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 5,000 historical objects on loan from more than 700 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:
Bill Pickett (1870-1932) was born in Taylor and began working on a ranch after dropping out of school in the fifth grade. He observed that bulldogs helped calm runaway steers by biting their noses and lower lip and hanging on. During his cowboy career, Pickett adapted this technique by chasing down runaway steers, springing from his saddle, wrestling the steer to the ground, and then calming the animal by biting the area beneath the nose but above the lip. This action became known as "bulldogging" and it made it easier to walk the steer back to the herd. Pickett performed this trick as well as riding and roping stunts for the 101 Ranch Wild West Shows that traveled throughout the country.
Pickett added to his fame in 1921 by starring in The Bull-Dogger. The movie was produced by the Norman Film Manufacturing Company, a Jacksonville-based independent film company that specialized in outdoor adventure films for African-American audiences. Pickett followed up this movie with another starring role in the 1922 feature The Crimson Skull.
In 1972 Pickett became the first black cowboy inducted into the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Stetson hat worn by Bill Pickett, ca. 1925
Courtesy of Applewhite-Clark Historical Collection, Texas
Displayed on the Museum's third floor through November 2012
When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, the country was faced with a shortage of pilots. Nearly simultaneously, two efforts were organized to recruit female pilots to overcome this shortage and to free male pilots for combat duty.The United States Army Air Forces created the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) to ferry planes for the Air Transport command. This unit trained at New Castle Army Air Base in Wilmington, Delaware.
In November 1942 the Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) was launched by General Henry "Hap" Arnold, chief of the Army Air Force. That group trained in Houston at the Municipal Airport in deplorable conditions due to wartime rations. When better quarters became available, the women were moved to Avenger Field at Sweetwater, Texas in early 1943.
In August 1943 the WFTD and the WAFS merged into one command called the Women's Airforce Service Pilots. The WASP received approximately 210 hours of flying time, equally divided between PT-17s, BT-13s, and AT-6s. Approximately 285 additional hours were devoted to ground school instruction. Graduates of Avenger Field went on to flying assignments throughout the United States, ferrying a total of 12,650 planes.
Nell Stevenson of Amarillo kept this log book during her eight month training period (September 16, 1942 - May 16, 1943). She operated planes that served as tow targets and went on simulated strafing runs at Biggs Army Air Field in El Paso. Her flight log lists 66 flights.
Pilot's flight log, ca. 1942-1943
Courtesy of Nell Stevenson Bright Papers, The Woman's Collection, Texas Woman's University, Denton
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Kinnison
Displayed on the Museum's third floor through December 2012
Sisters Carmen and Laura Hernandez were born in Kingsville and began singing professionally in the 1940s. Their first recordings were made by Carmen's husband, Armando Marroquin, in their kitchen. Marroquin and Paco Betancourt formed Ideal Records and Carmen y Laura became one of the label's most popular artists. They toured in the Midwest and Southwest and made hundreds of recordings for Ideal backed by both conjunto and orquesta (dance band) performers. Their blending of conjunto and orquesta traditions attracted both working and middle-class audiences and helped pave the way for the emergence of Tejano bands.
Ideal Records was formed after major record labels began reducing production of ethnic music in the 1940s, in part because of wartime shortages of shellac and other materials needed for making records. Marroquin found distributors in Los Angeles and, with very little competition from other labels, Ideal cornered the Tejano market.
Contestación digance (Tell him the answer), ca. 1950s
Courtesy of Bill McClung, Spring Branch
Displayed on the Museum's third floor through November 2012
Since its creation in 1999, the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program has worked to fully restore 43 courthouses and plans to restore over 50 more as a part of the Texas Historical Commission's preservation initiatives. As a result, the revitalization of the community landmarks has created over 8,000 jobs, stimulated local economies, and resulted in numerous urban renewal projects. The program was honored with the Preserve America Presidential Award in 2008, the highest national honor for historic preservation achievement.
