready for its close-up

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LOCAL TEXAS ICON

WILD-CAUGHT

GULF

SHRIMP One-of-a-kind flavor, from small to extra colossal by

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VALERIE D. BATES

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FOR MANY, no trip to the coast would be complete without a shrimp dinner or two. And the

shrimp you eat tonight slept in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday — or should have. Wild-caught Gulf shrimp is without question the best way to experience this crustacean delicacy, described variously as premium, tender, mouth-watering and domestic.

And Texas is a top producer.

Catching the Crustaceans

Trawlers up to 80 feet in length take to the bays or the Gulf of Mexico’s 660 quadrillion gallons of water in search of the tasty brown-and-white shrimp. A captain and two-man crew — a header and a rigger — deploy nets up to 45 feet long, dragging them along the sea floor, and tickler chains attached to the nets encourage the shrimp into the net. Sought after for their flavor, Gulf shrimp can grow as large as eight to nine inches long. Once the net is brought aboard, the header begins removing heads from thousands of shrimp. The rigger is charged with the care of the nets and assists the header.

Shrimp are then flash frozen at sea in a special brine, further preserving their freshness.

Shrimp boat captains, often with decades of experience, are responsible for finding the shrimp, managing the crew and boat, and ensuring they all return safely to port — all while balancing concerns such as fuel costs, supplies, weather and the shrimp market.

RAFAEL ORTEGA DIAZ; VALERIE D. BATES

Shrimping in the Lone Star State

Texas has a long history with shrimping. Port Isabel, in Cameron County at the southernmost tip of the state, was known as the Shrimping Capital of the World during the 1950s and 1960s.

By 1958 Port Isabel had 10 processing plants, and nearly 200 boats operated from the city’s docks. In 1967, 20 million tons of shrimp were brought to the Port Isabel docks.

Shrimp are also widely celebrated across Texas at events such as the Galveston Island Wild Texas Shrimp Festival, the Aransas Pass Shrimporee, the Seadrift Shrimpfest and Port Isabel’s World’s Championship Shrimp Cook-Off. Participants demonstrate their culinary abilities with a wide variety of offerings from shrimp cocktail to fried, SHIPPING OFF: Held in many Gulf Coast coconut, boiled, paella, pizza, ceviche, tacos or communities, the Blessing of the Fleet marks gumbo. Choosing a favorite can prove challenging, a tradition centuries old, in which local clergy with an increasing number of creative choices. bless the trawlers before they head out to the Seafood markets bay and Gulf waters. “The Gulf Coast,” this 1955 postcard (above) reads, “supplies the from Brownsville to nation with the finest in shrimp.”

Quik Stop Port Arthur offer fresh 501 W. Hwy. 100 shrimp direct from their Port Isabel, TX 78578 boats. Walk into Quik (956) 943-1159 facebook.com/ Stop in Port Isabel, and quikstopfishing among the plethora of fishing lures and supplies and snacks and T-shirts is a seafood case featuring locally caught fare — along with a staff that will happily assist the novice with preparation tips. Texas Gulf Trawling 1430 Everglades Rd. Or visit Texas Gulf Trawling Co. in the Brownsville Shrimp Basin, Brownsville, TX 78521 where a freezer is packed with boxes of shrimp ready for the pan or (956) 831-7828 grill. Sizes are marked small (51/60 per pound) to medium (41/50 facebook.com/TexasGulf-Trawling-LLCper pound) all the way up to jumbo (21/25 per pound) to colossal 1435801223306694/ and extra colossal, which contain 14 to as few as five per pound.

The extraordinary efforts of Texas’ shrimp boats and crews are VISIT PORT ISABEL appreciated at countless tables across the state and beyond as diners portisabel-texas.com enjoy a meal of the wild-caught Texas Gulf shrimp. Visit the Texas Shrimp Association or Go Texan Shrimp websites for a listing of restaurants, retailers and docksides that offer wild-caught Gulf shrimp — or ask your server.

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LOCAL YONDER

LUCKY CHARM! The U-Drop Inn on Route 66 serves as a hub for the weekend’s festivities.

BANG FOR THE BUCK: The annual gathering of working cowhands, not professional rodeo riders, honors the traditions of the Texas cowboy.

Texas Cowboy Reunion

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JAMES M. DECKER

IT WAS 1930. The Great Depression had begun, but falling crop prices and heavy debt had long plunged rural America into economic misery. In the West Texas city of Stamford, 13 community leaders met to propose a celebration to boost morale amid hard times. Given the area’s rich ranching history, they settled on a rodeo, centered around July 4. So began the Texas Cowboy Reunion.

This event would provide a diversion from the country’s struggles but also promote the legacy of the West Texas cowboy, a way of life disappearing amid 20th-century mechanization. The first year was a success: over 12,000 people watched three days of calf roping, bronc riding, steer riding and rodeo’s first-ever wild cow milking. The Old

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Timers Association, composed of retired cowboys, was formed for historical commemoration.

The event took off. Permanent facilities were built in a natural amphitheater. In 1937, as rural populations peaked, a record 70,000 visitors attended. Wild cow milking wouldn’t be Stamford’s only innovation. Double mugging, a Texas rodeo staple in which two cowboys rope and tie a yearling steer, was created. So was barrel racing’s signature cloverleaf pattern. In 1940, the American Quarter Horse Association held its first show in Stamford, billing the event as the “world’s largest amateur rodeo.” Contestants were primarily working cowboys.

In 1935, legendary cowboy humorist Will Rogers quietly flew into town and was spotted watching from the grandstand. After some prodding, he

Stamford Chamber of Commerce 107 E. McHarg St. Stamford, TX 79553 (325) 773-2411 stamfordcoc.com

Cowboy Country Museum 113 N. Wetherbee St. Stamford, TX 79553 (325) 773-2500

• STAMFORD

FORTS TRAIL REGION

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: JESSICA DECKER; COURTESY COWBOY COUNTRY MUSEUM; JESSICA DECKER

Wild cow milking is a signature event in Stamford

GRANDSTANDING: A total of 12,000 people attended Stamford’s first event, in 1930. By 1937, that figure grew to more than 70,000, earning the title “World’s Largest Amateur Rodeo.”

PHOTOS COURTESY COWBOY COUNTRY MUSEUM

thrilled the crowd with a roping demonstration in what would be one of his last public appearances before his death the next month.

Today, dozens of volunteers strive to uphold the founders’ mission. Between June 28 and July 1, Stamford will host over 15,000 visitors from near and far. The Old Timers Association will meet to preserve the legacy of the West Texas cowboy. Visitors will eat barbecue, talk cowboy life and watch contestants, still primarily amateurs, perform.

Real cowboys and cowgirls will rope calves,

race barrels, ride broncs and bulls, wrestle yearlings, milk wild cows and tame wild mares.

Old-timers will rope calves and race barrels.

Texas cowboy culture will be presented through art, chuckwagon cooking and poetry. Cowboys and cowgirls will square off in an old-fashioned matched horse race. Every night after the rodeo, visitors will dance under the stars to Western swing and Texas country music.

In 1930, West Texas was consumed by discouragement. The weather and economy weren’t cooperating, and the government wasn’t any bet-

ter. Thirteen bold men had spent years building a new community on the dusty Rolling Plains and weren’t deterred. They chose to make Stamford the center of something memorable, better than the encroaching melancholy world. Eighty-seven years later, that legacy lives on. Rural economies face boom and bust. Weather and government aren’t any more helpful than they were in 1930.

But no matter what else happens, on the July 4 weekend in Stamford, you’ll find a real cowboy reunion in a real cowtown.

BULL SESSION: Conceived during the Great Depression as a way to honor the men and women who remembered the days of the open range, Stamford’s reunion still tips a Stetson to the ways of yore. Contestants both young and old vie for prizes in such rodeo sports as roping, barrel-racing and, of course, bronc and bull riding.

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YONDER

Along El Camino Real del los Tejas Caddo Mounds State Historic Site by

RICK STRYKER

THE STATE HIGHWAY between Crockett and

Nacogdoches roughly follows a prehistoric trading route through Texas called El Camino Real de los Tejas by the Spanish — and where today travelers can visit a grass house constructed much like the ancient original.

In 1689, an entrada (expedition) that started in northern Mexico, led by Alonso de Léon along with Fray Damián Massanet, traveled this route.

After crossing the Trinity River, the Spaniards

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encountered the Nabedache Caddo people, which de Léon called Tejas. They were the westernmost Caddos of the Hasinai Confederacy living on family farms scattered over the area between the Trinity River and the Neches River. Another Caddo tribe of the Hasinai, called the Neche, lived in an area extending east of the Neches River.

The Nabedache and Neche Caddo are descendants of a people who lived in this area as early as 500 AD. The prehistory of the Caddo

FOREST TRAIL REGION

FROM LEFT: RACHEL GALAN; JEFF WILLIAMS

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CEREMONIAL CENTER: (clockwise from left) Caddo grass house with burial mound in the background; Caddo and Kiowa storyteller and dancer Kricket Rhoads-Connywerdy (left) and daughter Angelyn; El Camino Real de los Tejas.

NATIVE SOIL: Rhoads-Connywerdy (right) has been telling traditional Kiowa and Caddo stories since 1988.

ern Louisiana and southeastern Arkansas. Caddo Mounds, on the east side of the Neches River, was the focal point of a prehistoric community that once encompassed about 90 acres and included between 900 and 1,100 people who were housed communally in as many as 150 distinctive grass houses.

The Caddo people who comprised this prehistoric culture were mound builders, farmers and traders maintaining a trading network that extended from the West to the Southeast. The Native American thoroughfare that came to be known as El Camino Real de los Tejas was likely one of their main trade routes. Visitors to Caddo Mounds State Historic Site can walk along a short portion of the original road.

Although the Caddo people were removed

in 1859 from their ancestral land to the present Caddo Nation location in Oklahoma, they come “home” to Caddo Mounds State Historic Site, which is still considered sacred by many. In the on-site museum, Texas Historical Commission staff have developed exhibits carefully designed to tell their story, including an introductory video.

Short interpretive trails allow visitors to view the Ceremonial Mound and the Burial Mound. The High Temple Mound is clearly visible immediately across SH 21. The newest addition to the interpretive plan for the site — and part of the tour — is the recently constructed Grass House replica, built under the guidance of Phil Cross, a Caddo tribal member who served as advisor and construction supervisor.

includes an extended period when they were part of the much larger Mississippi Mound Builder culture. They were the most advanced culture in Texas beginning about 800 AD until the civilization’s collapse about 500 years later. During its height, the Caddo civilization thrived over northeast Texas, eastern Oklahoma, northwest-

Caddo Mounds State Historic Site 1649 State Hwy. 21 West Alto, TX 75925 (936) 858-3218 VisitCaddoMounds.com

HOURS Open Tues.–Sun., 8:30 am–4:30 pm Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.

Mission Tejas State Park

It was no coincidence that the first Spanish mission in Texas, established in 1690, was San Francisco de los Tejas Mission located nearby. It is now a Texas Parks and Wildlife site. The intention of the Spanish was to locate missions across Texas to convert Native populations to Christianity and establish a network of Spanish communities populated by acculturated locals. This first effort to establish a mission in Texas was short-lived but is commemorated by a replica mission constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps when the Mission Tejas State Park was developed in 1934–35. It’s located just six miles south on SH 21 from Caddo Mounds State Historic Site. A portion of El Camino Real de los Tejas that passed through the Park is open for visitors.

Also part of the Mission Tejas State Park experience is the home built in 1828 by of Joseph and Willie Masters Rice, relocated to the Park from a site on the El Camino de los Tejas 16 miles away near Crockett.

JEFF WILLIAMS

120 State Park Road 44 Grapeland, TX 75844 (936) 687-2394 tpwd.texas.gov/missiontejas HOURS Open daily Office hours 8 am–4 pm

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RIDING HIGH (AND LOW): “The general premise of the rodeo hasn’t changed since the day Cal Farley started it,” says an organizer. “The kids practice, learn skills, get confidence.

And that’s so important.”

YONDER

73rd Annual Rodeo at Historic Boys Ranch At-risk kids cowboy up MIKE PACINO

THE NOTORIOUS GAUDY cowtown of Tascosa, situated along the dramatic Canadian River breaks in the Texas Panhandle, was long known to harbor desperadoes, rustlers, fugitives and those who pursued them. Today it’s a ghost town — and the site of a totally different Western tradition.

On Sept. 2, Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, which sprawls across 12,000 acres — including the site of Old Tascosa — will host its 73rd Annual Rodeo.

Yes, it’s a place where cattle still outnumber people. But the site of Boot Hill Cemetery, the original Oldham County Courthouse (1884) and the Oldham County School House (1885) is now home to hundreds of at-risk boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 18, giving them

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a “shirttail to hang onto,” as businessman Farley once famously said. Farley established Boys Ranch in 1939, and several sites on its historic campus are open for the public to visit.

Take 100 or so of these kids, more than 100 head of livestock, add several thousand fans, and it all adds up to one great rodeo. The youngsters compete in many events, including stick horse barrel racing, mutton busting, junior calf riding, senior calf riding, steer riding, bronc riding, chute doggin’, roping, girls’ barrel racing and pole bending. The kids have been practicing and rehearsing all summer — tutored by professional rodeo men and women — which gives them a chance to show off the skills learned at the many rodeo schools Boys Ranch hosts during the year. Rodeo professionals donate their time and

PLAINS TRAIL REGION

COURTESY BOYS RANCH

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knowledge to ensure PIT STOP: If it’s a rodeo that the youth lunch, it must be barbecue. perform in a skilled Participants and visitors enjoy a midday meal prior to the and safe manner. start of the rodeo.

Rodeo day begins at 8 a.m. with a 5K Rodeo Run, followed by a onemile Fun Run beginning at 9 a.m. From 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., adventureFEST is in full swing just outside the rodeo arena. Located in the heart of the rodeo grounds and prerodeo activities, adventureFEST — now in its seventh year — adds an exciting familycentric festival to the thrills of the annual Boys Ranch Rodeo. At adventureFEST, Cal Farley’s youth and supporters stroll along the midway, enjoying entertainment, merchandise, food, games and souvenirs for all ages. This event includes booths from sponsoring vendors, a chuck wagon where kids bake fried pies for rodeo guests, a face-painting booth manned by rodeo funny men, and demonstrations by the Cal Farley school’s STEAM Lab (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics).

A barbecue luncheon is served from noon to 2 p.m., before the rodeo begins at 2:30 p.m. A bargain $10 ticket at the gate includes lunch and all the excitement; children 6 and under are free.

The Labor Day weekend is also a time for hundreds of Boys Ranch alumni to gather.

It’s their homecoming — and many guests travel from all over the United States to attend.

Rain or shine, it’s the rodeo where Cal Farley’s kids ride. Come cheer them on — and enjoy a generous dose of Texas history and scenery while you’re at it.

Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch

Boys Ranch is located 36 miles northwest of Amarillo on RM 1061 west and then north on highway 385. If you use a GPS or smart phone, type in Boys Ranch, Texas.

(800) 687-3722 calfarley.org

HOURS

Visitors are welcome between 8 am and 5 pm Monday through Saturday and between noon and 5 pm each Sunday.

Boys Ranch Rodeo and adventureFEST

COURTESY BOYS RANCH

(Held each Labor Day weekend annually) Sat., Sept. 2, 2017 8 am–closing Admission $10 at the gate; children 6 and under free

Boys Ranch RV Park

Call (806) 533-1202 for reservations

SUMMER 2017

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LOCAL CITY LIGHTS

Houston, We Have a Space Center

TOP FLIGHT: Independence Plaza features the original NASA 905 shuttle carrier aircraft with the shuttle replica Independence mounted on top.

NASA’s official visitor center opened in 1992

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JEFF SALMON

Rebekah Baines. They named him Lyndon.

