Exhibits
New Artifacts
The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum was founded as a non-collecting institution. Since opening in 2001, Museum exhibits on three floors have
showcased over 2,000 historical objects on loan from more than 400 museums, libraries, archives, and individuals. With their support, we bring The Story of Texas to life through the ongoing process of changing historical objects in the permanent exhibits as loans are returned and new loans are received. This means that there
is always something new for you to see at the Museum!
Here are a few of the objects that we've recently added to our exhibits:
William B. Travis, commander of the Regular Texas army at the Alamo, penned this letter to Provisional Governor Henry Smith on February 13, 1836. Read a complete transcription of the letter here.
Travis writes, "wishing to give satisfaction to the volunteers here & not wishing to assure any command over them I issued an order for the election of an officer to command them with the exception of one company of volunteers that had previously engaged to serve under me. Bowie was elected by two small company's; & since his election he has been roaring drunk all the time; has assumed all command … & is proceeding in a most disorderly & irregular manner - interfering with private property, releasing prisoners sentenced by court martial & by the civil court & turning everything topsy turvy."
That passage confirms what historians have always believed, that there was undeniable tension between the two men. A more telling statement at the end of the letter reveals why the Texas troops were unprepared for the eventual assault. A lack of troops was one reason. The absence of accurate information is another. "Our spies have just returned from Rio Grande -- The enemy is there one thousand strong & is making every preparation to invade us. By the 15th of March I think Texas will be invaded & every preparation should be made to receive them." Travis miscalculated the enemies arrival by nine days. By March 15, Travis and his men at the Alamo were defeated, their bodies burned, and the Mexican Army was marching east, forcing the Runaway Scrape while advancing on Goliad.
William B. Travis to Texas Governor Henry Smith
Courtesy of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Austin
Displayed on the Museum's 2nd floor until December 2010
Bread is a major part of the German diet. It is typically eaten for breakfast or as sandwiches in the evening. It is such an important aspect of their culture that the words supper (abendbrot) and snack (brotzeit) literally translated mean "evening bread" and "bread time", respectfully.
Germans and German immigrants loved their bread. German bakeries produce about 600 different types of bread and around 1,200 different pastries. Rye (Roggenbrot)-heavy breads are typical of German cuisine.
These 600 different kinds of bread were made using various recipes and came in different shapes and sizes. This 1860 Breadpan was brought over by German immigrants and is an example of the different baking tools used during this period. The breadpan is a cylinder made of tin. It opens lengthwise and the dough would have been placed inside and closed. The dough rose inside of the breadpan and was then placed over a fire or in a stove. The end result was a roll of bread.
Another baking technique included steaming bread in baking powder cans that were placed in a hot water bath. Bread making techniques have evolved, but German bread recipes have remained unchanged. The breads that we enjoy in America today are largely of German origin.
Breadpan, ca. 1860
Courtesy of the Sophienburg Museum and Archives, Inc, New Braunfels
Displayed on the Museum's 1st Floor until May 2011
One of the successes that came from the period after the Civil War known as Reconstruction was the development of an education curriculum by the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedmen's Bureau. For those students with no prior learning experience, the lessons were a welcome opportunity.
Freedmen's Bureau teachers were male and female, white and black, local and northern. Many freed people took responsibility for building their own schools and paying the teachers with their own funds. Freedmen's schools were both applauded and tormented. In Austin, freed people built a school on a lot donated by the City Council. When it opened, over one hundred black children and their teachers marched down Congress Avenue to inaugurate the new structure. In July 1868, "some unknown person or persons set fire to the Freedmen's school-house, situated near Circleville, Williamson County, Texas, by which it and its contents were consumed." Sabotage often made it difficult for schools to establish roots in the community.