The McLennan County Courthouse in Waco is one of the courthouses benefitting from the preservation program. Constructed in 1901 and currently under renovation, the courthouse represents the Beaux-Arts style as designed by J. Riely Gordon, who drew inspiration from St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. This revival of classical architecture features zinc pilasters along the dome's drum. A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. The pilaster capitals support the classical entablature and are modeled after the leaves of the acanthus plant, an herb which symbolized regeneration and immortality to Greek and Roman civilizations. The 110 year old ornament was replaced with an aluminum replica during renovations in 2011.
McLennan County Courthouse Zinc Pilaster Capital, ca. 1901
Courtesy of the Texas Historical Commission
Displayed on the Museum's second floor through October 2012
The Waco Guards were a Civil War company organized from McLennan County. Sworn into service on October 1 and 2,1861, in Marshall, the unit had four officers and 71 men. According to History of Company A, 7th Texas Infantry, The Waco Guards by Tim Bell, "the men who would later form the Seventh Texas (infantry) were sent from Marshall to Memphis, and from there to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where Albert Sidney Johnston, the overall Confederate commander in the west, was trying to build an army and secure Kentucky of the Confederacy."
What set the Waco Guards apart from their Texas brethren were buttons affixed to their jackets and coats. The two-piece buttons had the words "Waco Guards" surrounding a lone five point star. According to Tom Holder's book Lone Star General this belt plate has been associated with various central Texas military units both pre-war, war-time, and post-war. Although normally attributed to men serving in company "A" (the Waco Guards) of the Seventh Texas Infantry, the plate may have been used by early ranger companies from 1860 through the Civil War and possibly worn by Texas Rangers well into the 19th century.
A majority of buckles were found in Franklin, Tennessee and Nashville. Others came from families of descendants in the Waco area whose ancestors were members of the Waco Guards. They were often made of nickel or silver, and some were gold-plated like this one.Waco Guards belt plate, ca. 1861-64
Courtesy of Texas Museum of Military History, San Antonio
Displayed on the Museum's second floor through September 2012
Photograph courtesy of Cheryl Bowman Nesmith, San Antonio
The original Texas Brigade was organized on October 22, 1861, primarily through the efforts of John Wilcox, a member of the First Confederate Congress from San Antonio who remained as the brigade's political patron until his death in 1864. The brigade was initially and briefly under the command of Louis T. Wigfall until he took a seat in the Confederate Senate. Command was then given to John Bell Hood (the Texas Brigade is thus referred to as "Hood's Brigade" or "Hood's Texas Brigade").
Texans during the Civil War preferred battle flags that displayed a prominent lone star. In the fall of 1861, the officers of the Fifth Texas had this flag made in Richmond, Virginia. By this time the Eastern Confederacy's supply of scarlet silk had been exhausted, and the Texans' new regimental color had to be constructed using fabric dyed to a purplish hue. Today, the color has faded and the formerly purple sections appear red.
Hood's Texas Brigade was the only Texas unit to fight in both the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of Tennessee and in the Eastern and Western theaters of war.
Fifth Texas Infantry, Hood's Texas Brigade, Lone Star and Bars, ca. 1861
(image taken prior to conservation)
Courtesy Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Austin
Displayed on the Museum's second floor through November 2011
During World War II a surge of patriotism swept across the country. The Six Man football team at tiny Dowell High School, nestled in Fisher County, showed its support of the war effort by changing its school colors from gold and black to red, white, and blue.
This once red jersey, though now faded, is representative of communities both large (another object in the exhibit is a 1943 patriotic-themed game program between Lubbock and Amarillo high schools) and small who supported the war effort through their football teams.
Texas High School Football: More Than The Game is open through January 22, 2012.