Jump forward to 1961, shortly after President John F. Kennedy had announced that the United States would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. A list of potential locations for a new space center quickly narrowed to a spot near Houston’s Rice University, reflecting the pool of talent at the educational institution. Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson was assumed to play a

major role in the decision, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Manned Spacecraft Center officially opened in September 1963.

A centerpiece of the facility was and is the Mission Control Center, which has been the primary flight HOUSTON • control center for all U.S.manned space missions from Project Gemini ( June 1965) forward. It was to that control center on July 20, 1969, that astronaut Neil Armstrong spoke the first words from the surface of

Space Center Houston 1601 NASA Pkwy.

Houston, TX 77058 (281) 244-2100 spacecenter.org

HOURS

Open daily 9 am–5 pm (plus extended hours seasonally)

Bay Area Houston Visitor Information Center 604 Bradford Ave. Kemah, TX 77565 visitbayareahouston.com (281) 474-9700

VISIT HOUSTON

visithoustontexas.com (713) 853-8100

COURTESY HOUSTON SPACE CENTER

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THE FIRST WORD spoken from the moon was the name of the first president of the Republic of Texas, and two things happened in 1908 that, more than six decades later, set that in motion. In early 1908 the head of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at Princeton University, Edgar Odell Lovett, agreed to move to Texas to head a new educational institute that would become Rice University.

Also in August 1908, a child was born near Stonewall, Texas, in a farmhouse on the Pedernales River to Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr. and

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COURTESY HOUSTON SPACE CENTER

the moon: “Houston,” Armstrong announced.

“Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

The phrase resounded around the world, confirming that Apollo 11 mission commander Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to land on the moon.

People from around the globe were immediately interested in visiting Houston to see NASA’s space center, but the facility wasn’t designed to accommodate large numbers of visitors. The facility was renamed in honor of the late President Lyndon B. Johnson by an act of the U.S. Senate on Feb. 19, 1973. “JSC Building 2” housed a modest visitor center until the nonprofit Manned Space Flight Education Foundation opened Space Center Houston (SCH) in 1992 as the official visitor center.

“Space Center Houston has shared the thrill and wonder of space exploration with guests from around the world since opening in 1992,” says William T. Harris, president and CEO of the science and space learning center. “They come to explore our scientific exhibits, space artifacts, educational programs and special events.”

SCH will be the first of four stops of a new exhibit featuring the Apollo 11 command module, which will leave the Smithsonian for the first time since 1971 on a national tour. It will be the only location where visitors can see the space capsules for both the first and last lunar landings. The nonprofit Space Center Houston

ROCKET SCIENCE: Visitors study the Apollo 17 Command Module, which carried the astronauts back to Earth.

is the home of the Apollo 17 command module, the last mission to land on the moon. The awe-inspiring “Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission” on display Oct. 14, 2017, through March 18, 2018, is part of the nonprofit’s 25thanniversary celebration.

“There has never been a more exciting time for our nonprofit center,” Harris says, “with major new exhibits opening, record-breaking

attendance and top industry awards.”

The focus of the center has always looked to the future. “We’re moving swiftly to become the world’s leading science and space learning center,” Harris adds. “We continue to expand our extraordinary educational programs and provide exceptional learning experiences to more than one million visitors annually.”

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CITY LIGHTS

In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

World War I Centennial

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

Georgetown’s Williamson Museum tells a local story of the war and its impacts

1917, the United States entered World War I. The commemoration of this momentous event is, of course, a national effort, but amid world-changing events associated with the war, great challenges were met in communities across the country. Local museums tell local stories best, and the Williamson Museum in Georgetown opened an exhibit in March examining the war years from a local perspective.

The exhibit follows a timeline from the lead-up to America’s involvement to the major issues fol-

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by

•

RICK STRYKER

lowing the war. The effect on the citizens of Williamson County is well told, along with individual roles that various residents played. Other major issues are part of the transformational story as well. The Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918 killed large numbers of people worldwide, even requiring local schools to close for a time to prevent the spread of the disease. And local citizens were caught up in the major social issues of the time, including the passage of a constitutional amendment

banning the sale of liquor in 1919 and another giving women voting rights in 1920.

One lasting legacy of World War I in Georgetown was the planting of red poppies.

Texan Henry Purl Compton, who served in the American Expeditionary Forces, sent poppy seeds to his mother back home in Georgetown.

She planted them in her garden, and from there they spread. Today, Georgetown has been designated the Red Poppy Capital of Texas, and the city’s residents so

Georgetown Convention and Visitors Bureau 103 W. 7th St. Georgetown, TX 78626 (800) 436-8696 VisitGeorgetown.com

Williamson Museum 716 South Austin Ave. Georgetown, TX 78626 (512) 943-1670

HOURS Wed.– Fri. 12–5 pm Sat. 10 am–5 pm Free admission WilliamsonMuseum.org

VISIT GEORGETOWN visit.georgetown.org

RICK STRYKER

O

ONE HUNDRED YEARS ago, in

GEORGETOWN

COURTESY OF WILLIAMSON MUSEUM, SUN CITY PROFESSIONAL ARTIST GROUP

SOWING SEEDS: Titled ”Why the Poppies Grow,” this museum mural depicts the colorful flowers, as well as people like Jessie Daniel Ames (at right), who registered 3,300 women to vote in two weeks at the County Courthouse.

identify with the eye-catching flower that each April they hold a Red Poppy Festival.

To remember the sacrifice of those who fought and died in “the war to end all wars,” people across Texas are being encouraged to plant red poppies as part of the Centennial Commemoration.

Inspiration for this gesture spread, in part, from

John McCrae’s 1915 poem, “In Flanders Fields.”

The Williamson Museum is housed in the historic Farmers State Bank Building (1912) on Georgetown’s Courthouse Square, dubbed the Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas. The Square remains vibrant and visitor-friendly. There are four residential historic districts near the Square dotted

by 20 historic markers. The Olive Street National Historic District includes dozens of late Victorian homes and arts and crafts–style bungalows.

Those who come to Georgetown, whether for museums or markers, festivals or flowers, may pick up a walking tour brochure in the visitor center located on the Square.

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LUNAR LEGACY AUTHENTIC PERSON

ASTRONAU T AL AN BEAN IS ON A MISSION: TO CAP TURE HIS OU T-OF-THIS-WORLD VISION IN FINE ART

TRUE COLORS: Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean (left) in his hometown of Wheeler, where some of works are on display; Bean climbs down the lunar module Intrepid, Nov. 19, 1968 (above right)

APOLLO 12 PHOTO COURTESY NASA

photographs and story by BARBARA BRANNON

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F

ROM EARTH TO THE

surface of the moon is a journey of some 238,000 miles. And Texan Alan L. Bean is one of only a few humans who’s made it. (He’s the only Texas native, in fact, among the elite cadre of 12 U.S. astronauts who’s walked on the moon.)

It’s been more than 45 years since Bean flew on the 1969 Apollo 12 moon mission with Charles “Pete” Conrad and Richard F. “Dick” Gordon, but he still works every day to recreate that experience and share it with others.

An accomplished painter, Bean left the space program in 1981 to devote his full energies to capturing his adventure on canvas.

His departure from the program must have puzzled his bosses and even his fellow astronauts, but Bean took his new mission as a serious calling. “When I considered retiring from NASA,” he says, “I saw lots of young men and women who could fly the shuttle just as well. But I was the only one of the 12 of us walking on the moon who could paint it.”

Bean, born March 15, 1932, in the small hospital upstairs from the drugstore in the Panhandle town of Wheeler, didn’t take to pigments and paintbrushes right off. “I carried on about planes and such,” he says, while growing up in Temple and Fort Worth and while completing his B.S. in aeronautical engineering at the University of Texas. But during Navy test pilot training some years before he’d been selected for the astronaut program in 1963, he began to consider how he might apply his artistic gift. He cultivated it with classes over the years, landing on his signature subject matter after returning from commanding Skylab Mission II in 1973. He’s never looked back.

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MONET OF THE MOON Bean’s first solo art exhibition was held in Fort Worth in 1984. Since that time he’s created more than 200 space-related works, mainly as commissions these days.

Forty of his paintings and drawings were showcased in a 2009 exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first Apollo mission.

He paints nearly every day, devoting most of his working hours to creating art that he alone on the planet can make. “I spent 18 years at NASA risking my life so I could do this,” he says, and he means it: he guards his time, allotting little of it for public appearances or other distractions.

In his sunlit Houston studio he has several paintings going at once on easels, and the dove-gray walls are graced with several originals as well as moon-mission memorabilia. The room is a riot of light, from the gold foil encasing a scale model

STATE OF THE ART: “About half the astronauts thought it was a midlife crisis or something,” Bean once said of his decision to take up painting. “The other half — the ones who were more right brain — thought it was a pretty good idea.” As an added touch, Bean integrates minute bits of moon dust into his paintings and stamps them with an Apollo boot model.

of the lunar landing module to a glass mosaic of his own creation, to strips of beveled mirrors reflecting different sides of mini-astronaut mannequins.

Such artifacts, in addition to the detailed reference files and notes Bean keeps, ensure that his paintings depict a particular moment with precision. “I like to feel it’s as accurate as I can make it,” he says. “More accurate than it can ever be done in the future in fine art” — because he’s the one who was there.

That photorealistic accuracy extends to, say, the

angle of the sun, as documented in flight records, or the exact equipment used on the mission he’s portraying.

His style, however, is colorfully impressionistic, combining carefully chosen color schemes with bas-relief sculptural elements formed by tools and boot soles. And he’s hit on the inspiration of incorporating into his acrylic pigments

a few grains of dust vacuumed from salvaged uniform patches.

It’s that gray moon material that’s the hardest to capture in an earthly work of art, he claims, using the scene he’s currently painting as an example. “The most difficult part is the lunar surface, not because of the rocks or the dirt or anything — but because from right here it’s gray rock, and as far as you can see it’s gray rock, and that way and that it’s gray rock.” Adding touches of warm and cool accents makes the compositions more visually appealing, and in fact mirrors the human eye’s expanded capability to perceive color under zerogravity conditions.

Bean isn’t tempted to cheat by modifying the arrangement of actual events and participants, though — his mission is to show the scene as faithfully as he lived

it. “If you’re going to be an artist — and truly be an artist — you have to be disciplined,” Bean told a writer in 2011. “I’ve got successful artist friends, and they’re always painting. And I’ve got unsuccessful artist friends, and they’re always talking about painting.”

Until the day other humans have the same opportunity as the Apollo astronauts to travel to the moon, the spirit of Bean’s paintings will have to serve. He tries to capture the feeling in words: “I was at a Cowboys game, watching the punters.

I was thinking, ‘I could take a rock and throw it higher than those guys.’ Someday they’ll play football on the moon.”

A GRAND ADVENTURE DOWN TO EARTH: At the unveiling of a larger-thanlife bronze likeness at the Wheeler County Historical Museum in September 2016, Bean greeted hundreds of well-wishers, including the family of Wheeler native Pam Hill (left).

TRIPPING THE LUNAR LIGHT FANTASTIC One painting, for instance, depicts a graceful zero-G moment in mid-step. Bean’s self-portrait “Tiptoeing on the Ocean of Storms” is based on a photo shot by fellow Apollo moon-walker Pete Conrad. “That’s how you move around on the moon,” Bean says, indicating the dancelike motion. “You’re leaning forward and both feet usually aren’t on the ground; when you walk around on the moon, that’s a lot of work. But if you run along and use your ankles and just prance along, that’s a lot less effort.”

to Mars might not happen in his lifetime, it will happen, he believes, when the costly year-and-ahalf mission becomes a national priority again.

“We have the technology,” he says, “but it’s going to cost so much money.” In the meantime, great strides are being made in technology and in multi-agency cooperation with the International Space Station.

On a two-day trip to his hometown last September to unveil a statue dedicated in his honor, Bean inspired Wheeler students from kindergarten through high school with his recollections of standing on the moon’s surface. He encouraged them to pursue their dreams, whatever they might be.

“The pioneers who came to Texas were brave,” Bean told the students, “much braver, I believe, than it takes to go to the moon and back, where you’ve got 400,000 people supporting you and watching you and giving you directions.”

That line drew a laugh. But the previous evening, at a dinner with local museum and historical commission members, Bean had gazed out briefly as the sun set over Wheeler County’s rugged, cedar-covered hills. “Can you imagine if you came out here in a covered wagon?” the pilot of the Apollo 12 lunar module mused.

“There’d just be these beautiful rolling plains, but you could get lost out here.”

Bean predicts a lunar Olympics as well.

“Sprints won’t be very interesting, but high jumps — unbelievable!” He smiles. “Pole vaulting, I can’t even imagine that. You might be able to pole-vault higher than that TV screen in Dallas.”

FRONTIERS ON EARTH AND BEYOND Bean is sincere about sharing the goal of space travel with future generations. While a journey

Bean, who logged 1,671 hours and 45 minutes in space and has gone on to preserve those hours for posterity, characteristically shifts the spotlight to others. “Apollo was one of the great adventures in all history,” he says, “and it will be celebrated through the centuries just the same as Columbus or Magellan.” He adds, with modesty: “Neil Armstrong’s name will go along in history in the same way.”

Armstrong’s likeness, however, will also go down in history as only Alan Bean can depict it — and Bean’s artistic gift is now recognized in the city of his birth with a sculpture portraying his own likeness. Just as in the moon mission, Bean has trained well for his role and carries out his part with perfectionism and passion. “I’ve got to do my job right, as I see it,” he believes. “That’s it — that’s all I could ever do.”

S PR I N G 2 0 1 7

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AUTHENTIC PLACE

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McDONALD OBSERVATORY IS AN ASTRONOMICAL MARVEL by

ELIZABETH HOGUE and WENDY LITTLE

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Fort Davis is the highest town

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billion times brighter than the sun — was identified at McDonald.

The observatory’s impacts reach beyond research. On Oct. 1, 1978, McDonald Observatory debuted its StarDate radio program. Today, StarDate is the longest running science show on the radio, airing on more than 300 radio stations.

The journey to McDonald Observatory is half the fun. Standing about 40 minutes from Marfa or Alpine, it’s a day trip worthy of a traveler’s time. The road is windy, the scenery beautiful, and the observatory itself is a breathtaking sight — think Griffith Observatory, but without having to make the trek to California. The Frank N. Bash Visitors Center opened in 2002 and was formerly named the Texas Astronomy Education Center. It’s an attractive modern building with a colorful gift shop, a cafe and a 90-seat auditorium. The center is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and open later for Star Parties and other frequent special events. Daytime tours include a solar viewing program (a live, safe view of the sun, weather permitting) and walk-throughs of the research areas and telescopes. Three times a week — on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays — McDonald opens for Twilight and Star Party Programs.

POWER TOOL: The first major telescope to be built at McDonald, named for the Russian-American astronomer Otto Struve, was constructed between 1933 and 1939. Its 82-inch mirror (bottom) was the second largest in the world at the time. The telescope is still in use today.

McDonald is also a pioneer in the nationwide Dark Sky Initiative, which works to educate the public on the importance of reducing light pollution. Programs are available for both students and teachers on how to appreciate the sky. Even the McDonald website features helpful links and support, as well as offering SkyTips to assist eager minds in better understanding the universe.

The Twilight Program precedes the Star Party and lasts approximately 1.5 hours. The true event begins during the Star Party, which provides education and fun for all ages. Here visitors can look through telescopes and see the sky for themselves, a truly mindaltering experience.

Scientists say that a telescope is a “window to the universe,” and McDonald Observatory is the best place in Texas to test this theory in the form of three unique ’scopes. The first, the Otto Struve Telescope, was completed in 1938 with the rest of the observatory. McDonald’s dome is centered around the Struve, and back then it was the second largest telescope in the world. (Fun fact: the dome also used to have small apartments for the astronomers, which have now been turned into offices.) The telescope is named after the observatory’s first director, who helped shape the observatory to what it is today.