Despite some obstacles, Freedmen's schools thrived. At the end of 1865, just 16 schools statewide were serving 1,000 black students. By 1870, that number had grown to 9,086 African-American students at 150 schools. This 1870 edition of Willson's New Speller and Analyzer was used at a Freedmen's school in Galveston. It contained 7,500 words broken down into 294 different lessons. Harper and Brothers, who published the Speller, was the country's largest educational publisher at the time this book was printed, and supplied books for schoolchildren all over the United States.
Willson's New Speller and Analyzer, ca. 1870
Courtesy of the Galveston County Historical Museum
Displayed on the Museum's second floor until April 2011
Roosevelt, Earhart, Rogers, Autry and this quilt were all at the 1936 Texas Centennial, which commemorated 100 years of independence but quickly morphed into a Southwestern showplace with Dallas at its epicenter. Celebrities and political figures were among the 6,345,385 visitors who crammed the exposition fairgrounds from June 6 through November 29.
Costing $25,000,000 and occupying fifty buildings and 200 acres of land, the Texas Centennial was billed as the first world's fair held in the Southwest. It featured dual themes of history and progress. The "Cavalcade of Texas," a historical pageant depicting four centuries of Texas history, was one of the exposition's most popular attractions, but it faced a lot of competition. Square dances on horseback, an exhibit that showed the building of an automobile from start to finish, outdoor ice skating in the Black Forrest, and a Midway that included rides such as the Rocket Speedway attracted an average daily attendance of 50,000 visitors.
This cattle brand quilt was made by Frances Punchard, a native of Rogers, Texas, as a way to commemorate the Texas Centennial. The centennial's dates appear inside the longhorns beneath the center. The quilt is made of non-traditional woven cotton fabrics, with black wool-crepe for the horseshoes and center motif and woven checked fabric between the brands to represent roads or fences. There are 29 brands from various ranches on the quilt. It was displayed at the Centennial, although it is not known in which building.
Cattle brands quilt, ca. 1936
Courtesy of Dr. Gianfranco Spellman, Austin
Displayed on the Museum's second floor until March 2011
The San Jacinto flag is believed to have been painted by artist James Henry Beard (1811-1893) in late 1835 and given as a gift by the women of Newport, Kentucky to the Newport Rifles, a 52-man company of Kentucky volunteers led by Captain Sidney Sherman (1805-1873). Sherman had sold his cotton bagging business to equip the volunteer company, which was formed to help Texans battle the Mexican army. The citizens of Newport held a ball in their honor the night before they departed. Katherine Isabelle Cox, Sherman's bride of less than a year, presented the battle flag to the company.
The volunteers left Kentucky aboard the steamer Augusta on December 31, 1835 in the middle of a snowstorm. They went down the Ohio and the Mississippi and up the Red River to Natchitoches, Louisiana where Sherman was detained by illness. They reached Texas in January and proceeded to San Felipe, where they were received by Governor Henry Smith and Sherman received his command. The army was reorganized and newly promoted Colonel Sherman was given command of the Second Regiment of the Texas Volunteers. At the battle of San Jacinto, Sherman commanded the left wing of the Texas army, opened the attack and has been credited with announcing the battle cry, "Remember the Alamo!"
Following the battle, the flag was deposited in the office of the Secretary of War at Velasco until August 5. It was then returned to Mrs. Sidney Sherman in Frankfort, Kentucky, "…as a testimonial of his [Sherman's] gallant conduct…" by order of David G. Burnet, Ad Interim President of the Texas Republic. Sherman returned to Kentucky after the battle, then moved his family to Texas and settled near the San Jacinto battlefield by 1839.
The Sherman's three surviving daughters, Carrie Menard, Belle Kendall, and Lucy Craig gave the tattered silk flag, stored in a walnut box, to the State of Texas on August 8, 1896.
San Jacinto Battle Flag, ca. 1835
Courtesy of the State Preservation Board
On display in the Museum through Fall 2010
Click here for a podcast with Ali James, the curator of the Texas Capitol, as she discusses the conservation treatment of the San Jacinto flag and how it is usually displayed inside the House chambers.
