National Ranching Heritage Museum

When we first learned of the existence of the National Ranching Heritage Museum, it seemed moderately interesting. For sure it was something to do. Admission is free, so what the heck?

Lubbock wasn't one of the places we'd yearned to see in our decades of dreaming about this trip. We only ended up here to make some repairs to the RV. When that happened sooner than we expected, we were already signed up for several days at the RV park. The museum was simply a way to pass the time. As it turns out, it was an unexpected gem.

We're not generally museum kinds of people, but this one was fascinating. This was the sign in front of the museum describing the ranching heritage the museum was honoring.

There was a main structure with some exhibits of carriages, wagons, and artifacts from the time. There was also a discussion of the significant problem of cattle rustling. There was an exhibit entitled "Beading and Buckskins," which was just what you would have expected. Inside was this elaborate saddle.

There were all sorts of beaded articles in this exhibit, and they were all very elaborate. We wondered where the beads came from, but there was no explanation about that.

Another exhibit that was immensely interesting was the bandana exhibit. Here's a sign introducing the topic.

These were all behind glass, which made it hard to get good pictures of them. I'll show you just a few of the examples included. As quilters, I knew you'd be interested in this pattern.

And this paisley one.

There was one bandana in indigo blue, but turkey red was the color of choice.

Silk was the favorite fabric because it was warmer than cotton and did not retain moisture as cotton might have.

This is a close-up of the one above. It looked like a pretty free motion quilting pattern...as if.

Here's some information about the color known as "turkey red."

And here's a bolt of fabric as you might have seen it if you'd been to a yard goods store.

Outside and to the rear of the main structure were a number of recreated and refurbished buildings honoring the ranching heritage. They were in order of the time in which they were built and used. There were so many, I couldn't possibly include all of them here.

This first one was made of mud and wood...even the chimney was made of wood. You wouldn't have wanted your fire too high or you might have burned up your chimney.

As it turned out wood was not a good choice. During the wars with the Native Americans, many of the wooden structures were burned, and so they began building them from stone. In the image below, you can see gun ports where ranchers could poke rifles through to protect themselves from attack.

There were informational signs along with these, but I haven't included them. I'll just let you look at the outside. They were similarly simple inside...most with dirt floors, a table, a fireplace or a cookstove, and a bed.

This next one is a one room schoolhouse.

Are you a teacher? This is how your classroom might have looked.

This is a sort of bunkhouse and cookhouse all in one.

The middle room contained a dining area. The other rooms were places for cowboys to bunk down for the night.

If you were among the wealthy, you might have lived in a house like this next one.

There were a number of windmills included. This one was my favorite.

Oh, and I loved this carriage house. See the holes down there at the bottom of the doors?

Here's the explanation:

Cats...unsung heroes.

There was one large barn. Inside was a detailed exhibit that discussed the evolution of barbed wire. There were dozens of iterations of barbed wire. Who knew? The windmill to the right was a newfangled version with collapsible blades.

Here's some information about the barn.

These next two images were the interior of a cookhouse. It was a sort of cafeteria. The kitchen was to the left.

Dining area to the right.

Of course, there were lots of quilts in these structures. Unfortunately, many of them were covered in plastic, and so I couldn't get very good pictures of them. I'll show you the best ones.

To the left of the image above was this little toddler bed/crib. It isn't a quilt there.

But I thought you'd enjoy seeing this little patchwork chicken pillow.

In the same room and just inside the door was this quilt folded up on a trunk.

I knew you'd want to see this treadle sewing machine.

Here's a close-up of the machine.

And, as you might guess, this was a windows and walls kind of day.

As I mentioned earlier, this museum turned out to be unexpectedly interesting, and I would encourage you to visit if you ever get a chance. We really enjoyed our time there despite the freezing temperatures.

Before leaving for the museum, I filled another hoop of embroidery. This design is densely stitched and it's taking me a fair amount of time to work through it.

I'm estimating it's about 2/3 finished now.

Now I've hooped up the southeast corner, and I'm ready to go again.

We ran all of our errands yesterday...fueling up the truck, doing some laundry, grocery shopping, and some other miscellaneous stuff. This morning we're moving on to Caprock Canyons State Park in the Texas panhandle. We've visited Texas several times in the past, but we've always stayed to the south. This part of Texas is new terrain. We're looking forward to some warmer weather, but that probably won't be until tomorrow or the next day. It can't come soon enough.