This telescope has been used to make several pivotal discoveries in the astronomical field and is

PHOTOS BY GLEN E. ELLMAN

in Texas. Literally. Located at an altitude of more than 5,000 feet in the heart of the Davis Mountains, this town is a gem of a destination. Attractions include a historic frontier fort and a state park, but the town is best known for the McDonald Observatory. Sitting atop Mount Locke and Mount Fowlkes, the observatory sits under some of the darkest night skies in the world and boasts one of the world’s leading centers for research, teaching and outreach.

McDonald Observatory was established in 1932 after wealthy banker William Johnson McDonald endowed his fortune so the University of Texas could acquire a planetarium. McDonald was determined his money be put towards a “part of the University for the study and promotion of Astronomical Science.”

At the time, the University had no astronomical staff, but partnered with the University of Chicago to conduct research in the area at the newly built location. The site became fully UT-owned in the 1960s, when on Sept. 1, 1963, Harlan J. Smith was appointed the first University of Texas director. Today, McDonald Observatory is still one of the most esteemed observatories in the world and continues working to inspire others and make new discoveries.

The history of research here is rich and unparalleled, as McDonald has made several textbook-changing and intergalactic discoveries, rendering it one of the most pivotal observatories on the planet. To wit, in 1969, shortly after Neil Armstrong took his “small” step, the observatory bounced a laser beam off a reflector on the moon. This experiment successfully measured the distance between the Earth and the moon within a few inches. In 1970, McDonald developed an instrument that led to an entirely new field of astronomy, which helps scientists study the backgrounds of white dwarf stars. This has led, ultimately, to greater understanding of things in our universe, and most importantly, our sun. Then in 1991, engineers from McDonald helped with the well-known Hubble Space Telescope, which can be pointed, with precision, at the targets of study and is still in use today. As for this century, in 2005, the most powerful supernova — briefly 100

ALAN DYER

GUIDING LIGHT: Special viewing nights, Twilight Programs and Star Parties advance the Observatory’s mission of educating the public.

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renowned worldwide. Over the years, the Struve has gotten some major updates, including becoming computerized and electronic, though the history and sentiment behind the telescope remains.

Chronologically following the Struve is another major telescope named the Harlan J. Smith. Built in the 1960s on Mount Locke, it was completed in 1968 during the Space Age and helped bring in new talent and prestige. NASA needed to build large telescopes to survey planets before sending spacecraft, and then observatory director Harlan Smith convinced them to put their funds toward McDonald. The potential for this telescope is vast, ranging from testing some of Einstein’s theories to studying the motions of galaxies. This was also the telescope used to measure the distance between the moon and earth in

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a program called “lunar laser ranging,” and it’s world, and uses unique properties of light to study still used today to study compositions of stars and distant galaxies, exploding stars and black holes.

Currently, the astronomers at McDonald are the motions of galaxies. partnering with several universi The final named teleties to construct and pioneer the scope was dedicated in 1997 and McDonald new biggest telescope in the world, is known as the Hobby-Eberly Observatory The Giant Magellan Telescope Telescope (HET). The HET 3640 Dark Sky Drive (GMT). The GMT will be locatreigns majestically over Mount Fort Davis, TX 79734 (877) 984-7827 ed at the base of the Andes in Fowlkes and is easily recognizable mcdonaldobservatory.org Chile, and is set to open in 2022. because of its outward honeycomb The telescope is expected to help appearance. The HET gets its HOURS Monday–Friday answer the long unanswered quesunique shape from a pattern of 10 am–5:30 pm tion: Are we alone? exactly 91 hexagonal mirrors. To

So why make the trek out make its observations, each mirror VISIT FORT DAVIS fortdavis.com to an observatory? Simple. “There must be perfectly aligned to create aren’t that many places that are a reflecting surface. It’s officially totally dark,” says dark sky pioneer the third biggest telescope in the and longtime observatory worker Bill Wren.

“We need to do what we can to preserve them.

That’s one of the best things about the observatory: it’s under one of the darkest skies on the globe.” Wren was dubbed the Angel of Darkness

by CBS News for his efforts to preserve the sky above McDonald, and remains hard at work on the task. “If Van Gogh were alive today, would he still have been inspired to paint Starry Night?”

Wren asks of one of the painter’s most famous compositions. “He maybe would have if he’d lived near McDonald — but not too many other places.”

Wren recognizes the need to educate the public about his passion. “Once, I was sitting with some folks on an outdoor patio in Austin,” he recalls. “We were talking about the importance of dark skies, and someone said ‘What’s all this about? The sky is dark. We have a ton of stars! Look, there’s a star! And another!’

Unfortunately, that idea is all too common today.

At the observatory, we try to explain the importance of preserving the sky.” At McDonald, it isn’t uncommon to witness the Milky Way on a regular night. “This place truly is a leader in both research and stargazing,” Wren adds.

McDonald Observatory leads by example for what the night sky should look like. “More and more people aren’t able to experience the true wonder of the sky,” Wren says. “A truly dark sky provides more than just a pretty view. When one sees the brilliance of the sky, it makes them feel small. It gives a better context of the universe.

Everyone should see the sky in its glory, at least once in their lifetime.”

And what better place to see it than somewhere local? “There aren’t many places you can go to really feel the history and significance of the sky,” Wren says. “But McDonald Observatory is still one of them — so everyone should make the trek out. There’s something for everyone. You won’t be disappointed.”

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AUTHENTIC THING

BOOTS were made THESE

Riding FOR

How Texas gave the nation the boot

COURTESY US FOREST SERVICE

T

by

KAY ELLINGTON

HE COWBOY BOOT was essentially invented in Texas.

Many assume the cowboy boot simply evolved in the U.S. and Texas from European conquistadors’ and settlers’ couture. Long after Cabeza de Vaca washed up on the Texas coast, however — and centuries after Coronado cavorted through the canyons — did the distinctive, pointedtoe heeled boot become ubiquitous across the Lone Star State.

The modern-day boot

may be stylish, with elaborate designs made from exotic skins, but its origins are quite humble.

In the 1800s, working cowboys needed a footwear that could be managed quickly and safely in saddle stirrups while they herded cattle.

German cobblers who settled in Texas during the 19th century crafted boots with narrow toes to make it easier for horsemen to slip their feet in and out of stirrups while mounting and dismounting, and the high heel prevented the foot from slipping all the SUMMER 2017

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way through the stirrup and getting caught.

Laces were lacking for similar reasons. (A foot stuck in a stirrup could be especially dangerous if a cowboy were thrown out on the range, where he could be dragged across cactus and caliche by a galloping horse!)

Pull straps or holes at the top of the shank In honor of the made donning the boots Lone Star State’s easier; fancy stitching unique history with reinforced the boot and the iconic shoe, the prevented sagging. Tall legislature in May leather tops reduced chaf2007 designated the ing from stirrup leathcowboy boot Texas’s ers, and bootmakers also official state footwear. designed high, reinforced arches to relieve the strain of standing in stirrups.

All well and good for a rider in the saddle — but such features also made riding boots difficult to wear while working on the ground. Enter the roper. When not on horseback, many cowhands and ranchers today wear ropers, boots designed with a round toe, a low heel and a softer, more flexible sole.

Whether your boot’s for roping or rodeo; whether it’s made of cowhide leather for work or alligator, snake, ostrich, lizard or other skins for show; whether it’s for men, women or kids … whatever your preference, Texas has a boot that’s just right for you.

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LIFE

TRAIL DRIVE p. 42 H EATS & DRINKS p. 52 H DEEP IN THE ART p. 58 H LIVE SHOW p. 63 H HAPPENINGS p.65

A

THREE RIVERS FOUNDATION COMANCHE SPRINGS ASTRONOMY CAMPUS

WORLD BEYOND The Milky Way in Texas twilight

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LIFE TRAIL DRIVE

STARS IN THEIR EYES: The Galactic Center region of the Milky Way in Sagittarius and Scorpius, seen in Fort Davis on May 13, 2015. About 600 people gather here each spring for a Star Party at the McDonald Observatory.

Look! Up in the Sky!

At Star Parties, the night sky is the megastar

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ELIZABETH HOGUE

people are gathered around winning International Dark-Sky Association, it telescopes, quietly murmuring about the different aims to give the public a better understanding anomalies that decorate the night sky. It’s hard of what’s happening up in the sky. One popular to see your own hand in front of your face, and method of spreading awareness is hosting Star that’s the way they like it here. NO LIGHTS Parties, a gathering of like-minded people with ALLOWED. What have you BIRD’S EYE VIEW: At the time one crucial thing in common: they gotten yourself into? This is a Star ofDark Skies Program love looking up.

Working to raise awareness to Park Ranger Sean Jones was Party.

Scientists estimate more than preserve the integrity of dark sent to a night-sky training camp night skies, the Dark Skies 80 percent of Americans haven’t Program throws star parties, to learn how to better engage the seen the Milky Way, but Texas writes self-guided constella- public at his stargazing events. “We tion tours and creates light start by viewing the visible planets,” Parks & Wildlife Department pollution education programs. he says. “Then we move on to the is working to change that. By Volunteers welcomed.

Andromeda Galaxy, Orion Nebula, partnering with global and local tpwd.texas.gov/spdest/ programs/dark_skies/ Beehive Cluster and Pleiades. Near organizations such as the award-

SMALL CLUSTERS of

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• FORT DAVIS

385

BIG BEND NP

VISIT FORT DAVIS fortdavis.com VISIT FORT DAVIS STATE PARK tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/davis-mountains VISIT MCDONALD OBSERVATORY mcdonaldobservatory.org

ALAN DYER

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ALAN DYER

SPACE CADETS: Deep-sky observers gaze skyward with a giant 36-inch Dobsonian telescope at the May 2015 Star Party in Fort Davis.

the end, I’ll use my laser pointer to do a complete constellation tour.”

Doug Cochran, park superintendent at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area near Austin, describes additional measures to get the public involved. “Sometimes we have Moonlight Hikes so people can see all of the sky’s wonders,” he explains. “We even allowed the public to hike to the summit of Enchanted Rock during the Perseid meteor shower in August.”

Award-winning science journalist Deborah Byrd founded the Texas Star Party, or TSP, in 1979. TSP is a week-long astronomy festival, and the inspiration for smaller star parties around Texas. This year, TSP is May 21 through May 28 near Fort Davis. The agenda includes activities for all ages, including sightseeing and telescope making. These events, however don’t distract from the real attraction: the night sky and stars above.

Byrd remembers her first official star gathering fondly. “I was working for the McDonald Observatory, and they let me use the big 36-inch telescope when the professionals weren’t,” she recalls. “I wanted to share that experience with amateur astronomers, so I planned a gathering. I figured the telescope would be the main attraction of the night.” But things didn’t go as planned. “I found that the night sky always wins,” Byrd laughs.

“People brought their own smaller telescopes, and came to just learn and hang out.” And that’s how the Star Party was born.

Now anyone can attend a Star Party in state parks across Texas, and even across the nation.

Byrd recommends anywhere in West Texas, but especially the Davis Mountains and Big Bend

out in a line across the planet’s National Park. “Big Bend OTHER STAR PARTIES equator. I’ve been hooked since.” is undoubtedly the most HAPPENING

State park interpreter Rick magical place in Texas to THIS SUMMER Torres suggests using your phone stargaze,” she says. “But to help get your bearings. “The the Davis Mountains are Bonham State Park app Sky Map uses your phone’s close to lots of fun places, 1363 State Park 24 GPS system and serves like a including Fort Davis and Bonham, TX 75418-9285 point-and-shoot camera,” he says.

Marfa.”

(903) 583-5022 “Aim your phone at the sky, and And, of course, Davis sticks to her roots. “When Lake Whitney State Park it will label stars, constellations, planets and more.” If you’re overI can’t make it to a star FM 1244 whelmed and not sure where to party,” she says, “I love Whitney, TX 76692 (254) 694-3793 begin, Byrd recommends using to visit McDonald her website (earthsky.org/tonight).

Observatory.” Planetariums are great places Copper Breaks State Park “We update the webpage daily 777 Park Road 62 with easy-to-see things in the sky to visit if you can’t make Quanah, TX 79252 for that night. It’s great for novices the trip out to a party.

(940) 839-4331 who aren’t quite sure what they’re Some of the most notelooking for yet.” worthy? San Antonio’s Palo Pinto Mountains

Byrd emphasizes that you Scobee Education State Park don’t need fancy equipment, Center and Midland’s 1915 FM 2372 excessive knowledge or even a Star Marian West and William Strawn, TX 76475 Party to become a stargazer. State Blanton Blakemore (254) 210-3015 Parks are open even when there Planetarium. aren’t events, and it’s easy to go You don’t even need a telescope to see some of the cool things check out the sky on your own time. “Stargazers the sky has to offer. Byrd suggests start- are people who just like to look up, and not just ing small. “For my first stargazing expe- during the nighttime,” she says. “There are tons rience, I had nothing more than a pair of daytime phenomena like rainbows, halos and of binoculars,” she explains. “I aimed at clouds. If you want to become a stargazer, just Jupiter and saw several of its largest moons, strung look up.”

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TRAIL DRIVE OKLAHOMA

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TEXAS

PERRYTON

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CANADIAN

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The wagon bridge over SHAMROCK the Canadian River at Canadian, Texas, built in 1916, is the longest pinconnected bridge in the state, spanning 3,255 feet.

In 1923, when the river’s course widened, another span was added, for a total length of 4,235 feet.

GUTHRIE

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ANSON The grand Opera House and other buildings on Anson’s historic Courthouse Square take travelers back to a bygone era in a Texas frontier town.

ABILENE •

TWO-WAY STREET: It may be known by some as the Road to Nowhere, but experienced travelers know there’s much to celebrate about this 895-mile stretch of U.S. highway in Texas.

The Last American Highway Historic U.S. 83 leads travelers into the heart of Texas

AU THENTIC TEX AS

MENARD

• JUNCTION

• LEAKEY

• UVALDE

STEW MAGNUSON

TEXAS HAS plenty of back roads to explore but none quite like U.S. Highway 83.

It begins at the Oklahoma Panhandle and runs almost 900 miles until reaching Brownsville, which is as far as any road in the state can take travelers north to south.

It’s derisively been called the Road to Nowhere, but don’t believe it.

I’ve traveled its length almost twice researching my book The Last American Highway: A Journey Through Time Down U.S. Route 83 in Texas. I

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always find something new to explore that I didn’t see the first time.

Plains Trail Region The highway begins in the Texas Plains Trail Region, in Perryton, the self-proclaimed “Wheatheart of the Nation,” where the Museum of the Plains features massive steam-powered tractors once used to haul the town, building by building, from its original site when the railroad came.

Next is the Canadian River Valley and the town of the same name. Its wagon bridge has been converted to pedestrian-only use and takes

COURTESY STEW MAGNUSON

T

by

83

U.S. 83 ends at the southernmost tip of Texas, in Brownsville, where the first battle of the Mexican War was fought at Palo Alto in 1846.

•

MISSION • BROWNSVILLE

runners, cyclists and walkers over the spring-fed river. Canadian’s charming downtown overlooks the valley and its stands of giant cottonwood trees.

Shamrock isn’t only the place to be on Saint Patrick’s Day — it’s also where Hwy 83 meets the much more famous Route 66. The Art Deco–style U-Drop Inn hosts travelers from all over the world. The town calls itself “the crossroads of America,” one of many to make that claim, but U.S. 83 extends all the way to the Canadian border, some 1,885 miles, so the nickname isn’t unwarranted.

Drivers in this region will be treated to the scenic forks of the Red River and its tributaries, where the water cuts through sandy ochrecolored channels.

Farther south, travelers enter the heart of cattle country. The picturesque 6666 Ranch has been a favorite of Western artists. Stop at its supply house in Guthrie to grab a cold drink.

Forts Trail Region At this point, travelers have left the Panhandle and entered the Forts Trail Region, so named for its series of lonely frontier outposts. lar weekend ride for bikers, both motorized and

Highway 83 wraps around the Jones County courthouse in Anson and passes its opera human-powered. Garner State Park is an ideal house. As beautiful as any building found along place to camp.