Dowell High School football jersey, ca. early 1940s
Courtesy of Fisher County Pioneer Museum, Roby
Photo by Jay B. Sauceda
On display in the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Hall of Special Exhibitions until January 22, 2012
Richard Allen, political and civic leader, was born a slave in Richmond, Virginia, on June 10, 1830. He was brought to Texas in 1837 and ultimately to Harris County, where he was owned by J. J. Cain until emancipation in 1865. As a slave he earned a reputation as a skilled carpenter and is credited with designing and building the mansion of Houston mayor Joseph R. Morris. After emancipation Allen became a contractor and bridge builder and at times a commission agent and saloon owner. The first bridge built across Buffalo Bayou was his work.
Allen entered politics as a federal voter registrar in 1867. In 1868, he served as an agent of the Freedmen’s Bureau and as the supervisor of voter registration for the Fourteenth District of Texas. In 1869, Allen was elected to the Twelfth Legislature and became one of the first and most active black legislators, advocating general measures for education, law enforcement, and civil rights.
Allen was apparently reelected to the legislature in 1873, but the House seated his Democratic opponent, who contested the election. Allen remained a leader of the Republican party in Houston, at state conventions, and as a delegate to national conventions through 1896.
Richard Allen's Oath of Office, April 26, 1870
Courtesy of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Austin
Displayed in the Museum's second floor until December 2011
Information provided by The Handbook of Texas on-line edition
This hat was probably worn by a member of the grenadiers, a special Mexican army regiment who came armed with grenades. This theory as to the hat's origins is supported by the round, flaming bombs depicted on its insignia metalwork and chinstrap buttons. In addition to the shako, the second floor Mexican army case also features the tin the shako was carried in when not being worn.
The word shako originated from the Hungarian name csákós süveg (peaked cap), which was a part of the uniform of the Hungarian hussar of the 18th century. From 1800 on, the shako became a common military headdress of many regiments in most armies. It retained this position until the mid-19th century, when spiked helmets began to appear in the armies of the various German States, and the more practical kepi replaced it for all but parade wear in the French Army.
Mexican shako, ca. 1830s-1840s
Courtesy of Applewhite-Clark Historical Collections
Displayed on the Museum's second floor until April 2012
This quilt is believed to have been made by Elizabeth Houston (one of Sam Houston's sisters) for Sterling Houston and his wife Martha as a wedding present. Sterling and Martha settled in San Saba county in 1853, near the small community of Bend.
Because of persistent American Indian raids during the 1860s and 1870s, early settlers sought to protect their valuables in any manner they could. That led to this quilt begin buried in a lard can with four pieces of lead crystal, at the base of a pecan tree. The Colorado River flowed over its banks several times during the next few years, swamping the buried can.
After five years the Houston's retrieved the can and found a small hole in the lid. The leakage rotted parts of the quilt, which were replaced. Remarkably, the majority of the quilt remained in good enough condition for a one year loan to the Museum.
Nineteenth century quilt, ca. 1843
Courtesy of the Alexander, Kolb, and Houston Families, San Saba County
Displayed inside the Museum's first floor dog trot cabin until February 2012
Universal Pictures, capitalizing on the popularity of the 1938 San Antonio Rose fiddle instrumental by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, sought permission from Wills before filming this movie of the same name. The musical features Lon Chaney, Jr. and Shemp Howard, the latter of whom starred in 77 episodes of the Three Stooges during the 1940s.
But it was the Merry Macs who stole the show. This singing quartet, who one year later would make their most famous film with Abbott and Costello in Ride Em Cowboy (1942), had its origins in Minnesota. Starting out in 1925, the group was made up of three brothers from the McMichael family: tenors Judd (1906-1989) and Joe (1916-1944), and baritone Ted (1908-2001). In 1930 they recruited Cheri McKay as their lead singer. She was eventually replaced by Mary Lou Cook for this picture.
San Antonio Rose was part of a feature film series given to the Merry Macs by Universal Pictures in 1941. They also appeared on screen with Jacky Benny and Bing Crosby.
San Antonio Rose poster, ca. 1941
Courtesy of Dwight Adair, bobwills.com
Displayed on the Museum's third floor until December 2011
The Texas League was founded in 1888 with charter franchises in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Galveston, Houston, San Antonio, and New Orleans. The league has operated continuously since that time except for the years 1891, 1893, 1894, 1900, and 1901, and for three years during World War II.