La Belle was one of four ships that were part of Robert de La Salle's ill-fated mission to start a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River in February 1686. La Salle overshot the Mississippi River before running aground in Texas, midway between Galveston and Corpus Christi.
From the start, the expedition was plagued by misfortune, including dissension among the leaders, loss of the small sailboat Saint François to Spanish privateers, defections, and finally, La Salle's failure to locate the Mississippi. La Salle sent soldiers ashore to inspect the Texas coast at Cedar Bayou, then landed the colonists at Matagorda Bay. After the store ship Aimable was lost in Pass Cavallo at the mouth of the bay, her crew and several disenchanted colonists returned to France on the naval vessel Joly.
By the time the temporary Fort St. Louis was built on the eastern end of Matagorda Island, a series of other misfortunes had reduced the number of colonists from 300 to 180. As the work of building a more permanent settlement progressed, many succumbed to overwork, malnutrition, American Indians, or became lost in the wilderness. In late winter 1687, La Belle, the only remaining ship, was wrecked on Matagorda Peninsula during a squall.
The artifacts pictured here - a wood finial and a pair of drumsticks - were discovered in a box with other non-related objects, including wood buttons, pewter buttons, and fishing weights. The finial was most likely used as a decorative knob.
Pair of drumsticks, wood finial, ca. 1680s
Courtesy of the Texas Historical Commission, Austin
Displayed on the Museum's first floor until August 2010
In this two part interview, Exhibit Planner Tom Wancho visits with Dr. Jim Bruseth, Director of the Archeology Division at the Texas Historical Commission. Dr. Bruseth led the excavation of the ship La Belle in 1996-97.
To learn about the excavation of La Belle and what objects were found, click here.
To learn about the actual sinking of La Belle and the fate of La Salle, click here.
Every November or December the 576 postcards on the third floor are replaced with 576 other postcards borrowed from the Jenkins Garrett Texas Post Card Collection, Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library. To see the Museum exhibit technicians change out these postcards and to learn more about the process each incoming artifact goes through at the Museum, watch this video.
The Texas cotton trade became one of the great prizes of the Civil War. Cotton, more valuable than cash, could be sold in Mexico or in England for army supplies, ammunition, arms, and food. Because Texas produced more cotton than any other state, its trade was vital to the Confederacy's survival. Stopping the trade to cripple the Confederacy became a major Union objective. Defending it became the mission of Texas's troops.
In October 1862 the port of Galveston was captured by eight Union ships. The ensuing blockade remained in place for nearly two months. By Christmas day, Union troops occupied the city. Early on the morning of New Year's Day 1863, two Confederate ships, the Neptune and the Bayou City, snuck into the harbor and surprised the Federal ships. The U.S.S. Harriet Lane was rammed and rendered useless. After the battle, the Lane was boarded and its 109 member crew taken prisoner. One other Union ship, the Westfield, was blown up by its commander instead of surrendering it to the Confederacy.
Lt. A. D. Wharton served on the Confederate States Navy steamer Arkansas until it was scuttled (deliberately sunk) to avoid Federal capture on the Mississippi River in the summer of 1862. He was stationed at Jackson, Mississippi and Selma, Alabama before being ordered to Galveston as one of the officers aboard the captured U.S.S. Harriet Lane. He was presented this pitcher upon his arrival and it has remained in the family since that time.
Silver pitcher, ca. April 1860
Courtesy of the descendants of Alton Dixon Wharton, Dallas
Displayed on the Museum's second floor until September 2011
Stephen F. Austin (1793-1836) worked tirelessly to survey and map thousands of Texas acres, created a system for issuing land titles, established civil and military authority, and negotiated with the state and national governments of Mexico to preserve his colonists' rights. By 1836, the year he died, Austin had administered four empresario grants and settled 1,000 families in Texas.
Austin promised the Mexican government that he could settle colonists of "good character." His first 300 families, historically referred to as the "Old 300," were a mixture of farmers, stockmen, tradesmen, professionals, and surveyors. Most were from the American South. He recruited them through a few published advertisements and word of mouth.
