~ West Texas Historical Association ~
This year's WTHA meting at the Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, has successfully concluded. Details about sessions, photographs from the event, and news coverage are available on the Wichita 2013 annual meeting page.
Next year we will be in Odessa, Texas. Dates to be announced.
Tai
Kreidler, Holle Humphries and Bill Neal recently
visited the Downtown Medicine Mound Museum in
Quanah, Texas. The Downtown Medicine Mound
Preservation Group holds fundraising events in
order to sustain the museum. More photos can be
seen by clicking on the picture of Bill [to the
left].
Tai Kreidler and Monte Monroe also visited with folks at the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge and the State Line Tribune to look over some of the collections available at these institutions.
Several
members of WTHA attended the Quanah Parker Trail Giant Arrow
installation on July 12, 2012, at 2:30 p.m. at the entrance way gate to the
American Museum of Agriculture, located at 1501 Canyon Lake
Drive in Lubbock, Texas. Those in attendance included
Delores Moser, Robert Hall, Lynn Whitfield, Randy Vance,
Emerson Tucker, Sally Murray, Monte Monroe, Holle Humphries,
and Tai Kreidler.
Henry Crawford, Randy Vance, and Tai Kreidler help
erect the arrow before pouring in the concrete and water
needed to stabilize the arrow. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
ran a story with additional photographs under the headline "Arrows
Still Falling in Comanche Battle with Buffalo Hunters.
The arrow installation in Blanco Canyon took place on November 20th in Floyd County. More images of the installation are available here, as well as images from the arrow installations at Borger, Lubbock, Plains, Spur, and Swisher.
Upcoming events in 2013:
April 25, 2013 - Dan Kerr and Alex Hunt will read their soon-to-be published essay "The Quitaque Killings" at 7:15 p.m. at the Amarillo Public Library downtown branch on 413 S.E. Fourth Avenue. Published in the forthcoming Texas-themed issue of the Journal of the West, "The Quitaque Killings" is the story of their field and archival research of alleged violence in the 1870s against pastors from New Mexico. The event is free and open to all who wish to attend.
April 27, 2013 - the Quanah Parker Arrow Dedication ceremony will be held in Mobeetie, Texas. For more information contact Ada Lester, Chair of the Wheeler County Historical Commission at allester@windstream.net.
April 20-28th is National Park Week and admission to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park is free. Normal campground use fees still apply, however. for more information, go to the park's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Guadalupe.Mountains/, or contact the Pine Springs Visitor Center at (915) 828-3251 ext. 2124.
May 17, 2013 - the Quanah Parker Arrow Dedication ceremony will be held at 9:30 a.m. at Panhandle in Carson County, at 11:30 a.m. at Clarendon in Donley County, and at 2:00 p.m. at the Goodnight Historical House in Armstrong County. The Southwest Collection history archives at Texas Tech University is an institutional partner of the QPT project which operates under the aegis of the Texas Plains Trail Region. For more information contact Barbara Brannon, Executive Director for the Texas Plains Trail Region.
May 19, 2013 - The Mason County Historical Commission will host a symposium, “Comanches of the Texas Hill Country,” on Sunday, May 19, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. at the Mason High School Auditorium, 1105 West College Avenue near the intersection of Avenue F (R.R. 1871). The varied and distinguished lineup consists of Glenn Frankel, Daniel J. Gelo, Esther Lehmann, and Donaly E. Brice. The moderator will be Commission member Scott Zesch. The program is open to the public free of charge. The audience will have a chance to ask these speakers questions at the end of the program. A book signing will follow. For more information, contact: Jan Appleby, Chair Mason County Historical Commission janell@ctesc.net
June 6, 2013 - the Breedlove Airport marker will from the Texas Historical Commission will be dedicated this D-Day at the Silent Wings Museum in Lubbock, Texas. For more information contact John W. McCullough at 806-786-7018 or john.w.mccullough@live.com.
On the Road with WTHA
has photographs and news from our membership's latest
travels to promote the organization. The image to the right
is from the Friday evening banquet for the opening of the
Charles Goodnight Historic House and the Visitor's Center.Several WTHA members presented papers in a sponsored session at the April 18-20th meeting of the Historical Society of New Mexico in Las Cruces, NM. WTHA session participants include Troy Ainsworth (chair), WTHA President J. Tillapaugh, Marisue Potts, and Robert Hall. Other WTHA members on the HSNM program included Jack Becker, Bruce Glasrud, Harry Hewitt, Cameron Saffell, and George Cooper. Next year’s meeting will be held in Las Vegas, NM. WTHA members who are interested in presenting at next year’s HSNM meeting should contact WTHA offices.