The hills end at Uvalde, the Honey Capital the road, it’s on the National Register of Historic Places, and once a year hosts events surrounding of the World. Stop at the Aviation Museum at the Cowboys’ Christmas Ball festivities. Those Garner Field to see a collection of World War II who miss the ball can stop at the post office and aircraft. see a 12-foot-tall mural of the event that put Tropical Trail Region Anson on the map.

Abilene is the largest city on the Great The first sighting of palm trees at Carrizo Plains portion of the road. The Grace Museum, Springs is a good bet that drivers are entering the its center of art and history, features a children’s Tropical Trail Region.

By the time U.S. 83 reaches Laredo, museum. Just off 83 is Frontier Texas!, an interac- it can no longer be called tive museum that brings the a Great Plains Highway.

Old West back to life.

LEARN MORE ABOUT U.S. 83 It’s now a river road, and

The loneliest fort in usroute83.com will hug the Rio Grande for the region might have been facebook.com/groups/119180393762 some 200 miles. the Presidio San Sabá in It’s my contention that Menard. Now sitting amid a golf course, the restored fort played a part in the Texas has the most fascinating history of any demise of the Spanish Empire in North America. state in America, and the Lower Rio Grande After Comanches overran the nearby Mission Valley has the richest history of any region in the San Sabá in 1758, the Spanish crown gave up its state.

The Republic of the Rio Grande Museum aspirations to push any farther north. on Laredo’s San Augustin Plaza will give an introduction to this short-lived movement to Hill Country Trail Region Highway 83 hits a big speed bump when it enters wrest control of the Valley from Mexico, and a the Hill Country Trail Region. At the foot of the taste for why the region is a history buff’s parahills is Junction, known to sports fans as the set- dise. Downtown Laredo’s mixed bag of architecting for Texas A&M football coach Paul “Bear” tural styles and centuries-old buildings make it Bryant’s brutal training camp that inspired the perfect place to explore and shop.

To the south, San Ygnacio is the town book and movie The Junction Boys. The campus where it took place is now operated by Texas spared by the construction of the Falcon Dam, Tech University, and visitors can still see where and, as such, earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places. Falcon Lake, at the the Aggies trained.

Heading south from Junction, the road town of Zapata, is a bass fisher’s paradise. Like travels along a ridge until it swoops into the Frio San Ygnacio, the entire downtown district in River Valley at Leakey. The area is a favorite for Roma is on the National Register, and it’s easy campers, fishers and canoeists and offers a popu- to see why the Marlon Brando film Viva Zapata!

was filmed here. It still looks like Old Mexico, although the streets are now paved.

When Highway 83 arrives at Mission, travelers can choose the hectic expressway or the legacy Business 83. Those who take the freeway will miss the block-long mural of Mission’s favorite son, former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry.

Just east of Weslaco on Business 83, the last drive-in movie theater south of San Antonio, the WesMer, is a bargain at $10 per car.

San Benito is the hometown of conjunto legend Narciso Martinez and Tex-Mex crooner Freddy Fender. Both have extensive displays at the town’s museum. The town just broke ground on a new cultural arts center.

Brownsville was the staging point for two famous battles. The Palo Alto National Historic Park, about five miles east of the expressway, was where Texas struck its first blow to secede from Mexico. East of Brownsville is where Union and Confederate forces fought the last battle of the Civil War, at Palmito Ranch.

The road ends at Brownsville’s thriving downtown. Escape the shoppers and duck into its world-renowned Museum of Fine Art.

That’s just a taste of what the state’s longest two-lane highway has to offer. It’s not a road to nowhere — it’s a road into the heart of Texas.

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FROM LEFT: COURTESY LONGHORN CAVERN STATE PARk; NATURAL BRIDGE CAVERNS

TRUE COLORS: Rustic barns and other structures throughout Fannin County preserve folk tradition through quilt-square designs.

ON THE ROCKS: (from left) Visitors take in the natural wonders of Longhorn Cavern State Park in Burnet; Harry and Clara Heidemann, owners and developers of Natural Bridge Caverns, which was discovered by students from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

Found Underground

How Texas’ cavern attractions came to light BURNET •

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NOTHING PIQUES a

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KAY ELLINGTON

highway explorer’s curiosity more than the roadside lure of a cavern or a cave.

Many of us grew up traveling in the back of a station wagon, counting down the miles to the exit leading to attractions that revealed mysteries beneath the earth.

But consider the perspective of those discovering Texas’ publicly accessible caverns for the first time. More than a half dozen cave destinations are found in far-flung locations across the state. Their modern-era discoveries date back — in some cases — hundreds of years, and many were surely used, by animals and prehistoric peoples, for millenia before that. Here are five to get you started.

Cascade Caverns (Boerne) sheltered Lipan Apaches in the 1700s, as evidenced by artifacts

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and a cave fireplace. Kendall County youth, coming upon the caverns in the 1840s, carved their initials in stalactites in the caverns’ first room.

Local stories about what was then called “Hester’s Cave,” after the owner, were adapted into a German language novel that was published in the 1870s and later translated into English. “Cascade Caverns is the first of seven Texas cave attractions to have been discovered,” says Rachel Tripp, general manager and cave explorer, “and has been entertaining folks ever since.” Actor Patrick Swayze even spent some time there, she says, for the filming of his 1990s movie Father Hood.

Natural Bridge Caverns (Comal) was discovered on March 27, 1960 by four college students from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio after receiving permission from the

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VISIT BOERNE visitboerne.org VISIT SONORA sonoratexas.org VISIT GEORGETOWN georgetown.org

nightclub in the cavern which flourished during Prohibition, but when the Depression hit, he sold the land to the State of Texas for the purpose of establishing it as a state park.

FROM LEFT: COURTESY NATURAL BRIDGE CAVERNS; COURTESY CASCADE CAVERNS

SET IN STONE: The natural 60-foot limestone bridge (at left) gives Natural Bridge Caverns its name. Meanwhile, Cascade Caverns in Boerne (below) was the first of seven cave attractions to be discovered in Texas.

Wuest family to explore what was thought to be a small cave. They were led to the site after hearing about an amazing 60-foot limestone bridge, an iconic formation that would become the Caverns’ namesake. On their fourth expedition, they uncovered a long, narrow crawl space that ultimately opened up into two miles of unexplored caverns. Today their discovery is recognized as a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior and is considered one of the world’s premier show caves.

At Longhorn Cavern State Park in Burnet, the Comanches used the original entrance and first room of the cave (now called the Indian Council Room) for shelter and ceremonial purposes — though the Indians’ superstition of caves kept them from venturing further into the darkness.

In the 1840s, Texas Rangers performed a dramatic rescue of a San Antonio girl from the caverns.

In the 1860s, Confederate soldiers found large guano deposits in the cave and began mining it to make gunpowder — and stored it in what is today known as the Gunpowder Room, as far from the natural entrance as people could reasonably venture at the time. The cave was also used by outlaws after the Civil War to stash loot and supplies and hide from law enforcement (legend has it that the notorious Sam Bass hid a large stash of gold there, still unfound). Sometime in the late 1800s, D. G. Sherrard purchased the tract and began exploring the cave more fully. Sherrard eventually opened a restaurant and

the park to begin the bulk of excavation and development. In all, from 1934 through 1940 CCC Company 854 removed 2.5 million cubic yards of debris from the cave and repurposed much of it as road base for Park Road 4. The prison crew also installed lighting through the length of today’s tour route and built several beautiful buildings in the park in the NPS Rustic style of the period (the National Park Service loaned Texas the architects who designed the park buildings).

Note that while admission to the park itself is free with a Texas state park pass, the cavern is accessible only by guided tour, provided by a park concessionaire, for a fee.

As for the history of the Caverns of Sonora, the Mayfield family began ranching in Sonora

Cascade Caverns 226 Cascade Cavern Boerne, TX 78015 (830) 755-8080 cascadecaverns.com

HOURS

Open year round; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day 9 am–5pm

Natural Bridge Caverns 26495 Natural Bridge Caverns Rd. Natural Bridge Caverns, TX 78266 (210) 651-6101 naturalbridgecaverns.com

HOURS

Hours vary by date Tours depart every 10–40 minutes starting at 9 am Final tour departs at 4 pm

Longhorn Cavern State Park 6211 Park Road 4 South Burnet, TX 78611 (512) 715-9000 visitlonghorncavern.com

HOURS

Grounds are open daily 8 am to dusk. Cavern tours leave hourly, 10 am–3 pm Mon.Fri. and 10 am–4 pm Sat.-Sun.

Caverns of Sonora 1711 Private Rd. 4468 Sonora, TX 76950 cavernsofsonora.com

HOURS

Tuesday after Labor Day to Feb. 2, 9 am–5 pm March 1 to Labor Day, 8 am–6 pm Closed Christmas Day (325) 387-3105 or (325) 387-6507

Inner Space Cavern 4200 S. I-35 Frontage Rd. Georgetown, TX 78626 (512) 931-2283 innerspacecavern.com

HOURS

Monday–Friday 9am–4pm Saturday–Sunday 10am–5pm

“Longhorn Cavern State Park formally opened on Thanksgiving Day 1932 with a ceremony and church service in what we call the Cathedral Room,” says park manager Evan Achilla.

“Jim White, the man who explored much of Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, was in attendance.” Longhorn Cavern was initially billed as the third-largest cave in the world, behind Carlsbad and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

Because Longhorn Cavern was formed by a flowing river (similar to Mammoth Cave) and not by dissolution (like Natural Bridge, Inner Space, Sonora and other Texas caverns), much of it was filled floor to ceiling with hard mud left behind by moving water. When the state purchased the property in 1930, a team of convicts was brought in to begin excavating the mud and install the cave’s first lighting system.

In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps moved to

around the turn of the 20th century — and discovered a 20-inch opening in the rocks, found in the southern part of the ranch when a dog chased a raccoon into it. Locals began exploring the cave sometime in the early 1920s. They could go back about 500 feet from the entrance to a 50-foot-deep pit in a section eventually known as Mayfield Cave.

Following the boom in American tourism in the 1950s, it’s not surprising that developers were eager to open up caverns as attractions. In 1956 Jack Burch, a caver from Oklahoma, saw the Sonora cavern for the first time — and detected signs of human impact in places where there shouldn’t have been any. He hoped to develop the cavern to halt such destruction and preserve the cavern for future generations. Development of the Caverns of Sonora started in 1959, and the attraction was opened to the public July 16, 1960.

Inner Space Cavern (Georgetown) is one of Texas’ newer cave discoveries — found in 1963 by the Texas Highway Department when Interstate 35 was being constructed and opened to the public in 1966. After remaining hidden for 10,000 years, Inner Space Cavern is one of the best preserved caves in Texas today, and one of the few places where prehistoric remains are found.

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COLONIAL REMNANT: Mission Nuestra Señora Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga, located in Goliad State Park.

Legacies in Leather

HEAD OVER HEELS: (from left) More than 30 pairs of custom-made Ross boots await completion as a reward for graduating Boys Ranch seniors; Mercedes, Texas, halfway between McAllen and Harlingen in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley, is home to one of the most eye-catching public art projects in the state. Thirty handcrafted fiveand-a-half-foot-tall cowboy boots are dispersed throughout the city, each colorfully painted with the insignia of a college or university around the state, country and even Mexico.

The hearts and soles of Texas bootmakers

AMARILLO •

KAY ELLINGTON

THE ICONIC FOOTWEAR of

Texas has left tracks across the state’s heritage and culture from the Chisholm Trail to current-day cowgirl chic.

Boots.

You’ll find them on the feet of politicians, poets laureate and pop stars. And unlike many heritage crafts, the bootmaking legacy isn’t at risk of fading away.

Legacy brands such as Nocona, Lucchese and Justin have long provided mass-market Western footwear. While factory tours of Texas boot manufacturers are no longer a practical option, there are numerous destinations where visitors can still experience these iconic boots.

Big business in boots Lucchese Boot Company was established in San Antonio in 1883 by Italian immigrant bootmaker

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Sam Lucchese. The family made footwear for a wide-ranging clientele, from Fort Sam Houston soldiers to Hollywood celebrities to LBJ. In 1970 Blue Bell and its parent company Wrangler bought Lucchese, and in 1983 the boot company moved to El Paso. Today Lucchese retail stores in Houston, San Antonio and Austin carry the high-end brand. There’s even a Dallas custom showroom — open only by appointment — and two factory outlet stores in El Paso.

Investor Warren Buffett is also in the Texas boot business. His firm Berkshire Hathaway owns the famous boot brands Nocona, Justin and Tony Lama. Justin Boots started in Nocona in 1889 by “Daddy Joe” Justin and his wife, Annie, to capitalize on the railroad expansion into Nocona. When Daddy Joe died in 1918 and the rest of the family wanted to move the company

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VISIT AMARILLO visitamarillo.com VISIT ABILENE abilenevisitors.com VISIT COLUMBUS columbustexas.org VISIT EL PASO visitelpaso.com

BARBARA BRANNON/TEXAS PLAINS TRAIL

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to Fort Worth, daughter Enid felt so strongly that her father would want the business to remain where it was that she stayed behind and started Nocona Boots there. In 1981, Nocona Boots merged with Justin Industries, parent company of Justin Boots at the time, bringing the bootmaking histories of the two family companies full circle. The Nocona plant was shut down in 1999 and production was moved to El Paso.

But the Nocona boot story doesn’t end there.

A repurposing success is in the making in Nocona, where once again fans can shop for Nocona boots at the Old Nocona Boot Factory.

In September 2016, Leigha Morgan and husband Craig Carter bought the 106,000-squarefoot manufacturing facility and in February 2017 opened a retail store that sells the eponymous brand. Other plans for the rest of the space include a non-profit food bank, community center, auction facility, coffee shop and microbrewery.

Boots on the ground If travelers want to see boots being created — especially by hand — their best bet is to visit a small, local boot shop.

Some Texas bootmakers’ benches date back more than a century, and a new generation of artisans — having apprenticed with the older masters — are making their mark in a mere decade or two. They often set up their original shops where the customers were.

In Amarillo, for instance, lore has it that cowboys driving cattle to the stockyards in Kansas would stop over on the way back home to Texas and buy a new pair of boots for the next year’s work.

“By 1930, there were at least 30 bootmakers in Amarillo, primarily on 5th Avenue west of downtown,” says Michael Grauer of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon. “Initially the bootmaker would drive a buggy out to the ranches to trace and measure cowboys’ feet. Later, as Amarillo’s bootmaking capacity increased, cowboys could come into town and have their feet traced and measured for custom-made boots because off-the-shelf boots weren’t available until the 1950s. Most cowboys could afford only one pair of boots — and when a boot needed repair they’d bring it to their bootmaker and sit outside the shop on a bench in their sock feet smoking cigarettes and telling stories and lies. On Saturdays, sometimes there would be a dozen cowboys sitting just like this outside the boot shops.”

ALL IN THE FAMILY: High school student (and budding photographer) Hailey (left) represents the new generation of Ross bootmakers, learning from her father, Charles (center), and uncle, Bob (right).

Western Leather Craft Boot Co. Amarillo One of those was Western Leather Craft of Amarillo, where since 1919 someone with the surname of Ross has made custom boots. D.V. Ross’s original shop was located at 16th and Polk, in the city’s northern retail row. Nearby on 16th, says grandson Bob Ross, rancher and oilman Don Harrington was known to entertain

luminaries on occasion. One day Clark Gable strolled over to the Ross shop to be fitted for a pair of boots. A crowd of camera-wielding onlookers soon gathered. One woman noted the physical likeness of the dark-haired Ross to the famous actor. “But he’s better looking,” she said of the bootmaker.

D.V. Ross’ grandson, Charles Ross, younger than his brother Bob by some 17 years, can slide a volume from the numbered stack and find, in its index, the outline tracing of a customer’s foot — along with precise measurements, and a description and price of the pair purchased that time.