By joining the colony, early settlers agreed to become citizens of Mexico and adopt the Catholic faith, although in practice they were allowed to follow their own beliefs privately. The majority could read and write. Most came to raise crops, particularly cotton, seeing in the land of Austin's Colony the same familiar conditions of soil and climate that they had left behind in the southern United States.
This desk, made of long-leaf pine, was removed from Austin's dog trot cabin in San Felipe before it was burned by the Mexican Army on March 29, 1836 during the Runaway Scrape. Because it folded up and was mobile, Austin could use it from any location. The built-in slots allowed for filing papers, and the pull down red-clothed covered writing surface doubled as a lid when traveling. There's no telling how many colonists gained entrance into Texas because of a document signed by Austin while seated at this desk.
Stephen F. Austin's desk, ca. 1830s
Courtesy of the Friends of San Felipe State Historic Site, San Felipe
Displayed in the Museum's second floor prison cell until April 2011
Lydia Mendoza (1916-2007) released this recording, Para Que Te Quiero Tanto, which means "Why Do I Love You So Much," during the 1940s. The Houston-born Mendoza is considered by many to be the Queen of Tejano music. She learned to play stringed instruments from her mother and grandmother.
Her music embodied much of the migrant lifestyle of Mexican Americans during the twentieth century. Mendoza's family was from northern Mexico. Because of her father's jobs with the Mexican national railroad and the Carta Blanca Brewery, they moved several times between Mexico and south Texas during her youth.
Mendoza was still a girl in Monterrey when she learned the song that would become her signature number for much of her career. She collected chewing gum wrappers that had song lyrics printed on them. When her father took her to a concert in Monterrey she was able to put a tune to a set of lyrics she liked called Mal hombre. The family would eventually began performing as La Familia Mendoza in the late 1920s, with Lydia on mandolin, passing the hat in restaurants and shops up and down the border until they had saved enough money to reestablish themselves permanently in the United States in 1927.
In 1928 she made her first recordings for Okeh Records in San Antonio. Her career spanned seven decades, from the 1920s through the 1980s and included more than 1,200 recordings.
Para Que Te Quiero Tanto 78 RPM, ca. 1940s
78 RPM courtesy of Bill McClung, Vulverde
Photo of Lydia Mendoza courtesy of Ramón Hernandez, San Antonio
Displayed on the Museum's third floor until October 2010.
This jacket belonged to Sam Pirtle, a member of Company D, Fifth Texas Infantry, part of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Pirtle, 45, enlisted for "the war" on March 28, 1862 at Waverly, in Walker County, Texas. He died less than six months later on September 17, 1862 at the Battle of Sharpsburg (also known as the Battle of Antietam) in Maryland. Sharpsburg was the bloodiest single day of fighting of the Civil War, with both sides suffering a total of 23,000 casualties. It was also the first Civil War battle fought on Northern soil.
This garment is known as a shell jacket because it is short and light. It is made of jean cloth with an 85% wool, 15% cotton blend. It is lined with muslin and the sleeves are lined in cotton. A metallic dye was used to give the jacket its color. Uniforms of this period varied because regular issue uniforms did not become available in the Confederacy until October 1862. Prior to that, soldiers paid for their own material. Sewing societies, working from Confederate-issued patterns, met and sewed the uniforms together.
To learn more about this shell jacket, listen to a podcast with lender Alex McDuffie.
Shell jacket, ca. 1862
Courtesy of Alex McDuffie, Austin
Displayed on the Museum's second floor until July 2011
Chain mail was originally intended as protection just for the neck and shoulders, but in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it developed into a longer tunic to also protect the body. This pattern is known as a "hauberk" and is split up the front and in back to facilitate riding on horseback. It can be dated to the early 16th century because of its riveted links, which indicate earlier fabrication than pressed links. To make riveted links, each individual link must be hammered around a rod, then beaten flat on an anvil. Sections of four to five links were made, then attached to other sections of the same size. This method created chain mail that was especially secure and could withstand sword blows.
