Texas Bucket List

Texas Bucket List

The Texas Bucket List – San Felipe de Austin

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San Felipe – Texas history is something we hold near and dear to our hearts. Sacred sites like the Alamo, San Jacinto, Gonzales and Washington on The Brazos all played major roles in Texas gaining its independence from Mexico, but none of it would have happened without San Felipe de Austin. “A lot of what triggers the Texas Revolution is involved in this story here,” said Jordan Anderson.

Jordan grew up in Austin, which has been the capital of Texas since 1839, but today he works at the San Felipe de Austin State Historic site, which happened to be the first capital of Austin’s Colony from 1823 to 1836. “I thoroughly enjoy being here because it’s a story that’s not as well known,” said Jordan.

Now before Texas was Texas, it was a part of Mexico, and in order to populate this part of the country, Stephen Fuller Austin was commissioned to colonize it. “Mexico is looking to populate Texas and rebuild the economy, so they do have some stipulations,” said Jordan. “They’re looking for people who are going to be industrious and they’re looking for people who are going to bring their families. Texas in general lost about half its population in the 20 years from 1800 to 1820. They’re looking for families, people who are willing to convert to the Catholic Church, because they are a Catholic nation. There’s this whole story out there that people had to learn how to read and write and speak Spanish. That’s absolutely not the case. They didn’t care what language you spoke in, as long as if you’re communicating with them, it was in Spanish. Stephen F. Austin did most of the communication for you as a colonist, so that was taken care of. And of course, you’re going to be a good Mexican citizen.”

With 1.5 million acres to hash out in Austin’s Colony, he had to set up a center of operations, so San Felipe was established. “San Felipe is the administrative center of Stephen F. Austin’s colony,” said Jordan. “So, any of the colonists or prospective colonists who want to receive land in Mexican Texas, they’ve got to come here and receive approval from Austin himself, or one of his secretaries. And then they start the process of working with the surveyors to issue them lands on behalf of the Mexican government.”

An acre of land cost around $1.25 in the United States back then but in Mexican Texas, it was much more affordable. “You, the colonists, just have to pay the surveyor, the paper, the seal to make it official, and the land commissioner’s time,” said Jordan. “So you’re paying about 47 cents an acre. It’s a really screamingly good deal here.”

Of course, the land was divided up according to what your trade was. “There are two different types of land allotments that you could receive,” said Jordan. “First is going to be a league. So, that’s 4,428 acres, and that’s if you’re going to be a livestock raiser. The other is a labor, 177 acres, and that’s if you’re a farmer. So, the question was pretty much up to you, what of these two things do you want to do? The fee’s dirt cheap, as I mentioned earlier. Most people said they’re going to raise livestock. Some people said, ‘Actually, I plan on doing both. Can I get both allotments of land?’ It’s one of those that never hurts to ask. Worse you can be told is no, because they were told yes.”

Over time, Austin settled over 1,200 families and San Felipe became one of the biggest towns in Texas. “In the run-up to the Texas Revolution, San Felipe grows to become the second largest town in Texas behind San Antonio de Béxar,” said Jordan. “It’s the political hub of Anglo Texas. So, whenever the Anglo colonists have an issue with the Mexican government, they’re gathering here to talk about those issues and sending petitions to the Mexican government. But most of the business that is here has to do with the land business associated with Stephen F. Austin’s empresario grants.”

As Texans started to gain their fierce independent spirit, several attempts to separate from Mexico fell flat here. “San Felipe is where we passed on declaring independence from Mexico,” said Jordan. “We were declaring support for the Mexican Constitution of 1824. We wanted Santa Anna and his friends out, which in 1832 and ’33, we were in support of Santa Anna at the time. So, we liked him for a period of time. There’s even a ball we know of that was thrown in honor of him being elected president here in San Felipe.”

In 1836 everything changed. Texas battled with Mexico and while the Alamo is under siege, San Felipe receives a letter declaring Victory or Death from William Barret Travis and promptly starts printing it. “There’s a printing press in San Felipe, which is printing up all the government documents for them,” said Jordan. “And then later when the government moves and declares independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos, that printing press here is still printing all those documents. So, the Travis letter calling for help from the Alamo, that comes here to San Felipe. It’s then forwarded to Washington-on-the-Brazos.”

At the historical site, there are artifacts that take you back to these historic days of Texas’ past.“This represents the print shop run by Godwin Cotten, who came here with this style press, the Ramage press,” said Jordan. “And he ran the first newspaper, the Texas Gazette, in San Felipe. We actually use everything in this shop. Mark and a number of other volunteers have created some of these form documents, letter by letter. And first, they have to create a mirror image.”