These days, a fifth generation of Rosses carries on the bootmaking tradition. Charles’ daughter Hailey, a student at Tascosa High, is learning the trade.

“It’s a craft,” Bob notes, “that takes patience to learn and time to perfect.” He once calculated that a single pair might require 30 to 40 hours — partly because the leather, at each stage, must be worked wet and allowed to dry. “There’s two ways you can go to hell in the boot business,” he says. “And one of ’em is to work dry leather.” (He never revealed the second.)

James Leddy Boots Abilene Abilene, too, served cowboys on far-flung ranches. At James Leddy Boots on U.S. 83 north of town, current owners Al and Deborah Dos

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Mercedes Boot Company Ben Wheeler Mercedes Boot Company isn’t in Mercedes now, but it was when Rod Patrick founded it in 1975.

Patrick is known in bootmaking circles for introducing the full round toe and double-stitched welt after considering the double row of stitching on one of his saddles.

The company was sold in 1989 and relocated to Fort Worth, where it remained for the next 23 years. When the Trinity River Vision Authority assumed the shop’s property for a major bridge project, Mercedes Boots relocated to the small East Texas town of Ben Wheeler, located between Canton and Tyler on Highway 64, about 11 miles south of Interstate 20.

“Our boots are designed for people who make their living in, and wear, boots every day, all day long,” company president Debby Farr says.

“We make everything from oil-tanned work boots to the exquisite American Alligator. We actually make every skin that’s legal.”

Farr notes that Mercedes Boots has four custom boot-makers who run the shop like a well-oiled machine, paying strict attention to the over 250 steps in crafting a pair of boots by hand.

The factory and showroom located in Ben Wheeler is the one and only place to get a custom-made pair of Mercedes boots. “Our customers want something different and of course, personalized,” Farr says. “It’s common for people to fly in from all over the country, rent a car in Dallas and make the drive to Ben Wheeler.” Their best-known celebrity customer?

Entertainer Reba McEntire, who’s been known to drop a few dollars.

Candela Boot Company Columbus “I told my wife I wanted to be a bootmaker, so she told me to go make a pair of boots,” explains Mark Candela of Candela Boot Company, which began operation a dozen years ago. Candela knew he needed to study under a master if he wanted to combine his passions for art, Western wear and leather, so he pursued Lee Miller of Texas Traditions in Austin. He further honed his craft under the legendary Dave Wheeler of Houston.

Candela started out of a makeshift shop in the

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Tres Outlaws El Paso

Scott Wayne Emmerich, “Bootmaker to the Stars,” begins his pricey custom creations in a Sun City workshop, but the boots find their way to his Falconhead retail store in the tony Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Beginning three decades ago, Emmerich sought out master bootmakers to help craft elaborate designs featuring exotic leathers, handstitching as wide as 25 rows, braided kangarooskin piping and silver inlays built into the boot.

Clients have included actresses Brooke Shields, Jamie Lee Curtis and Renée Zellweger, rocker Sheryl Crow and talent agent Michael Ovitz.

“I used to have two partners,” Emmerich says, “but now it’s just me, so, it’s Uno Outlaws.” Will his glamorous legacy extend to another generation? Emmerich has no apprentices, and no offspring to whom he might pass along his talents.

“When I’m gone, it’s done,” he says.

Emmerich does fittings by mail order using a foam foot mold. Better get ’em while you can.

ART AND CRAFT: (from top) At James Leddy Boots in Abilene, custom boots are made according to careful measurements. Receipt books document purchases (some for celebrity customers) dating back to the 1920s; Native American boots hand-crafted by Mercedes Boot Company; legendary boot maker Dave Wheeler mentoring Mark Candela.

Making more than boots — making a difference

As one of the oldest custom boot-making shops in the state, Amarillo’s Western Leather Craft Boot Shop has carved more than heels.

The Rosses have also carved a tradition of caring in the Panhandle.

The family has long been affiliated with Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, a relationship that dates back to the organization’s beginnings, when the Ross boot shop was located in Farley’s building in Amarillo.

For the past decade, the current generation of Rosses has worked with a local benefactor on a new tradition: they craft a pair of bluetop boots for each graduating Boys Ranch boy and girl. Those proud, brightly colored boots can be spotted a long ways off — as Charles did once in a Panhandle snowstorm when the handcrafted shanks of those boots easily identified the affiliation of the wearer.

They’ll probably keep his feet warm and dry until his next big class reunion, too.

FROM TOP: BARBARA BRANNON/TEXAS PLAINS TRAIL; COURTESY MERCEDES BOOT COMPANY; COURTESY CANDELA BOOT COMPANY

pump house on his property. Given his small shop and out-of-town location, he developed the business model of traveling to his clients. Taking his road show of skin samples to his clients in their homes and in their offices is a model Candela Boots still offers today.

“We travel to Houston, Austin, San Antonio,” Candela says. “During our client visits, we work through skin selection and design and do a complete fitting. It’s a personal experience our customers really enjoy. We then hand deliver the boots to our customers when finished to ensure the fit.”

Candela builds one pair of boots at a time by hand, with the assistance of one other bootmaker.

Santos are more than happy to provide tours of the legendary shop founded by the nephew of Fort Worth’s M. L. Leddy.

The Dos Santoses purchased James Leddy Boots in 2008. Before coming to Abilene they owned the second-largest boot factory in Zimbabwe before it was nationalized. Bringing 52 years of bootmaking in Portugal and Zimbabwe to West Texas, they still use Leddy’s historic patterns as well as some of their own designs. For their Safari boot, for instance, they hold exclusive U.S. sales rights.

EATS & DRINKS LOCAL LEGENDS: (from left) The Denton courthouse serves as the backdrop for a cone containing one of more than 120 flavors; inside the original Beth Marie’s on the Denton Square.

DON’T MISS Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum 110 W. Hickory St. (940) 349-2850

The scoop on Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream

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ON TIPTOES, atop the

checkerboard floor, she leans against the marbletopped soda fountain counter to ponder. It’s not easy with 64 original, homemade flavors and every color under the rainbow to pick from. “That one,” the pigtailed little girl says to her date, pointing at something purple.

“The Bees Knees it is,” her daddy says. “And I’ll have the Peterbilt, both on cones, please,” he tells the soda jerk, breathing deeply the sweet fragrance of fresh-baked waffle cones.

by

KIM PHILLIPS

Daddy and daughter pick a table for two, and he pulls out the wire-backed chair. She giggles.

Dates like this one between people of all ages unfold at Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream & Soda Fountain every day.

The Denton ice cream parlor has been a haven for gatherings of all kinds since 1998: friends, meetings, even parties.

Named for the founding owner, the original Beth Marie’s is located in the historic Denton Square, on Hickory Street right across

from the county’s crown jewel, its 1896 historic courthouse, which now houses a museum. Beth Marie’s flagship parlor occupies a building that’s even older, constructed in 1876 during Denton’s first real boom. It was a time when the city’s two giant anchors, the University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University, were both still dreams on the horizon.

Don’t mistake historic for sleepy, though.

Downtown Denton is definitely historic, its buildings, like the courthouse,

the real deal. There’s nothing faux about it, lending the city its well-earned moniker of “Original and Independent.” When Beth Marie Cox and her husband, Randy, opened the doors 20 years ago, they stepped out in faith on the then listless square. They believed locals and visitors alike might rediscover downtown through their ice cream and authentic, take-me-back-in-time atmosphere. It worked.

While nostalgic at every turn, downtown Denton has evolved into

Denton Firefighters’ Museum 332 E. Hickory St. (940) 349-8840 discoverdenton.com/ firefighters-museum UNT on the Square Gallery 109 N. Elm St. (940) 369-8257 untonthesquare.unt.edu Campus Theatre 214 W. Hickory St. (940) 382-1915 facebook.com/dentoncampustheatre

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DENTON

Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream 117 W. Hickory St. (940) 384-1818 bethmaries.com

VISIT DENTON

discoverdenton.com 111 W. Hickory St.

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Old-Fashioned and Homemade in Denton

Historical Park of Denton County 317 W. Mulberry St. (940) 349-2850

a vibrant entertainment district, thanks to landmark draws like Beth Marie’s that spurred a revitalization that continues today. Owned now by Denton community pillars Bob Moses and Ken Willis, and partner Jim Engelbrecht from Dallas, Beth Marie’s is within walking distance of some 40 restaurants, plus museums, live theatre, galleries and shopping. And Beth Marie’s tops just about every Texas ice-cream review.

The original Beth Marie’s on the Denton Square is now the first of three locations. The second is also in Denton, on the south side of the city in bustling Unicorn Lake near the Cinemark Theater. The third is a Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream that recently opened in Old Downtown Carrolton. Also licensed to serve Beth Marie’s Premium Ice Cream are locations in Argyle, Roanoke, Waco, Dallas, Sherman and, soon, also in Georgetown. Beth Marie’s expansion also reaches fans on the menus of some area restaurants

and hotels, in select convenience stores, and in all Central Market grocery stores in Texas.

While growth equals change, one thing that remains the same is the ice cream that made Beth Marie’s famous. The same 1927 ice cream machine still churns out virtually every single pint of more than 120 signature flavors that change with the seasons.

The acclaimed ice cream and sodas now headline a lunch menu including sandwiches, stuffed baked potatoes, chili pie, hot dogs and even desserts like cobbler. All homemade, according to the parlor, because that’s how Beth Marie’s does it.

“Can we have another date?” asks the little girl, bells on the door jangling merrily as her daddy opens it for her.

“Absolutely. Same place, same time next week?”

And she giggles.

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Melon King

The secret to the renowned Pecos cantaloupe’s success? West Texas soil

T

THE PECOS cantaloupe is, arguably, the most famous melon to grace Texas’ produce scene. The sweet treat rose to fame in the early 1900s thanks to a farmer affectionately called the Cantaloupe King.

As the melon grew in popularity, everyone from Helen Keller to Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson ordered the sought-after cantaloupe for its succulent flesh and low seed count.

The summer staple even has imposters trying to cash in on its name.

The secret behind

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MEGAN FORGEY

Pecos cantaloupes? A rich history of family farming and potassium-rich, West Texas soil.

Pecos cantaloupes trace back to M.L. Todd, the Cantaloupe King himself. In 1916, he brought cantaloupe seeds from Rocky Ford, Colo., to plant in Pecos’ unique soil. What sprouted was an especially sweet melon he sold to the

Texas and Pacific Railroad’s dining car. Only particularly fine foods were sold in the dining car, and people stopping by for a quick bite would try the melon — and not be able to get it out of their minds … or tastebuds.

Back in Pecos, Todd, with the help of his children and grandchildren, hand-packed each cantaloupe and mailed them out to his loyal

customers. His businessminded daughter-in-law included pictures of the grandchildren, knowing customers were interested in supporting a family-owned business.

Some customers believe the uniqueness of the melon came from the seeds used. “I’ve figured out what you’re doing,” Todd’s grandson, Ray Thompson, remembers one woman exclaiming. “You’re using a hypodermic needle to kill the seeds. I’ve been planting them in my garden and just get an ordinary cantaloupe.”

FRUITS OF THEIR LABOR: (from top) The Mandujano Brothers — including Tony, left, and Junior — plant more than 300 acres of cantaloupes annually; farmer Jack Williams inspects some melons in 1947.

DON’T MISS Night in Old Pecos Downtown Pecos July 29-30 6 pm - 1 am (432) 445-2406

PECOS

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VISIT PECOS visitpecos.com

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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: SCOTT BAUER; ALBERTO HALPERN / TEXAS CO-OP POWER; COURTESY REEVES COUNTY LIBRARY

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Come for the world famous onion rings and specialty burgers (top right photo). But leave room for dessert (bottom right photo).

Whether it was the result of soil perfectly fit for these melons, the arid climate of Pecos or needles pushing out seeds, no one’s been able to grow cantaloupes quite like those in West Texas.

And that invites impostors: some ordinary cantaloupes might claim they’re from Pecos, but one bite reveals the truth. Consumers need only look for the “Fresh from Pecos” sticker adorning each authentic cantaloupe.

But here’s a bit of a twist. After the cantaloupe industry became less profitable in the 90s — when door-to-door delivery via the railway system faded — growing Pecos cantaloupes was largely moved from Pecos to Coyonosa, in nearby Pecos County. Today, the largest grower of Pecos cantaloupes is Mandujano Brothers Produce, a farm owned by four brothers who’ve been growing the West Texas favorite for more than 30 years. One of the brothers, Beto Mandujano, says the popular cantaloupes will be available in early July — at stores both inside and outside West Texas, with H-E-B, Walmart and Albertson’s stocking up.

This summer, Pecos will host a series of events honoring the history of the little cantaloupe with the big flavor. These include the Pecos Cantaloupe Festival, recently renamed A Night in Old Pecos, which will feature, among other events, a Cantaloupe Drop, where melons are thrown out of small airplanes at a low distance. And if that seems like a waste for melons so succulent, as long as West Texas remains hot, there’ll be Pecos cantaloupes.

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EATS & DRINKS

FIT FOR A KING: The Ranch’s main house is a two-story, 37,000-foot structure that’s now more than a century old, dating to 1915.

Alice G. K. Kleberg’s Famous Butterscotch Cookies Hospitality at Kingsville’s King Ranch

THE KING RANCH, which today sprawls across 825,000 acres of South Texas, has long been known as much for its generous hospitality as its legendary longhorns.

“When you sat down at Mrs. King’s table, you didn’t know if you were sitting next to a president or an outlaw.”

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or an outlaw. Surveyors, cattlemen, land developers … her table was open for any guests who came through the area.”

A highlight of refreshments at the Tropical Trail gathering was Alice G. K. Kleberg’s Iowa Butter Scotch Cookies — with an accompanying souvenir recipe card for each participant.

Mrs. King would have served her famous cookies to travelers arriving at the

HOURS

Wed.–Sat. 10 am–4 pm Ranch Tours Wed.–Sat. 11 am–1 pm Closed Independence Day and Christmas Day

MIKE CARLISLE

Hostesses like Henrietta King (wife of 19th-century ranch founder Capt.

Richard King) and Alice Gertrudis King Kleberg were known to welcome any visitor who walked in wearing boots.

“When you sat down at Mrs. King’s table,” noted King Ranch staffer Bob Kinnan at a 2015 Texas Tropical Trail partner event held at the ranch, “you didn’t know if you were sitting next to a president

405 North 6th St. Kingsville, TX 78363 (361) 595-1881 museum@king-ranch.com

ranch’s two-story, 37,000square-foot Main House, completed in 1915 on the banks of Santa Gertrudis Creek. The Main House has been the private home for seven generations of the King family, though history buffs may be surprised to learn that the first home of Captain King and his wife on the ranch, in 1854, was a mud-and-stick jacal.

Eventually the Main House would comprise 26 fireplaces and 17 bed-

King Ranch Saddle Shop 201 E. Kleberg Ave. Kingsville, TX 78363 (800) 282-5464

VISIT KING RANCH

king-ranch.com/visit/our-tours

KING RANCH

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COURTESY VALERIE D. BATES

by

King Ranch Museum

COURTESY KING RANCH MUSEUM ARCHIVES

rooms, and showcase many treasures and fine furnishings. Though the Main House is closed to the public, visitors are welcome to tour the King Ranch Museum in Kingsville or take advantage of daily ranch tours, nature tours, motor coach tours and special events at the King Ranch Visitor Center.

An annual, outdoor Ranch Hand Breakfast each November demonstrates cowboy life at the King Ranch and honors that original spirit of hospitality. But why wait until next fall? Just warm up the oven and bake up a batch of cookies to take along.

SHORT AND SWEET: Visitors who have the pleasure of enjoying Alice G. K. Kleberg’s Iowa Butter Scotch Cookies also receive a souvenir recipe card.

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DEEP IN THE ART

ARTISTIC ALCHEMY: James’ distinctive art relies on layers of metals and oxides that produce color variations.