This hauberk, crafted in Spain, weighs approximately fifteen pounds. It has remnants of a leather collar, which once had red velvet facing, and was lined around the edges with a leather cord. Typically, this type of chain mail shirt was worn over a gambeson, or padded doublet, for added protection. A tabard, or open-sided tunic, was worn over the hauberk, and displayed the coat of arms of the soldiers' lord or commander.
This type of chain mail shirt was commonly worn by Spanish conquistadors on their entradas into what is now the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It was considered easy to wear, as it was much lighter than plate armor and much more flexible. The chain mail on this particular hauberk has several cuts, indicating service in combat.
To learn more about the chain mail shirt, listen to a pod cast with Sam Nesmith, operator of the Texas Museum of Military History in San Antonio, who lent the armor to the Museum.Chain mail shirt, ca. 1520s
Courtesy of the Texas Museum of Military History, San Antonio.
Displayed on the Museum's first floor until April 2011
George C. Willrich came to Texas in 1846 with his wife and children. The Willrich family came from Germany where George Willrich had been a judge in the District of Luneburg. The family settled in Fayette County, where they successfully pursued farming and livestock raising. Like many of the farmers and stock-raisers of the South at the time, the Willrichs owned slaves.
This wooden chair with rawhide seat is located in the first floor dog-trot cabin. Willrich slaves made the chair around 1847. It was not uncommon for slaves to make furniture or other objects for their owner's homes or for their own homes. Their ability to make their own furniture was not only economically efficient for their owners but allowed them to improve the living conditions in their own quarters. One of the most common slave-made objects that we find today are bricks. Examples of other artisan skills that a slave of the time might possess include weaving, shoemaking, tanning, and spinning.
After the Civil War many freed-slaves in Texas started businesses based around these artisan skills, using what they had learned while slaves to start their new lives as free men and women.
Slave-made chair, ca. 1846-47
Courtesy of the Winedale Historical Collection,
The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History,
The University of Texas at Austin
Displayed on the Museum's first floor until February 2011
The prototype of the first integrated circuit is displayed in the Modern Technology case on the Museum's third floor. Its invention made possible space travel, the development of hearing aids, and improvements in manufacturing, transportation and education. One of those improvements in education is the Speak & Spell, a toy developed by Texas Instruments in the late 1970s.
Created by Paul Breedlove, an engineer with TI, Speak & Spell was the first of a three-part talking educational toy series that also included Speak & Read and Speak & Math. Speak & Spell's computer voice asked its user to spell a certain word. The user typed in the word on its keyboard and received immediate feedback as to whether or not it was spelled correctly. This interactive element proved popular with children and their parents, who were pleased that their children were learning while also being entertained.
The Speak & Spell was sold, with regional variations, in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. To try the Speak & Spell, click here
Speak & Spell, ca. 1979
Courtesy of Texas Instruments, Dallas
Displayed on the Museum's third floor until December 2010
The Mission Control console was used for testing and simulation at the Johnson Space Center near Houston. Flight directors, engineers, and other NASA specialists sat at different consoles during a mission to monitor the condition of the spacecraft and its astronauts, assisting them with the highly detailed flight plans that were developed for each mission.
The console, which weighs several hundred pounds, has been slightly modified to include an interactive quiz on space program topics including people, industry, inventions, medical, and spacecraft. Visitors also can see inside the console thanks to a Plexiglas panel on top of the unit that reveals an intricate wiring system. The console isn't the only new addition to this area of the Museum's third floor. An astronaut saluting the United States flag on a simulated moon surface is nearby. There is also a lunar sample brought back to Earth by the Apollo XI crew alongside a video of Walter Cronkite's newscast reporting on the historic first moon landing in July 1969.
Mission Control console, ca. 1960s
Courtesy of Cliff Wendel, Austin
On display in the Museum's third floor until August 2012.