In 1875, a former Fort Worth lawyer wrote that the city had become such a drowsy place that he saw a panther asleep in a street by the courthouse. After an economic upturn in 1876, the city enthusiastically adopted the name "Panther City." Their first baseball squad was thus named the Panthers, switching to Cats in 1948. One year later, they played in the first televised game in Texas League history on station WBAP.
The cover of this Fort Worth Cats program uniquely displays the Texas League franchises during the 1954 season, including the San Antonio Missions, Houston Buffs, Beaumont Exporters, Shreveport Sports, Dallas Eagles, Tulsa Oilers, and the Oklahoma City Indians. The Cats placed fourth that year with an 81-80 record.
Fort Worth Cats program, ca. 1954
Courtesy of the Texas League Archives, San Antonio
Displayed on the Museum's third floor until November 2012
No matter where he is — in space or on earth — NASA Astronaut Colonel Timothy Kopra never forgets his Austin, Texas roots. On August 12, 2009, Kopra was on board the International Space Station as part of Expedition 20 when he addressed 400 students in the IMAX® Theatre during a NASA In-flight Education Downlink. Kopra responded to students' questions about gravity by suspending a roll of duct tape and bounced about the cabin to give a first-hand view of the weightlessness he experienced on a daily basis. 
On November 1, 2010, Kopra gave back once more. In a pre-recorded message, Kopra officially announced the presentation of a commemorative Expedition 20 coin to the Museum. The coin has been permanently installed in the colorful terrazzo floor where visitors can see it embedded in the night sky of the campfire scene. The last names of each astronaut from the mission are engraved in the coin. The Expedition 20 crew spent more than four full months in space, launching on May 27, 2009 and returning on October 10, 2009.
Kopra is currently in the final stages of preparation for his next mission on the Discovery Space Shuttle (STS-133), which is scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in the coming weeks.
Commemorative Expedition 20 coin, ca. 2009
Courtesy of NASA Astronaut Colonel Timothy Kopra
Displayed on the Museum's first floor terrazzo campfire scene
Cotton is big business in Texas. According to the Texas A&M University Cotton Program, Texas has led the U.S. in cotton production since 1880 and it is the state's leading cash crop, ranking only behind the beef and nursery industries in total cash receipts. Texas annually produces about 25% of the entire U.S. cotton crop and plants more than six million acres — or 9,000 square miles of cotton fields.
But how does the cotton crop get from farm to market? Two cotton samples are cut from each bale. The farmer received one and the other is sent to the USDA so that it can be graded. When the farmer receives the government's report, he approaches cotton buyers with the sample and the report to try and sell his bales. The weight of this bale, identification tag number, and the farmer's initials appear on the brown wrapper, as seen here.
The per bale price is often dictated by what the buyer needs. Short staple cotton, which is the more common type of cotton and is used in clothing such as denim jeans, is not in as high demand as is long staple cotton. Long staple cotton is used in bed sheets with high thread counts, for example. A bale of long staple cotton can produce 240 sets of high thread count bed sheets.
China is the top cotton producer in the world, but since it is unable to meet the demands of its population, it is also the world's top importer of cotton. India, #2 in the world in cotton production, recently stopped exporting cotton because its population caught up to its cotton production. Thus China began importing more U.S. cotton, recently driving the domestic price up to $1 a pound for the first time in United States' history.
Cotton sample, ca. early 1960s
Courtesy of the Burton Cotton Gin Museum
Displayed on the Museum's third floor until September 2012
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 2012
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 2012
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 2012
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 2012
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 Dickson Wharton, Dallas
Displayed in the Museum's second floor until September 2012
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 2013
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 2012
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 2012
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 2017.
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.
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 2012
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 2012
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 2012
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 2012
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 2012.
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 2012
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 2012