Artefactz / Cynthia James Resident Artist 118 N. Houston St. Granbury, TX 76048 (817) 573-9446 .facebook.com/Artefactz

Galleries of Granbury Last Saturday of each month, 6–9 pm Stroll the downtown square area and meet the artists and enjoy live demonstrations by award-winning local and regional artists. facebook.com/galleriesofgranbury

Harvest Moon Festival of the Arts

Macro to Micro

Cynthia James’ unique creations are wearable art jewelry

AU THENTIC T EX AS

visitgranbury.com granburysquare.com

JILL JORDAN

YNTHIA JAMES has been working as a studio artist for over 30 years. Her dream has been to have her own studio and a shop where she can create and sell her beautiful designs. To make this dream a reality, she set out to find the perfect environment where she would thrive as an artist — and she found it on the historic square of Granbury, Texas, in 2001.

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VISIT GRANBURY

Granbury is a community that supports the arts, along with artists who work together to promote the diversity of mediums that thrive in town. Artists and art lovers come together each month for Last Saturday Gallery Night, which features exhibits and demonstrations around the square. In addition to the monthly event, each October downtown Granbury hosts the Harvest Moon Festival of the Arts.

GRANBURY

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PHOTOS COURTESY SHAD RAMSEY

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Oct. 21–22, 2017 Granbury Downtown Square Now in its 39th year of showcasing diverse works from 60-plus artists, makers and craftspeople. granburysquare.com/harvest-moonfestival-of-the-arts

In August 2009 James opened Artefactz, a Gallery of Gifts, as the owner and resident artist.

Here she creates one-of-a-kind museum quality art glass jewelry, large multimedia sculptures, smaller wall pieces and three-dimensional works.

Working in dichroic glass, metals, clay, and found objects, James creates works of art for the home and wearable art.

She calls her works of art “micro-sculptures,” small sculptural work that also serves as inspiration for larger works. She reduces these large visions of her art down to wearable art jewelry and small-scale sculptures that, according to her clients, add beauty to their lives and homes.

Modern dichroic glass consists of multiple ultra-thin layers of metals and oxides of metals that create color variations. James uses these color variations in the glass, layer upon layer, to make her unique creations. Dichroic coatings transmit certain wavelengths of light while reflecting others, thus creating an effect similar to the iridescence of butterfly wings, hummingbirds or fire opals.

James’ love for nature (she’s backpacked and canoed in many Texas locations) comes through in her designs. She was inspired by the large cathedrals, museums, the Alps and oceans when living and traveling throughout Europe as a child; she now lives on Lake Granbury, another daily influence.

But what makes her store distinctive? It’s

the artist herself. James can be found most days sitting at her work table with the sunlight streaming through the large storefront windows. She’s part of the experience. Everyone who comes in receives a warm welcome and is encouraged to explore, observe her at work and collaborate.

Shoppers love talking with her about how she works with glass, and many end up leaving with a necklace, bracelet or pair of earrings customized just for them. She creates originals on commission as well.

As visitors to James’ gallery agree, there’s just something special about meeting the artist and taking one of their designs home. A work of art is a wonderful memento of your travels—not just about the sights that you see, but about the people you encounter along the way.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: One benefit of visiting Artefactz is experiencing James herself creating her art.

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DEEP IN THE ART

NATIVE SON: Quanah Parker was born around 1845, possibly at Cedar Lake near presentday Seminole, Texas. Son of Comanche warrior Peta Nocona and Anglo captive Cynthia Ann Parker, Parker grew to be a powerful and respected chief of the Kwahadi Comanches.

The Blues Brothers

The popular duo from Bastrop hasn’t forgotten its Friday night catfish roots

W

legendary bluesmen as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Lightnin’ Hopkins hailing from the Lone Star State, it’s not uncommon for young Texans to dream of finding fame in Texas’ blues scene.

For two young brothers from Bastrop, however, that dream has quickly become a reality. Since their first shows in 2009 — when they weren’t even old enough to drive — the Peterson Brothers, consisting of Glenn Peterson Jr. (20) on guitar and Alex Peterson (18) on bass, has enjoyed the kind of success typically reserved for Austin heavyweights.

ITH SUCH

TREY GUTIERREZ

Despite their youth, the brothers have captured the attention of Texas audiences thanks to Alex’s uncanny ability to weave soulful bass lines around Glenn Jr.’s spirited guitar riffs. Supported by drummer Chris Mead and percussionist Levi Nichols, the Brothers have amassed an impressive fan base — as well as the attention of some of the genre’s most notable musicians.

•BASTROP Today, the Peterson Brothers enjoy a national following, as well as a weekly residency at Austin’s historic Continental Club.

With a lifetime of experiences under their belts,

Maxine’s Cafe Southern dishes like catfish and collards, in addition to breakfast, are served in a cozy, brick-walled cafe.

905 Main St. Bastrop, TX 78602 (512) 303-0919 maxinescafe.com

HOURS

Sunday–Tuesday, 7am–3 pm Wednesday and Thursday 7 am–8 pm Friday and Saturday, 7 am–9 pm

VISIT BASTROP

bastropdowntown.com

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COURTESY PETERSON BROTHERS BAND

by

grown their small-town roots.

Though they’ve stayed busy playing sold-out gigs, and, on occasion, opening shows for notable bluesmen such as BB King, Buddy Guy and Gary Clark Jr., they’ve made time for Maxine’s. Last spring, the cafe invited the brothers back to play a fish-fry benefit for

the MLK scholarship fund, an organization benefiting graduating students of Bastrop High.

“That was the week of SXSW,” Sartain recalls.

“They had two other shows that same night, but they still made time for Maxine’s.”

Busy as they may be, the Peterson Brothers will always find time for the venue that launched their career. “A lot of people wouldn’t have given us that opportunity” reflects Glenn Jr., resting backstage before his Monday night residency at the Continental Club. “We’re thankful Maxine’s believed in us.” Adds Alex: “Playing there takes us back to our roots. Seeing that little venue we used to play, all those years ago … it’s like going home.”

COURTESY MAXINE’S CAFE & BAKERY

THEY GOT THOSE FISH-FRY BLUES: The Peterson boys began playing Maxine’s in Bastrop when they were just 13 and 11. They returned during SXSW this year — seven years later — as part of a benefit to raise money for a scholarship fund.

the Brothers have much to celebrate. Despite this success, however, the boys’ dreams may have gone unrealized had it not been for the early support of an unassuming Bastrop eatery known as Maxine’s. Located in the center of downtown Bastrop, Maxine’s Cafe is a popular meetup for locals and tourists alike. The cafe gave the Peterson boys a chance to cut their teeth as performers.

But it wasn’t easy: the brothers’ young age made it challenging to book shows at bars and venues. Deanna Peterson, their mother — and, at the time, manager — would contact venues directly, seeking opportunities for her sons. “She came to us,” remembers David Sartain, owner of Maxine’s, “saying ‘We’ve got these 11- and 13-year-old musicians. They’re young, but very talented.’”

After hearing the duo, Sartain took a chance on the boys, booking the band for a monthly residency. “The Petersons started coming in Friday nights, which was our all-you-can-eat catfish night,” Sartain recalls. “At first their audience was just a few family members — but within two months, our little cafe would be absolutely packed with people waiting to hear these boys play.”

As the brothers became the talk of Bastrop, Maxine’s began to see its own surge in popularity.

Over the course of the Peterson’s catfish Friday residency, both Maxine’s and the Peterson Brothers would earn spots in the Bastrop Advertiser’s yearly “Best of Bastrop” list — for Best Home Cooking and Best Musical Group, respectively.

As the boys’ popularity took off, opportunities that had previously been denied them began to present themselves. The band’s schedule began to fill, and performances at Maxine’s became less frequent. “Instead of booking them every month,” Sartain remembers, “it became once a quarter, then maybe once every four months.”

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Live Show S U M M E R 20 1 7

Viva Big Bend

July 27-30 Alpine/Marfa/Fort Davis/Marathon vivabigbend.com eager to escape the stifling Texas heat during late July should head west — to West Texas, that is, where the Viva Big Bend music festival, now in its sixth year, is held.

The brainchild of Texas Music publisher Stewart Ramser, who also serves as tourism director for the city of Alpine, Viva Big Bend features more than 50 acts spread around four cities — Alpine, Marfa, Marathon and Fort Davis. And while some parts of West Texas are known for their summer heat, the festival’s dozen or so venues are in the higher elevations (approx. 4500 feet), meaning temperatures can be 10 to 15 degrees cooler than in Texas’ major cities.

And there’s something for everyone. “Similar to Texas Music, Viva Big Bend is diverse, showcasing a range of musical styles — blues, country, rock, Latin, bluegrass and Americana,” Ramser says. “Also, the communities play a big role in making the festival special. Each city has its own unique character and is a great place to visit. And Big Bend National Park is a little over an hour away. Some of our attendees like to come early — or stay late — and explore the area.”

MUSIC FANS

TANYA SO

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The festival continues to grow — adding venues like Saint George Hall in Marfa and Crystal Bar and Come and Take It BBQ in Alpine this year — but aside from the inclusion of day shows in Fort Davis and Marathon, which began in year two, Viva Big Bend has remained largely consistent. And that’s just fine with the performers, many of whom have played the festival multiple times.

“To me, it’s the perfect-sized festival,” says Mike Harmeier of Mike and the Moonpies, which will play Viva Big Bend for the fifth time this year. “More and more, folks from all over the state are talking about it and showing up.” It’s not uncommon for performers to bring their families and make a vacation of the trip.

In addition to Mike and the Moonpies, this year’s lineup also includes, among others, Aaron Watson, The Peterson Brothers, Shinyribs, Gina Chavez, The Bluebonnets, Ruben Ramos and the Mexican Revolution, Dale Watson, Chubby Knuckle Choir, Lisa Morales, Dirty River Boys, Graham Wilkinson, Harvest Thieves, Tomar and the FCs, The O’s, Star Parks, The Nightowls, Shane Smith and the Saints, Ricky Espinoza and Mitch Webb and the Swindles.

The area’s noteworthy venues will again play host, like Railroad Blues and the Granada Theatre in Alpine and Marfa’s Lost Horse and Planet Marfa, attracting visitors to the far west corner of the state.

“I was a little nervous leading up to the inaugural event in 2012,” Ramser recalls. “However, the first day of the first year was a huge success, and I haven’t had to worry since if people will come.”

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LIVE SHOW

NATURAL ACOUSTICS:

Viva! El Paso JUNE-AUGUST EL PASO, TEXAS vivaelpaso.org Visitelpaso.com VIVA! EL PASO! is

a colorfully costumed pageant that chronicles the 400-year history and cultural evolution of the El Paso region through song, dance and drama.

This musical spectacular celebrates the four major cultures that have influenced the City of the Sun: the Native American, the Spanish Conquistador, the Mexican and the Western American.

A cast of over 50 performers tells the story, beginning with the early Indian settlement and taking the audience through Spanish conquest, mestizo Mexican domination and the wild Southwest era of cowboys, pioneers and Anglos.

The two-hour outdoor performance is staged at the McKelligon Canyon Amphitheater in El Paso’s majestic Franklin Mountains.

Once upon a time, rustled cattle were driven through the canyon and over its wall to the Rio Grande. Today visitors can drive into the canyon on a newly paved road. But through it all, the mountains stand as sentinels, the moon shines down upon natives and tourists alike, and the soft breezes

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and rare autumn rains remind locals why they’ve chosen to live in a city with a mountain range in the middle of town.

Among all the hidden treasures of the Franklins, perhaps the most important geological feature is McKelligon Canyon, named after Maurice J. McKelligon, a rancher and real estate man.

Originally from Nebraska, McKelligon owned a drove of cattle, about 400 head, and developed and improved a spring in the canyon in 1882.

McKelligon housed his cattle in the canyon until 1887, when drought forced him to move them. McKelligon had a rock house built for his family in 1888 on what today would be the intersection of Brown and Rim Roads. The family traveled in a horse and buggy and used horses and a wagon to carry things to and from the ranch in the mountains.

McKelligon eventually sold the land and left El Paso shortly before the turn of the century; as his fortunes in El Paso hadn’t been developing as he’d hoped, he moved to Arizona and never returned. In 1931 El Paso County purchased the canyon for $30,000.

After many years of renovations and mixed use, the McKelligon Canyon Amphitheater was built to house El Paso del Norte, a historic outdoor drama that opened July 4, 1976, part of the nationwide American bicentennial celebrations. El Paso del Norte lasted for two years and was replaced by a more lively, more youth-oriented Viva! El Paso.

The musical performances run from June through August. By the end of each summer, about 25,000 paying visitors have witnessed the lively musical set against the mountainous backdrop of the canyon.

COURTESY EL PASO CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU

The McKelligon Canyon Amphitheater in the Franklin Mountains plays host to the colorful and lively musical.

Happenings S U M M E R 20 1 7

DO-NOT-MISS STUFF TO DO AROUND TEXAS

BRAZOS TRAIL

FORTS TRAIL

FOREST TRAIL

HILL COUNTRY INDEPENDENCE TRAIL TRAIL

LAKES TRAIL

of the families who built these ranches have helped them preserve their legacies.

PLAINS TRAIL REGION

MOUNTAIN TRAIL

PECOS TRAIL

TEXAS Outdoor Musical Drama CANYON

LAKES TRAIL REGION FORTS TRAIL REGION MOUNTAIN TRAIL REGION

PECOS TRAIL REGION

BRAZOS TRAIL REGION

HILL COUNTRY TRAIL REGION

FOREST TRAIL REGION

INDEPENDENCE TRAIL REGION

TROPICAL TRAIL REGION

June

Texas and Collin County WWI Centennial Commemoration MCKINNEY

COURTESY ACTON NATURE CENTER

Now–Nov. 11, 2018 Collin County History Museum (972) 542-9457 texasworldwar1centennial. org/calender/texas-collincounty-wwi-centennial-commemoration This exhibit provides an overview of World War I with special focus on different aspects and outcomes encountered by the United States during their involvement in the Great War. As visitors tour the exhibit, they’ll also be able to use iPads to

scan QR codes linked to videos, podcasts, documentaries, photographs, documents, songs and websites.

Texans Take to the Trenches AUSTIN

Now–September Texas State Library and Archives (512) 463-5455 tsl.texas.gov/trenches The Texas State Library and Archives Commission marks the 100th anniversary of the Great War with its latest exhibit. The collection of photographs, documents and dispatches commemorates the Texans who responded to Uncle Sam’s “I Want You” rally cry and showcases the individual experiences of Texans dealing with the war both at home and abroad.

For 50 years, a lone horseman carrying the flag of the great state of Texas appears atop a 600-foot cliff, signaling the beginning of a spectacular outdoor musical drama. With a burst of fireworks and a moving swell of the music, the horseman gallops away. Suddenly, a cast of more than 60 actors, singers and dancers takes the stage to kick off the show that millions of fans from all around the world have come to see. Admission fee applies; pre-show dinner available.

First Saturday Bird Walk in Acton

Legacy of Ranching: Preserving the Past, Embracing the Future

First Saturday Bird Walk

COLLEGE STATION

ACTON

Now–Jan. 8 George Bush Presidential Library and Museum (979) 691-4000 bush41.org/exhibits-listing

Through a partnership with the Department of Animal Sciences at Texas A&M, this exhibit celebrates the historic ranches of Texas and their ability to adapt through changing natural and business environments. The commitment and innovation

June 2–Aug. 19, Tues.–Sat. Pioneer Amphitheatre, Palo Duro Canyon State Park (806) 655-2181 texas-show.com

Monthly 7–9 am Acton Nature Center (817) 326-6005 actontx.com Bring your binoculars and enjoy the monthly bird walks — held on the first Saturday of the month — led by Dr. Billy Teels, who served for more than 30 years as a biologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service at various levels and in several states.