Donald W. Whisenhunt, professor of history emeritus from Western Washington University, has a new book out titled "A Study of Utopian Movements and Ideas in the Great Depression: Dreamers, Believers, and Madmen."
Joe Specht spoke on the topic of Oil Field Songs at Buffalo Gap Historic Village on March 9, 2013.
WTHA sends our condolences to the family of Hubert Holiday Strom. Hubert was a long-time member of WTHA and served on our board.
Paul Carlson and Jack Becker's book, "Georgia O'Keefe: The Art of Desolation," was featured in a March 2012 issue of Texas Tech Monthly.
WTHA sends its condolences to the family of Ross McSwain. Author of the weekly "Out Yonder" column in the San Angelo Standard-Times for over 30 years, McSwain also wrote nonfiction books and was a well respected historian. The newspaper ran the article "Ross McSwain Remembered" on November 5, 2012.
Books by three of our members were recently reviewed in local newspapers. Patrick Dearen's "To Hell or the Pecos" was featured in the October 22nd issue of the Midland Reporter-Telegram. Bill O'Neal's "The Johnson-Sims Feud: Romeo and Juliet, West Texas Style," a tale about a feud between ranching families right before the Civil War was featured in the October 28th issue of the Brazosport Facts. Peter R. Rose's book "The Reckoning: the Triumph on the Texas Outlaw Frontier" was featured in Ross McSwain's October 6th article in the San Angelo Standard-Times.
Scott White's latest book, "Getting By in Hard Time: Letters from the Pitchfork Ranch,"gives a rare view on the running of the Pitchfork Ranch in the late 1930s during a time of economic depressions and drought. His other latest publication, Viento, centers around interviews conducted about ranching and wind energy.
October 13, 2012 - From 2:00 to 4:30 pm, author Peter R. Rose gave a talk followed by a book signing on his book "The Reckoning: The Triumph of Order on the Texas Outlaw Frontier" at the Fellowship Center of College St. Church of Christ at 805 College Street in Junction, Texas, on October 13, 2012.
On September 29, 2012, as part of the Adobe Walls Trek event, Paul Carlson gave a talk on the book he co-authored with Tom Crum called "Myth Memory and Massacre" about the recapture of Cynthia Ann Parker, mother of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker, and Holle Humphries, who is a Quanah Parker Trail Steering Committee member, spoke about the Quanah Parker Trail and the trail of arrows throughout the region. Afterwards, there was a trip to the Adobe Walls sites accompanied by presentations by Dr. Jeff Indek, Curator of Archeology at Panhandle-Plains Museum, and Mr. Alvin Lynn, renown trail and West Texas history researcher.
J'Nell Pate spoke about her latest book, "Arsenal of Defense: Fort Worth's Military Legacy." at the W. K. Gordon Center for Industrial History in Thurber, Texas, on September 16, 2012. A book signing followed.
Bill O'Neal has been appointed as the Texas State Historian by Governor Rick Perry and tok the oath of office on August 22nd. O'Neal is a long time Texas historian and a member of both the West Texas and East Texas Historical Associations. He will serve for two years and succeeds Light Cummins in that position. Recently he attended the Wild West History Association in Prescott, Arizona, where he was the leadoff speaker and was given various honors that included a lifetime achievement award. He is also working on an Arcadia book to be called "West Texas Cattle Kingdom" due for publication next spring.