It was from here that the citizens of Texas spread the word about the siege that was already underway. A few days later, Texas declared its independence and the declaration was sent here to once again spread the word. “They declare independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos,” said Jordan. “They send the copy of it down to San Felipe to print overnight, and the printers worked overnight and prints 1,000 copies.”

That same month, San Felipe burned to the ground in the Runaway Scrape as General Sam Houston pushed his forces back to San Jacinto. “It’s a strategic choice, which oftentimes is not a popular choice,” said Jordan.

According to Texas lore, Austin’s nephew, Moses Austin Bryan, refused to start the fire. “So, there’s stories of Moses Austin Bryan having split feelings about what they’re doing to their town, their friends’ businesses, their own homes,” said Jordan. “Moses Austin Bryan actually asked to be excused from service saying, ‘I refuse to burn the town that my uncle first laid off in the wilds of Texas.’”

On April 21st, 1836 Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto and Texas became a country. Stephen F. Austin would pass away in December of that same year from pneumonia. “When Stephen F. Austin dies, Sam Houston even writes in his letters, ‘The Father of Texas has died,’ because Stephen F. Austin spends a lot of his effort trying to guide Texas and the people living here in a positive direction,” said Jordan.

While San Felipe de Austin wasn’t a pivotal point in Texas’ Battle of Independence, it was crucial to the story of Texas, making it well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List. “To fully understand the story of the Texas Revolution, this place is important and its stories, that aren’t as well-known at the moment, give you the full picture,” said Jordan.

The Texas Bucket List – The Wittliff Collections in San Marcos

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San Marcos – San Marcos has always had the reputation of being a college town thanks to Texas State University calling this part of central Texas home since 1899. 35,000 students roam this campus seeking a higher education and if they need some quiet time, the Albert B. Alkek Library is the place to be. But if you head to the 7th floor of this intellectual hub, you’ll find more than just a place to study; you’ll come across an incredible collection that preserves the cultural heritage of Texas. “We are devoted to what we call collecting, preserving, and sharing the creative legacy of Texas and the Southwest,” said David Coleman.

David is the director of The Wittliff Collection. “What Bill really wanted to do when he set this place up was inspire young people to become creatives,” said David.

The collection was founded in 1986 by Bill Wittliff, a Texas native who had a hand in writing several movies including Red Headed Stranger, Barbarosa, Legend of the Fall and The Perfect Storm. “(Bill) wanted to always be a creator and a storyteller,” said David. “He knew from a very young age that stories and storytelling was what he was meant to do.”

Wittliff got his start in storytelling by establishing the Encino Press, and that lead to meeting an author synonymous with the Lone Star State. “Bill established this press in ’63. And then in 1968, he published a book by Larry McMurtry called In a Narrow Grave,” said David. “He and Bill really hit it off well. They were Texas guys. They had read the same books growing up. So when, eventually, it became time to choose someone to adapt the novel to the screen, Bill was a natural choice.”

Bills’ work in the world of film ended up being the foundation for the largest exhibit amongst the collection. “One of the remarkable collections that we have, Lonesome Dove here, is all due to Bill Witliff, who was co-executive producer, and he’s the one who adapted Larry McMurtry’s novel to the screenplay,” said David. “And he hired a bunch of ‘Texas guys,’ as he always said, to stay true to the story. And he would always say when he was filming, that, ‘If we stay true to Lonesome Dove, Lonesome Dove will stay true to us. I can’t tell you how many people come in here, and either they’ve got a dog named Gus or a kid named Gus or something like that. And people are buried with copies of Lonesome Dove in their coffin. And it’s a story that was amazing for its time, and won the Pulitzer Prize, and then the film really just touches the hearts of so many people.”

It seems like Bill was working on the Lonesome Dove series with the foresight that people would want pieces of the show preserved for future generations. “The reason we have these incredible costumes, props, costumes, and more from Lonesome Dove is that Bill was kind of collecting while he was filming, and while he was making the mini-series,” said David. “He was on set every day, and after they would wrap one production location, he would beg, borrow, and steal, I always like to say, from those production sites to then add to this archive. Sometimes it’s that culture that binds us more, especially in these times. It’s that culture. There’s cultural moments like Lonesome Dove that bind us all together, and remind us of how important it is to carry the history and treasure the history of Texas.”