PLAINS TRAIL

TROPICAL TRAIL

National Trails Day June 3 nationaltrailsday.americanhiking.org At various state and national parks statewide.

Children’s Art & Literacy Festival ABILENE

June 8–10 Various venues (325) 677-1161 abilenecac.org Celebrating Garth Williams, illustrator of the children’s classics Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, Little House on the Prairie and Little Golden Books. The 6th annual festival includes the Storybook Parade, dramatic book readings, costumed characters, art activities, animals, magic shows, balloons and Paramount movies. Williams’ artwork will be on display at the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature in downtown Abilene. Hosted

by Abilene Cultural Affairs Council.

Old Mill Trade Days POST

June 9–11, July 7–9, Aug. 11–13, Sept. 8–10 318 South Ave F (432) 934-1479 oldmilltradedays.com

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Welcome back a favorite tradition at Post’s historic mill building. Free admission for all ages.

Shrimporee Festival ARANSAS PASS

June 9–11 Johnson Community Park (800) 633-3028 Aransaspass.org/Shrimporee A tradition since 1948 salutes local commercial shrimpers.

Carnival, shrimp eating, over 100 arts and crafts vendors, contests, culinary tent and continuous live music.

Dumas Noon Lions Dogie Days DUMAS

June 14–17 McDade Park mrp@amaonline.com dumasnoonlions.com Four days of food, fun, games and carnival in the home of the Ding Dong Dogies.

Activities and food $8–$20.

Texas’ Last Frontier Heritage Celebration and Buffalo Soldier Encampment MORTON

June 24–25 Cochran County Park (806) 266-5484 texaslastfrontier.com

The 14th annual event features Lee Reed and the Fort Concho Buffalo Soldiers.

Free admission for all ages; charges vary for food and activities.

Kwahadi Indian Dancers Song of the Eagle

(806) 335-3175 kwahadi.com The Boy Scouts present a colorful performance of songs, dances and stories that pay tribute to Native American culture. Begins at 7:30 p.m.

Reservations recommended.

Admission fee applies; preshow dinner available.

Fort Griffin Fandangle ALBANY

June 16–17; June 23–24 Prairie Theater (325) 762-3838 fortgriffinfandangle.org Texas’ oldest outdoor musical, now in its 79th year, is presented on the acre-sized Prairie Theater. Over 250 Albany performers present the authentic look and feel of the Old West, told with fun and humor. The show moves through covered wagons, buggies, railroads and the Concord Stagecoach that ran between Albany and Fort Worth, and includes threatening prairie fires, a giant rattlesnake, a rowdy frontier town and the discovery of oil.

Texas Outdoor Family Weekend GALVESTON

June 17–18 Galveston Island State Park (512) 389-8903 galveston.com/calendarofevents

Spend the night at the beach and enjoy a fun-filled weekend designed to help your family discover the joys of camping and Texas State Parks. All camping gear and equipment required for an overnight stay at the park are included with each reservation.

AMARILLO

Friday and Saturday nights from mid June through early August, 7–9 pm Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian

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Juneteenth Family Fun Day WACO

Brazos Park East

(254) 495-5556 wacoheartoftexas.com/event/ juneteenth-family-fun-day/ The largest event in a 200mile radius celebrating African Americans’ freedom and appreciating their heritage. The 7th annual event includes a MEGA kids zone, a health and community zone, live entertainment, food and much more.

Riverfest BANDERA

June 24 City Park (830) 796-4447 banderariverfest.com Bring the family for the ultimate riverside picnic. Enjoy a car show, Bandera Idol contest, CTBA cook-off and river activities, along with an arts and crafts show, live music and lots of food. A hot dog and watermelon eating contest, too. Don’t want to get wet? Come get in a bubble runner and walk on water.

And don’t miss the popular Anything That Floats Regatta.

Promote your business or just participate — bring anything that floats and join in.

earn CPE credits (though they must register for the symposium).

Copper Breaks State Park Star Walk

entertainment, dances and arts and crafts. The tournament is one of the largest on the Gulf and includes prizes for both offshore and inshore categories. Fireworks display on Saturday night.

QUANAH

June 24, July 22, Aug. 12 8 pm–midnight Copper Breaks State Park (940) 839-4331 tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/ copper-breaks Join volunteers to learn about various astronomical objects, including galaxies, star clusters and nebulae.

You’ll be able to view the night sky with telescopes and binoculars. Park admission fee applies

Sonora County Days and Outlaw Pro Rodeo SONORA

June 27–28 Sutton County Civic Center (325) 387-2880 sonoratexas.org/events All types of western fun — rodeo, dance, arts and crafts, live entertainment and much more.

Texas Cowboy Reunion STAMFORD

June 28–July 1 (325) 773-3138 tcrrodeo.com

The 87th annual event includes a nightly chuck wagon dinner before the world’s largest amateur rodeo.

Events include saddle bronc riding, bull riding, bareback riding, calf roping, barrel racing, wild mare races and wild cow milking. Other activities include the Western Art Show and Trade, a cooking competition with chuck wagon and barbecue cook-off, the Old Timers’ Fiddler Contest and Cowboy Poetry readings.

Lighthouse Establishment Cinema PORT ISABEL

Fridays June–July, 9:30 p.m.

Facebook.com/portisabeltx (956) 943-7602

Texas Purple Hull Pea Festival SHANKLEVILLE

June 24 Addie L. and A.T. Odom Homestead (409) 781-2564 shankleville.org/purple-hullpea-festival A full day of activities from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The event includes food, cooking demos, vendors, walking tours, storytelling and live music by E-Flat Band with Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco Roadrunners. A symposium, “Exploring Texas Freedom Colonies,” is also included featuring a special training session. Texas educators and administrators can

Fishin’ Fiesta FREEPORT

June 28–July 2 Municipal Park (979) 233-1047 fishinfiesta.com

Movies are projected on the side of the historic Port Isabel Lighthouse, offering a unique familyfriendly activity. No charge for admission. Concessions are available. Bring your own chairs or blankets.

July Since 1947, men and women have been drawn to this fishing tournament each year in the hopes of catching the biggest redfish, barracuda or any other offshore or inshore fish. The 70th annual Fishin’ Fiesta is sponsored by the Freeport Lions Club and offers carnival rides, food, live

Rockport Art Festival ROCKPORT

July 1–2 Center for the Arts rockportartcenter.com (361) 729-5519

At the 48th annual festival, over 120 artists from across the nation show their work in a variety of media and styles at this juried fine-arts event.

Live music and food. A/C party tent, kids’ activities.

Old Fashioned 4th of July GRANBURY

July 1–4 Downtown Granbury (817) 573-1622 business.granburychamber. com/events Join this community-wide celebration of over 40 years of patriotic tradition with this old-fashioned 4th of July celebration.

The historic Jefferson Railway offers a special July 4th weekend aboard a live steam train. Enjoy a celebration of flags along the Big Cypress Bayou as the history of Independence Day unfolds in the narrated historical day tours. Come see the Support Our Troops display that honors the U.S. military. Evening trains have a fireworks show and a cannon firing a dramatic “dragon’s breath.” (Note: closed the evening of July 4 so as not to conflict with City of Jefferson activities.)

July Pops Concert SAN ANGELO July 3

symphonic songs of celebration performed by Maestro Hector Guzman and the San Angelo Symphony, and fireworks. General admission is free, but reserved seating is available. This concert, which draws more than 35,000 annually, is the fourth largest in Texas.

Parker County Peach Festival

Movies Under the Stars at the LBJ Ranch

WEATHERFORD

JOHNSON CITY

July 8 Downtown Weatherford (817) 596-3801 parkercountypeachfestival. org

June 3, July 15, Aug. 26 LBJ Ranch (830) 868-7128 nps.gov/lyjo/index.htm

Firecracker Run BROWNFIELD July 4 Coleman Park (806) 281-4691 wtrunning.com/2014/ firecracker-run/

The 47th annual race is the oldest road race in Texas, with two options: a 10-mile run (beginning at 7:40 a.m.) and a 3-mile run/walk (beginning at 8 a.m.). Bib pickup on race day, 6:45 to 7:30 a.m.

Deep Sea Roundup

FROM LEFT: COURTESY GRANBURY CHAMBER; WEATHERFORD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

PORT ARANSAS

Old Fashioned 4th of July in Granbury

4th of July Celebration & Fireworks JEFFERSON

July 1–4 (866) 398-2038 jeffersonrailway.com

Bill Aylor Sr. River Stage (325) 658-5877 sanangelosymphony.org

The 30th annual concert features military pageantry including the historic cannons of Fort Concho, the men and women of Goodfellow Air Force Base,

July 6–9 deepsearoundup.com (361) 215-5928

The 82nd annual Deep Sea Roundup is the longestrunning fishing tournament on the Texas Gulf Coast. The tournament began as the Tarpon Roundup in 1932 and todays attracts as many as 800 participants annually.

This popular event is open to novice and experienced anglers and offers a great experience for the entire family. There are five divisions, including offshore, bay surf, fly fishing, junior and a piggy perch contest for children. Additional fishing tournaments abound in Port Aransas during the summer, with one almost every weekend ranging from kids to women only and billfish to redfish tournaments.

Parker County Peach Festival

Take a trip back to yesteryear with the 33rd annual Peach Festival, which takes place annually on the second Saturday in July.

“Fields of Dreams” North American Baseball Stadiums LONGVIEW

July 11–Aug. 26 Gregg County Historical Museum (903) 753-5840 gregghistorical.org/travelingexhibits Photos by photographer Jim Dow and from the Jack T. Buchanan Baseball Collection. A collection of memorabilia from the greatest and most significant players in baseball history.

President Johnson often showed first-run movies in his airplane hangar on the LBJ Ranch and would invite the community to join him. The park continues that tradition by inviting you for a showing of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, You Only Live Twice and All the Way in the field near the hangar. Ranch gates open at 7 p.m., and participants are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets and whatever snacks you’d like to munch on during the movie.

Great Texas Mosquito Festival CLUTE

July 27–29 Clute Parks & Recreation (800) 371-2971 mosquitofestival.com

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July 28–30 East Texas Regional Airport (903) 753-3281 greattexasballoonrace.com

Great Texas Balloon Race

Great Texas Balloon Race

Watermelon Festival NAPLES

July 28–29 (903) 563-9713 city-of-naples-texas.com The 79th Annual Watermelon Festival includes a parade, craft booths, special entertainment, street dance and PRCA rodeo.

August

Texas International Fishing Tournament PORT ISABEL / SOUTH PADRE ISLAND

Aug. 2–6 (956) 943-8438 tift.org The 78th annual Texas International Fishing Tournament is one of the oldest and largest saltwater fishing

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tournaments on the Texas Gulf Coast. Over 1,500 anglers will compete for trophies in a variety of species in offshore, bay and fly categories.

Lone Star Gourd Festival NEW BRAUNFELS

Aug. 16–20 New Braunfels Convention Center (337) 376-9690 texasgourdsociety.org

The Lone Star Gourd Festival is an annual event

that features an American Gourd Society sanctioned competition. Shopping and live demonstrations on Saturday.

Come and explore the beautiful world of gourd artisans.

Wheatheart of the Nation Festival PERRYTON

Aug. 19 Main Street (806) 435-6575 perryton.org/wheatheart Wheatheart of the Nation celebrates Perryton’s founding

FROM LEFT: LONGVIEW CVB; COURTESY TEXAS GOURD SOCIETY

LONGVIEW

Celebrating its 40th year.

Balloon flights take place daily. Launch and landing sites change each day based on prevailing winds. Balloon Glows are on Friday and Saturday nights followed by live concerts. Kids Land is a safe restricted area for children that requires a small separate entry fee. There are vendors for arts, crafts and food.

This festival has been around for more than 34 years and offers three fun-filled days of special events, games, food, carnival rides, contests, craft booths, cook-offs and much more.

back in 1919. The festival is a way for the community to come together to celebrate with family, friends and neighbors.

Grape stomp at GrapeFest

The 73rd annual event supports Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch and its related programs. $10; children under 6 free.

Westfest WEST

Sept. 1-3 Fair and Rodeo Grounds (254) 826-5058 westfest.com

COURTESY GRAPEVINE CVB

Westfest salutes the area’s Czech heritage, featuring constant entertainment, authentic Czech music, food and a plethora of family-oriented activities.

Boys Ranch Rodeo and AdventureFEST

Grapefest GRAPEVINE

Sept. 14–17 Downtown Grapevine (800) 457-6338 grapevinetexasusa.com/ grapefest

Guests of all ages will find a variety of new wines, new vendors, new bands and more to discover and celebrate throughout the four-day festival. Named for the wild Mustang grapes that blanketed the land when settlers first arrived in 1844, Grapevine is the headquarters of the Texas Wine Industry.

AMARILLO

Sept. 2 Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, U.S. U.S. Hwy 385 (800) 687-3722 calfarley.org

16 de Septiembre Fiestas PECOS

Sept. 15–17 Santa Rosa de Lima Catholic Church (432) 445-2309 visitpecos.com/events

¡Vivan los buenos tiempos!

Come enjoy vendors, live music, dancing, food and more.

Mermaid Society Parade and Aqua Festival SAN MARCOS

Sept. 16 (512) 825-2819 mermaidsocietysmtx.com The 2nd annual Mermaid Parade and Aqua Festival features a downtown parade with floats, music, the newly crowned Mermaid Queen and her court, and even pictures with mermaids. Following the parade, the festival offers environmental and conservation presentations, a local art market and a variety of handson, art-inspired workshops for all ages.

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LEGACY HISTORY OF TxDOT p. 72 H TEXAS STATE LIBRARY p. 76 H LINDA PELON p. 78

SPANNING COURTESY TXDOT

THE

TRINITY The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, Dallas

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LEGACY HISTORIES

THE

Long Winding ROAD AND

100 Years of TxDOT

by ROGER POLSON

MICHAEL AMADOR / TXDOT

BUILDING BRIDGES: The new West 7th Street Bridge in Fort Worth. The Fort Worth District worked to make the project community-oriented. Meanwhile, the historic photo at right, from the TXDOT archives, is identified only as “Couple in Mud.”

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O

N APRIL 4, 2017, the

Texas Department of Transportation — TxDOT, as most of us know it — kicked off a commemoration of its centennial year. Roger Polson, coauthor of Miles and Miles of Texas: 100 Years of the Texas Highway Department, tells how the remarkable history of this remarkable organization came about.

FROM CHAPTER 1, “TRAILS, TRUCKS, MUD, AND MONEY” At the precise moment on April 4, 1917, when Governor James Ferguson touched his pen to paper to sign the law creating the Texas Highway Department, he ignited a battle between the forces for the public good and the evil of greed. The worst offender was Jim Ferguson himself. Second was his wife, Miriam, who also became the first woman in America elected to a state governor’s seat in a general election and who acted as the Ferguson figurehead after her husband was impeached and banned forever from holding a Texas office. Others included their cronies and hangers-on,

who, like the Fergusons, saw the brand-new Texas Highway Department as a field fresh and ready plowed for their personal plunder.

The combat would last fifteen years. Its warriors would practice their strategies of advance and retreat, attack and defend, each side struggling to maintain power and control over the prize: the largest, wealthiest department or agency ever devised for any state in the United States. And when it finally ended, that same department would leap forward and grow to become, at least until the new millennium, one of the country’s cleanest, most innovative, most efficient instruments of progress.

Excerpted from Miles and Miles of Texas: 100 Years of the Texas Highway Department by Carol Dawson with Roger Allen Polson; Geoff Appold, photo editor; foreword by Willie Nelson (Texas A&M University Press, 2016).

This is the story of how the war raged and how its outcome has affected the state of Texas, the nation, and the world.

THESE ARE the opening paragraphs of the book Miles and Miles of Texas: 100 Years of the Texas Highway Department, penned by Texas author Carol Dawson. The words set the stage

for an epic tale about a big state agency and a very big state that transformed in the past 100 years from a largely agricultural population to one that contains three of the nation’s 10 largest cities and a booming, diverse population of more than 25 million people.