Fannie Bruce Shaw of Van Alstyne, Texas, carved this intricate piece, which depicts 100 years of Texas history, into a 4' x 4.5' piece of wood. 
The figures represented in Shaw's portrait include historical icons Stephen F. Austin, Juan Seguin, William B. Travis and Ben Milam. The current Capitol Building appears, as does the 1836 Capitol at Columbia. Also prominent are the six flags of Texas and the state's distinctive outline.
The carving was prominently displayed at the Texas Centennial at Fair Park, Dallas, in 1936.
The idea for a Texas Centennial Celebration to commemorate the Texas Revolution and promote Texas to the world first occurred in Corsicana at a November 6, 1923 meeting of the Advertising Clubs of Texas. A temporary Texas Centennial Commission was appointed on December 28, 1931. In 1932, a constitutional amendment authorizing a centennial celebration and instructing the legislature to make adequate financial provision was proposed and passed. The State Fairgrounds in Dallas hosted the event, which lasted from June 6 through November 29, 1936 and attracted more than 6 million visitors.
Texas Centennial wood carving, ca. 1935
Julianna Hawn Holt and Peter M. Holt, San Antonio
On display in the Museum's second floor until November 2012.
This Texas Star belt plate is similar to the U.S. Army pattern of 1839. It is made of lead-filled stamped brass and the back of the plate has belt hooks shaped like arrows, a common feature during this period.
Although these plates were manufactured in the North, most were seized by Federal authorities in 1861 when shipments to the South were cut off.
Southern blockade-runners may have recaptured these plates during the Civil War. Other types of uniform accoutrements in the Museum's second floor Civil War case include epaulettes, cartridge boxes, powder flasks and revolver holsters.
Belt plate, ca. 1861
Mr. and Mrs. John L. Nau III, Houston
On display in the Museum's second floor until September 2011.
This coffee grinder was part of the
"Farm Mill Series" manufactured by the Charles Parker Company in Meriden, Connecticut.
Farmers used them, as did chuck wagon cooks. The body is made from cast iron and the hopper (top) from tin. The coffee beans were poured into the hopper and ground by turning the handle. This coffee grinder was used in Menard County in Central Texas.
Coffee grinder, ca. 1890s
Frontier Times Museum, Bandera
On display in the Museum's third floor until January 2011.
Skylab was America's first space station and orbital science and engineering laboratory. This cap contained communications gear for Skylab astronauts. It is wired with headphones and two microphones, one for speaking with the ground crew in Huntsville, Alabama and the other for communicating with their fellow astronauts.
NASA launched Skylab into Earth orbit via a Saturn V rocket on May 14, 1973. Part of the Apollo space program, Skylab crews carried out numerous of astronomy experiments, eight separate solar experiments and detailed X-ray studies of the Sun.
Another part of Skylab's mission was to complete different experiments in a weightless environment to determine the practical benefits that space can bring to humans. Crew members eventually performed approximately 270 different scientific and engineering investigations using 54 pieces of experimental hardware.
Skylab was an important part of space exploration because it laid the groundwork for future space ventures, such as the International Space Station. Three different three-man crews served on Skylab. Training for the missions took place in Houston and ground control was based in Huntsville, Alabama. The missions lasted 28, 59 and 84 days, for a total of 171 days in space.
"Snoopy" cap, ca. 1970s
United States Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama
On display in the Museum's third floor until March 2011
The Mexican Army that invaded Texas was a formidable force. Its trained soldiers had many types of weapons at their disposal.
After the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), Britain had a large surplus of military supplies, including Baker rifles, Brown Bess muskets and Tower Paget flintlock muskets, swords and bayonets. Engaged in its war for independence from Spain (1810-1821), Mexico was a willing buyer. Many of these weapons continued to be used during the Texas Revolution and into the U.S. War with Mexico (1846-48).