Most of the pieces in the Lonesome Dove collection have stories behind them that will resonate with fans of the series. “This is a little creepy,” said David. “Kind of funny and kind of creepy all at the same time. If it’s been a while since you or your audience has seen Lonesome Dove or read it, spoiler alert, Gus dies partway through the film. And it’s up to Call, Woodrow Call to bring him back all the way to Texas from Montana. And this is one of the dummies used that kind of falls apart as Call is bringing him back to Texas. The props department played a little joke on the folks who were working with it, and put a little glass eye inside the costume. Not that that was ever on-screen. But if you look at it, it kind of freaks some of our visitors out.”

Having a collection of memories from such an important piece of media for Texans means that visitors often come with a lot of emotions. “It’s hard not to love Lonesome Dove and the Lonesome Dove archive,” said David. “There’s a lot of magic, and to see people’s expressions when they come and see that exhibition, it’s really amazing. I’ve seen so many grown men cry over Gus’s body that we have here. And it’s pretty remarkable.”

The Wittliff Collection isn’t all about Lonesome Dove though, as there are all sorts of Texas stories here. “Here, we have the amazing King of the Hill,” said David. “We have the King of the Hill production archive donated by Jim Dauterive, who was executive producer and writer and showrunner for the show after Fox canceled it.”’

When it comes to cartoons, you can’t really get much more Texan than King of the Hill. “Gosh, we love King of the Hill,” said David. “The kids here at Texas State love King of the Hill. One of our favorite things about it is what we have front and center is this bible, as it was called. It was a guide to the writers all about Arlen, Texas, which of course doesn’t exist, but it certainly exists in a lot of Texans mind. It was about how the characters would act, what the characters would say, how to draw the characters, what they would look like. Things to do and things to never do or have these characters do.”

While movies and media have a massive presence here, there’s also an incredible photography collection and you can find things from many Texas singer songwriters like Gary P. Nunn’s iconic lyrics to London Homesick Blues, Jerry Jeff Walker’s hat, and even Guy Clark’s ashes. “For any true Texas music fan, this is a must see,” said David. “These are the last mortal remains of Guy Clark, the Texas Singer-songwriter. A piece done by another singer-songwriter, Terry Allen, who donated it to us. Willed his ashes to Terry and wanted Terry to make a sculpture somehow using those ashes. If you look real close on the rock that the crow is standing on, and even on some of the feathers of the crow, you’ll see these gold flecks, kind of gold dust. And those are Guy’s ashes. He opened up the crow’s chest, and put the rest of guy’s ashes inside the bird. For Guy Clark fans, this is a place of pilgrimage for everyone to see.”

The Wittliff Collections are truly a unique assortment of cultural artifacts, not just because of the access that Bill had to so many creatives, but because of what he chose to keep and display at the museum. “Bill was really committed to collecting things that made artists seem human, and just seem like you and me in some ways,” said David. “So kind of noting that source of inspiration, that spark of creativity, but then also showing the human side. We have Stevie Ray Vaughan’s sobriety journal, for example. So showing the human side of what these creative people, how they live their lives is really important, we think.”

To see so much of what makes Texas, Texas, in one place is truly a treat for any fan of the Lone Star State because learning more about who we are is always well recommended on The Texas Bucket List. “J. Frank Dobie, who was an old folklorist and taught at UT Austin for many, many years, and he said that people would lead richer lives if they knew a little bit more about the place where they’re from, basically,” said David. “So we’re hoping, if anyone can learn a little bit more about Texas, well, they’ll lead a richer life.”

 

The Texas Bucket List – National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock

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Lubbock – It doesn’t matter where you find yourself in Texas, you’ll always come across cattle grazing in a field. Ranching and raising livestock have been part of the state’s identity since before we were even a state. In fact, it was the Spanish that first raised cattle down in the Rio Grande Valley sometime around the 16th and 17th centuries. Today it’s a 15-billion-dollar business. With so much history and lore about this little business of beef raising, it’s no wonder that you’ll find the National Ranching Heritage Center smackdab in the South Plains in Lubbock. “We really strive to tell the real story, and it has its own magic of its own,” said Jim Bret Campbell.

Jim is the executive director of the center and he’s been in association management his entire career. “The biggest challenge is always struggling with weather,” said Jim. “And the markets as well as just all the challenges associated with ranching.”