The story of the book began for me in 1989 when I was hired as a public information officer for the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation (the successor agency for the Texas Highway Department and predecessor for the Texas Department of Transportation [TxDOT]). I was assigned the job of organizing and executing a statewide celebration of the department’s 75th anniversary that was coming up in 1992. Those plans were changed with the creation of TxDOT in 1991. I said to myself, “Well, it’s a great story, and the 100th anniversary will be coming along soon enough.”

I spent a lot of time traveling around the state, interviewing and writing about employees at all levels of the organization. Often accompanied by the photographer and audiovisual manager, Geoff Appold, we saw firsthand the innovation, dedication and enthusiasm displayed by personnel, from a dump truck driver in Vernon to a billionaire transportation commissioner in Dallas. This story needed to be told, and in January 2012 when I retired from TxDOT, I took on a personal project to tell it.

Appold and I would meet for coffee and

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FROM CHAPTER 4, “THE ROCK CORE OF INTEGRITY” Gibb Gilchrist’s knack for making and keeping friends through the openness of his character also had a direct effect on the culture of the Highway Department.

During these years, the Highway department ‘fam-

story art deco State Highway Department building across the street from the Capitol in Austin created a control center, the beating heart of the operations, and helped to foster a sense of sturdiness and collaboration that spread out from the headquarters’ “rock core of integrity” to all the far-flung division offices across the state.

The next few years saw phenomenal advances in the Texas Highway Department. . . . The atmosphere of the new headquarters buzzed with plans for genuine, forwardthinking innovations . . . brand-new safety modifications, colossal bridges made with groundbreaking technologies, radical changes in philosophies of land use, and enough cash to carry out the work.

Gilchrist changed basic design principles and ushered in safer, wider rights of way. He also began the department’s longstanding policy of highway beauty incorporated into the design. Gilchrist began by conscripting members of the Highway Motor Patrol to scatter wildflower seeds and cordon off existing trees during highPAVING THE WAY: TXDOT archives hold these treasures, including, from top to bottom, traveling Route 66 between Jericho and Alanreed, 1958; historic photo titled “Muddy Road”; and constructing the new high bridge over the Pecos River, completed in 1957.

ily’ was born. A cohesive attitude of pride between employees and departments began to develop—with perhaps the exception of the Maintenance Division’s complaints that they often had to come in and fix the mistakes that the Engineering Division made —and the completion, in 1933, of the new eight-

way maintenance and construction.

Women’s clubs across the state had already been hard at work crusading for prettier roads and even planting trees, flowers, and shrubs in some places. The aesthetic boon to drivers everywhere was obvious, a true boost for tourism and recreational use. The advantages to safety and erosion purposes were less obvious, but far more crucial.

The second visionary was Dewitt C. Greer, who was mentored

by Gilchrist. Greer was appointed engineer director in 1940, and the looming World War II presented critical challenges as manpower and resources were diverted away from infrastructure and into the war effort.

FROM CHAPTER 5, “WAR AND PEACE” “[During the war] the only step Greer could take toward the future was to invest all state-generated

COURTESY TXDOT

discuss the possibilities of such a book as Miles and Miles of Texas. I began meeting with transportation leaders, laying out my plans to develop this book using sponsorships from engineering and construction firms who had, in fact, built much of the infrastructure through contracts. When we presented the concept of the book to Shannon Davies at Texas A&M University Press, she was so enthusiastic, we’d basically made the deal before the initial meeting ended.

Each step of the way, the doors opened, and I embarked on an initial fundraising effort, determined not to use state dollars. Doug Pitcock of Williams Brothers in Houston stepped forward immediately and put us on the road. David Zachry of San Antonio’s Zachry Construction followed shortly thereafter. At this point I knew the project was a go, and realized that if this book was going to be any good, I needed to find someone who’d actually written a book.

Fortunately, I knew just the right person for the job. Carol Dawson and I were acquainted through our work with the Texas Book Festival.

I enjoyed reading her fiction works and knew she’d just written a nonfiction book detailing the history of Luby’s Cafeteria, a fabled familyowned Texas company.

I approached Carol about the plan. “I want you to write a book about the history of the Texas Highway Department,” I said. Her initial reaction was sort of like, “Why would I want to do that?”

But within minutes, as we discussed how this story presented a unique look at Texas history, never before documented, the light bulb went on and the project took off. Appold agreed to be the photo editor. Texas icon Willie Nelson agreed to write the book’s foreword.

Carol brought her penchant for vigorous research and talent of telling a good story to the book, and we were off. Miles and Miles of Texas was on the road with a scheduled release just prior to the department’s 100th birthday on April 4, 2017.

Just five months since publication, the first printing has sold out and a second is in the works.

Carol’s research breathed life into this complex story, and she found inspiration in the dedication and leadership of the department’s career class. One of the early visionaries was Gibb Gilchrist, who came along and worked to right some of Ferguson’s wrongs.

revenues from registrations, drivers’ licenses, and the gas tax in short-term government securities so they could be protected from other political attempts to nab their use, and earn an increase during the shielding. . . . The remaining staff Greer instructed to start preparing detailed plans for conducting the enormous highway expansion, once peace was restored, that he had already envisioned.

[When] the war was over, Dewitt Greer plunged all of Texas into full-steam-ahead mode for highway construction. Having saved up the resources toward implementing his visionary plans to help create what he called “a civilization geared to motor vehicles,” Thus, in 1947, less than oneand-a-half years following the war’s conclusion, Texas accounted for twenty-five percent of the entire nation’s road construction. ‘The highway system of 1946 was a casualty of World War II. The roads in place were deemed expendable to the war effort,’ he said, as he set about rectifying that situation.

Greer ushered in the Texas-centric Farm to Market Road program and oversaw the state’s contribution to the nation’s largest infrastructure program, the Interstate Highway System. He was engineer director until 1966, and then was appointed to the powerful Highway Commission.

The mark that Gilchrist and Greer left on the Texas Highway Department is visible in the policies, practices and enduring highway family today.

These stories illuminate the narrative of Miles and Miles of Texas. With a comprehensive 80,000 words and almost 400 photographs, the story is told as never before.

Dawson concludes her narrative with these words: JUST AS ROADS have always changed human

ways of life, economies, and our contact with the worlds that lie waiting beyond our own village borders, so they also inflect our minds and spirits.

Roads help civilizations prosper; this fact remains indisputable. . . . What we may not notice is how a good, “fast” road erases that same natural world from our eyes now. Our ever-increasing speed eclipses the clouds overhead, the meadows and deserts and mountains and forests, into a glimpsed blur that instantly dissolves. . . .

History is the diary of a journey, of how we have arrived at where we stand now, at this milestone moment. It carries within it the meaning of the past and the shape of the future—mutable, adjusting to the topography as its pavers go forward.

So as you hit the trails, take your time to truly look at Texas on your way.

Excerpted from Miles and Miles of Texas: 100 Years of the Texas Highway Department by Carol Dawson with Roger Allen Polson (Texas A&M University Press, 2016; reprinted with permission.

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HISTORIES

PHOTO OP: Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin presents Gov. Preston Smith with a photo taken from the surface of the moon.

Texas State Library and Archives Commission 1201 Brazos St. Austin, TX 78701 (512) 463-5455 tsl.texas.gov

HOURS

Monday–Friday: 7 am–8 pm

VISIT AUSTIN austintexas.org

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PHOTOS TEXAS STATE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES COMMISSION

TO THE MOON

AND BACK

America’s First Lunar Landing Crew and the Texas Medal of Honor

by STEPHEN SIWINSKI

PHOTOS TEXAS STATE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES COMMISSION

S

TATE AND LOCAL dignitaries gathered at the Texas

capitol on Oct. 11, 1970, to honor the crew of the Apollo 11 spacecraft, the first American astronauts to land on the moon. Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins were decorated with a uniquely designed Texas Medal of Valor by Gov. Preston Smith in the chamber of the Texas House of Representatives.

A specially appointed lunar landing commission chaired by Secretary of State Martin Dies Jr. worked with artist Thomas Lo Medico to craft the unique gold medals. Only four copies of the medals were produced, one for each of the members of the Apollo 11 crew and an additional medal to be housed at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

One side of the gold medal reads “The State of Texas, Medal of Honor, Apollo 11 Astronauts,” and is engraved with the famed lone star of Texas with a floral garland. The opposite side bears Armstrong’s famous words, “We came in peace,” along with the date of the mission, July 20, 1969. Figures representing Armstrong and Aldrin are shown erecting the U.S. flag beside the lunar landing module while the planet Earth is shown in the background.

In return, the astronauts presented Gov. Smith with a photo taken from the surface of the moon. The color photo illustrated the stark black and white surface of the moon, an astronaut and the vivid colors of the American flag placed on the moon during the mission.

This “one small step for mankind” left an undeniable mark on the adventurous spirit of countless Texans who’d later be inspired to pursue science, math, engineering and technology to propel Texas to the forefront of innovation.

THE RIGHT STUFF: (from top) Astronauts and dignitaries, including Sen. Barbara Jordan, at the Texas capitol; Gov. Preston Smith presents the Texas Medal of Valor to Apollo 11 astronauts (left to right) Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.

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LEGACY TEXAS ORIGINAL

Linda

Pelon

The honorary ambassador to the Comanche Nation helps the tribe preserve its cultural heritage — for themselves and for others

LINDA PELON calls her stud-

ies into Comanche history the “research that won’t go away.”

She first researched Comanches during a course on ethnohistory while getting her master’s in medical anthropology, and later wrote about the Comanches for both her master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation.

An honorary ambassador to the Comanche Nation and former anthropology professor, Pelon spends her days researching historical Comanche sites and working to preserve those places and the stories they tell. In addition to reconstructing smoke signaling routes from oral histories, forging agreements between Texas landowners and the Comanche Nation regarding historical sites on private property, and working to get Comanche historical sites included on the National Register, Pelon trains research teams looking at similar places along the Colorado, Navasota, Brazos and Trinity Rivers. She also advocates using tourism as a way to protect historic sites by generating income and avoiding the destruction of land for profit, as through quarrying. Her most recent work,

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PRESERVATIONIST: “People need to be able to connect with places important to them,” Pelon says. “Some need to understand that those places are important to others. They need to understand different kinds of values different people had.”

Comanche Marker Trees of Texas, describes how the Comanche Nation used marker trees.

Comanche Marker Trees, the book you co-wrote with Jimmy Arterberry and Steve Houser, was published last September.

What motivated you to write it?

Many people report potential marker trees that are just oddly shaped. Steve is the arborist, and his part of the book is a field guide to how trees can become misshapen. He was hoping that if he went into a lot of detail, people could read that and then they wouldn’t be asking the Historic Tree Coalition to investigate trees that could easily be ruled out. Jimmy was the Historic Preservation Officer for the Comanche people, so he brings the tribal perspective. My part is as an ethnohistorian and an anthropologist. I’d like for people to learn to find things by letting the mesas and the marker trees and the rivers guide them as much as possible.

I think we need to reintroduce that to people.

ROD AYDELOTTE / WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD

L

by KIRA JOHN

RICHARD DENNY

Why do you work so hard to conserve Comanche sites?

One thing I’m most passionate about is preserving historic landscapes of Texas and traditional cultural properties. If you don’t recognize them, then lots of times people will destroy them without knowing they’re destroying something valuable not only to Comanche history but to Texas history, frontier history and U.S. history, too. And there are some sacred places I’d like to encourage people not to destroy.

What does Texas lose when these heritage sites are destroyed, ignored or left unfound?

Scenic beauty, diversity and the ability to tell the stories of the various people who occupied Texas.

People need to be able to connect with places important to them. Some need to understand that those places are important to others. They need

to understand different kinds of values different people had. That makes us all more tolerant people, when we can appreciate and understand the heritages of other people.

How can we preserve these places and ensure we don’t destroy people’s heritages?

We have to create economic engines for preservation. Like preservation tourism, where you accurately interpret sites with the assistance of the culture whose heritage it is, so that you make those sites too valuable to destroy. The Campbells at Paint Rock have been landkeepers of that place for generations — they let people come onto their land, and they give guided tours. Don’t destroy something valuable — share it with other people and maybe create a string of income for your ranch so you don’t have to quarry it or tear it up. I want to work getting people access to learning about

DEEP ROOTS: A genuine marker tree, like this one in Austin’s Spicewood Springs area, is a rare find — only six of these cultural icons have been officially documented in Texas and recognized by the Comanche Nation.

other cultures, learning about the environment and conserving our historic landscapes while we’re doing that.

What’s one heritage site you’ve had to work to protect?

In one section of Dallas’s Great Trinity Forest, there’s a sacred site called the Storytelling Place.

Places that glow like snow in the moonlight can be sacred to the Comanche people, because you can see a storyteller’s face really well. When the full moon comes up, that place starts to glow and

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twinkle in the moonlight. It only happens under a full moon and only when the moon is almost overhead. But the DART [Dallas Area Rapid Transit] line went through our park land, and it was going to impact the Storytelling Place, so I worked with the Comanche Nation and community and environmental leaders. DART told us we had to prove that it was eligible for the National Register to get them to do anything differently.

So we did, and they had to make accommodations. I’m working now to get Dallas to actually put that section of the Great Trinity Forest on the National Register.

What’s a place in Texas that’s benefited from learning about and conserving historical sites?

When the people in Santa Anna, near Santa

Anna’s Peaks, built a friendship with the Comanche people based on the history there, the town went from being a place beginning to fade away to a wonderful little weekend destination town. They’ve got a visitor’s center that features the Comanche history there, and there are all kinds of archaeological sites and creeks named after Comanche chiefs all along there. Those Comanches are the people a lot of our frontier stories are about.

Stories like what?

Sometimes when the Texas Rangers and the Comanches weren’t fighting, they hung out together and did some pretty outrageous things.

When they were waiting to meet with the Germans in Fredericksburg, the Indian guides —

with Robert Neighbors, the Indian agent — and some of the Texas Rangers decided to go look at the old San Sabá mission. And they’d taken a pack mule that was carrying a lot of wine, and one of the Rangers said he felt sorry for the mule.

And the more they drank, apparently, the sorrier they felt for that mule, because they kept right on drinking until the mule was fully relieved of its burden. So these Rangers and these Indians are getting drunk together on wine and then doing silly things, and that’s all recorded by Rip Ford.

What sort of research are you working on?

I’m looking at oral historical leads and trying to verify them. There’s enough information in those historical records that you can begin to reconstruct the smoke signaling system that was used across Texas. The histories claim they could get a message from the Chisos Mountains to Black Mesa in a day, so I’ve been trying to find out how they were doing that. I’ve been working on this for a long time, and I know some of the peaks that are important to it, but it’s a puzzle that isn’t finished.

You were named Honorary Ambassador to the Comanche people in 1997. What do you do in that position?

I figured if they were going to make me an ambassador, I should try to help them reconnect.

I help to find places that are important to the Comanche people, and if it looks promising I contact them, and then usually the Nation sends a scouting group. In Santa Anna they first sent their education director and he saw a feature in the ground, a formation of rocks that’s manmade but had been there so long it looked like part of the landscape. He recognized it as a place where they would have had one of their sacred lodges — a ceremonial place. They were back within about a month to re-bless that site.

What’s your most important work right now?

I know where there are valuable and important sites. I want to see people appreciate and voluntarily protect them. I want to write about this history and why it’s important so that people will choose to save some of these places and share them with the Comanche people and with others. So I’ll do what I can, and I’ll encourage other people to do what they can do.

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Now that you can devote yourself to your work, how are you going about preserving Comanche and Texas history?

Instead of trying to do it all myself, I’m training people who are interested in this history and have the passion for it, and have some time to find out about their own land or their own watershed.

If we start local and build from there, we’ve got some real good possibilities of finding a lot of heritage sites and preserving enough of them to tell the story — and for the Comanche people to be able to not be strangers in their own homeland anymore.

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