This rifle was first used by Hompesch’s Hussars, a unit of foreign-born troops that served in the British army. It was shortened into a cavalry carbine with the small "o" over the "M" stamped into the stock, and shares elements with the Baker rifle that were manufactured beginning in 1800. This may have been in one of the first groups of surplus rifles purchased by Mexico from Britain.
Cavalry Carbine, ca. 1790s
Shawn Gibson, Graford
On display in the Museum's second floor until May 2011
Mary Nan West (1925-2001) began a lifetime of service to ranching and agribusiness in 1944 when, at the age of nineteen, she assumed management of the 36,000-acre Rafter S Ranch in Zavala County and owned and managed another ranch in Val Verde County.
West became a staunch supporter of youth education through organizations such as the San Antonio Livestock Exposition and its annual Stock Show and Rodeo, serving as its first woman president and chair of the board.
Recognized for a lifetime of service, she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and the Texas Woman's Hall of Fame.
Little's Boot Company in San Antonio made these Kangaroo skin boots for West.
Founded in 1915 by Lucien Little, the company began as a shoe store serving southwest Texas and first provided working boots for local ranchers and cowboys. By the 1940s, Little's descendants began to make custom and fancy styles.
Custom boots, ca. 1987
Mary West Traylor, Carrizo Springs
On display in the Museum's third floor until February 2011
The timber industry began to thrive in East Texas during the 1880s, aided by the arrival of railroad lines that made possible shipment of the cut logs.
In the early 1900s, Daniel Webster Martin developed the Martin Grip Hook, a device to assist with loading logs onto a truck. His firm, the Martin Wagon Company made various wagons and other implements for use in the lumber and later, the oil industry. The company was sold to Lufkin Foundry & Machine Company in 1939.
Workers stuck a grip hook into each end of the log. Then, they attached to a chain through the large hole at the end of each grip hook before lifting the log with a crane. The small hole at the bottom of the hook was for a guide chain to steady the log as it was moved.
Martin Grip Hook No. 2, ca. 1940s
Texas Forestry Museum, Lufkin
On display in the Museum's third floor until February 2011
After its victory at the Battle of San Jacinto, the Texian army searched the Mexican camp, looking for General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
Santa Anna disappeared during the battle and search parties were sent out to find him on the morning of April 22. One search party discovered Santa Anna hiding in the grass dressed as a common soldier.
They did not recognize him until he was addressed as "el presidente" by other Mexican prisoners. During his escape, Santa Anna left behind many of his possessions. Santa Anna used this sterling silver chamber pot, in keeping with his custom of lavish uniform decorations and ornate weapons. Chamber pots were bowl-shaped containers that were used as toilets at night. Most chamber pots from this era were ceramic.
Santa Anna's chamber pot, ca. 1830s
Sam Houston Memorial Museum, Huntsville
On display in the Museum's second floor until July 2011.
Modern cowboy gear builds upon the traditions of the original Spanish — and later — Mexican vaquero culture. Both in the past and today, artisans work in leather, metal and other media crafting saddles, chaps, spurs, hats and other items for both fancy show riding and the needs of everyday working cowboys.
Despite being worn from use, the ornamentation is still evident on these 17th century Estribos de cruz (cross-shaped stirrups). A skull is carved just underneath the top loop. Weighing about four pounds each, these type of stirrups were status symbols and most often used for show riding.
Estribos de cruz (cross-shaped stirrups), 17th c.
Enrique Guerra, San Vicente Ranch, Linn
On display in the Museum's third floor until March 2011
This Spanish flintlock miquelet pistol (ca. 1750s) came from Catalonia in the southeastern area of Spain, near the Mediterranean Sea. The butt is made of wood from that region. Frontier soldiers used pistols like this example, while stationed at presidios throughout Texas. Soldiers of this period were required to supply their own weapons. The Spanish military first attempted to standardize all of its weapons in 1775.
Spanish flintlock miquelet pistol, ca. 1750s
Courtesy of Jim Jeter, Santa Barbara, California
On display in the Museum's first floor until August 2010.