[Click here to view photos from this event] Tai Kreidler, along with a few other WTHAers, attended the installation of the Quanah Parker Trail Giant Arrows at Tulia, Borger and Canyon on June 15, 2012. The events were scheduled as follows: 1) Tulia, at 9 a.m. - Arrow near to pony kill site and entrance to Tule Canyon--17 mi. E on SH 86: Directions: from Tulia, take SH 86 East about 17 miles to the TX Historical Marker site near county line on South side of highway; 2) Borger, TX at 10:30 a.m. - Arrow next to Hutchinson County Museum, Hutchinson County Museum, 618 N. Main St.,Borger, TX 79007; and 3) Randall at 2:00 p.m. - Arrow on private land near to entrance Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Hwy 217, 11.5 miles East of Canyon, TX; or ˝ mi West of the entrance to Palo Duro State Park; location is on South side of Hwy 217 in Canyon, TX 79015. More information about the Quanah Parker Trail Project
The West Texas Historical Association has always been an organization committed to people who are interested in the history of West Texas. Because of our open-membership policy our association has been filled by a healthy cross-section of lay and professional historians. These include teachers, students, business people, farmers, ranchers, and engineers who have contributed to the growth of the organization. In addition, our membership has had solid institutional support from colleges, universities, libraries, museums, county historical groups, and corporations throughout the region and across the nation.
Caption:
Scene from the WTHA Saturday business meeting, 2000.
Our Association is active. Each year we hold a conference in a West Texas city. We visit, present papers, and exchange ideas and information. We publish a selection of papers in our annual Yearbook. Also, twice a year, we put out a newsletter highlighting people, places, and events throughout West Texas. In addition, the Association works cooperatively with other historical groups such as the East Texas Historical Association and the Texas Oral History Association.
Caption:
Former president Darlene Bellinghausen presiding over a
session at the Midland meeting.
In addition, the WTHA promotes research and writing by giving cash awards. These include prizes for the best Year Book article, the best nonfiction and best fiction books on West Texas, and the best student article. The Association also provides research funds on a competitive basis.
Please
take time to look us over. Contact us if you would like to
attend our annual meeting, present a paper, preside over one
of the sessions, and submit one of your articles or books for
an award. If you are from West Texas, or if in your heart you
are a West Texan, we encourage you to become a member. Our
dues are inexpensive. Our journal is well-known,
and highly regarded. Our membership is international. And, the
hospitality is just right.
Tai Kreidler, Executive
Director
email: tai.kreidler@ttu.edu
Throughout its long and
distinguished history, the WTHA has encompassed a wide range
of both professional and non-professional historians--from
lawyers and physicians to ranchers, business people, and
teachers. Although their interests vary, members share a
common desire to preserve the rich history of the West Texas
region for present and future generations.
Caption: Exhibits and silent auction at the 2000 Midland meeting.
P.O.
41041nt>
Texas Tech
University
Lubbock, Texas
79409-1041
Ph. 806-742-9076 wthayb@ttu.edu
|
SUBMITTING ARTICLES For those planning to submit articles to the Yearbook, the Style Sheet Presentation has been added to the website. You can view it either in PowerPoint or html format. Also added is the Style Concerns. |
UPDATES
- Memberships can now be paid by mail or online.
- The spring 2013 Cyclone newsletter is available now, along with back issues.
- WTHA has Facebook page. You will need to be a member to view the page.
- There are now 4 ways to search for articles in the Yearbook - by author, by title, by subject, and by volume.
- Call for Papers
- Conference Overview
- Registration
- Session Program
This website, which is best viewed in Internet Explorer versions 6.0 or higher, was updated on 4-24-13.
FREEZE FRAME
Travis Roberts Jr. and Clint Chambers attended the WTHA session at the Center for Big Bend Studies meeting, 2010.
At the Frontier Texas Museum, some members take a photo op by a buffalo sculpture. Pictured are H. Allen Anderson, Patricia Clark, ?, Robert Hall, Cheryl Lewis and Travis Roberts Jr.
Historians on the Road- Tai
Kreidler, unidentified friend, Clint Chambers, Bryan Edwards, Paul
Carlson, Harry Bob Martin, Jack Becker, and Robert Carr on the top of
Soldier Mound in Dickens City. Click on the image to see a larger
version.
Lewis Earl and friends.
PHOTOS FROM OUR MEMBERSHIP
Texas Parks & Wildlife ranger Carl Hopper with Whitey the Longhorn, taken by Holle Humphries for the Texas Plains Trail.
A picturesque view of the bridge over White Woman Creek near Darrouzett, Texas, as captured by Bob Burton.
Colorful cactus plants thriving in Palo Duro Canyon is photographed by Robin Clark.
Who says there's no wildlife in suburbia? Holle Humphries shot this photo of a wild turkey on the garage roof of a neighbor's house in the Tech Terrace subdivision of Lubbock, Texas.