Born in Hereford and a Texas Tech grad, Jim Bret loves telling this tale of Texas since it’s been a part of him his whole life. “Well, it really is the story of us,” said Jim. “Lubbock and the South Plains and really Texas and the West. It was a fascinating period in history. And we wouldn’t exist as a community, as a place here on the South Plains, if those folks hadn’t come before us. We are still an agriculturally supported town and region. A state, a nation that, if we can’t produce food, we’re going to go offshore for that or depend on somebody else. And so for us to be able to produce beef and all of the food and fiber that we do, it’s really critical for us as consumers, but also for people to understand the culture and where they came from. So we think it’s really critical that we tell that story.”

This massive complex has all sorts of incredible exhibits including the costumes from 1883, a show that’s a part of the massively popular Yellowstone series. But what really brings people here is the real story of Texas ranching told through the buildings that were a part of it. “It’s about all I can do to maintain many of these structures,” said Jim. “We have 55 historic ranching structures now and many of which are approaching 200 years old. In fact, I always say I could keep two guys painting all year round because as soon as they finish, they’d have to start over again.”

Started in 1966, the center was the idea of Dr. Grover Murray, the former president of Texas Tech, to preserve a part of the past. “We were really going through a phase,” said Jim. “This was in the mid-1960s. And we were losing so much of the architecture and the history that had originally been developed by the early pioneers that came in to this part of the world. And so there became this really kind of swell of support within the ranching community.”

The ranching industry in Texas as a whole really had to come together to make this project work. “They actually had to establish a committee that began to select which structures would actually be able to be donated,” said Jim. “Because the word started getting around and offers for ranch buildings, houses, pens, barns, came from all over the state. The ranches that donated the structures also donated the funds to actually move and restore it here at the National Ranching Heritage Center, so it really has been a passion project for the ranching industry.”

Moving some of these massive structures was a monstrous task. “This is Los Escobates that originally was on the XIT Ranch,” said Jim. “There were seven main division headquarters of the XIT, and this was one of those. But they all had very similar architecture and served the same function. It would have been built in the late 1880s, and we actually used up until the 1930s.”

As one of the first structures moved to the center, getting it up in one piece was quite the challenge. “It was one of the original structures that was here as part of the National Ranching Heritage Center,” said Jim. “You can see, it’s obviously several hundred tons of rock that really had fallen down. It really was a pile of rubble. Out there when it’s original location. So this one, they kind of had to guess, and so they brought all this quarried limestone back from Deaf Smith County and reassembled it here at the National Ranching Heritage Center.”

This old building even has signs of cowboy life embedded in the walls all these years later. “So apparently somebody had some guns at one time and it probably bore out of entertainment, the cowboys would shoot up the smokestacks on occasion,” said Jim. “But yeah.”

One of the more popular barns has a very famous façade. “This is probably one of the most photographed and videoed ranching structures anywhere in the country,” said Jim. “So this is the original Four Sixes El Barn. It actually housed the ranch horses for many years. It was built in 1908. And it was here, or on the ranch until 1980 when Mrs. Marion, who was the owner of the ranch, donated it to us.”

If you’re especially fond of the exaggerated tales of Texas’ past, you may want to skim over this next part. “Her great-grandfather, Samuel Burt Burnett, was the progenitor of the Four Sixes ranch,” said Jim. “We actually don’t know where the Four Sixes came from. He bought 100 head of cattle when he was 19 years old that already carried the Four Sixes brand. Of course, the legend is that he won them in a poker game with four sixes, but it’s not true. We always hate to tell people that.”

“The Four Sixes really only had one heir per generation,” said Jim. “So it was Samuel Burt Burnett, and then his son Tom, his daughter Ann, and then her daughter Ann. And then obviously when she passed away in 2020, her wish was that the ranch would be sold. Even though she has one daughter. And it was sold to Taylor Sheridan and a group of investors. And obviously Taylor does Yellowstone and 1883 and 1923, many of which have been filmed at the ranch, even before they purchasedit.”

These structures have seen all sorts of people live out their lives in the fields and farms of our state and each one has a unique story. But for Jim Bret, the Pitchfork Ranch Cookhouse has a special place in his heart because he actually got to be part of its story. “So yeah, in an earlier career, I was a writer for the American Quarter Horse Journal, and so I would go out to the Pitchfork ranch, which was just located in Guthrie, Texas, east of here,” said Jim. “And actually, it was doing stories there on the ranch, and I’d get to eat in the Pitchfork cookhouse on a regular basis. These cookhouses were originally built because you’re isolated, you can’t run into Alsups to grab something, or Dairy Queen to grab something to eat. And so, just to keep a workforce, they had to feed their cowboys, in a lot of cases three times a day. But it was also kind of the central gathering place, and that’s where you had community and that’s where family reunions happened and birthdays and Christmas celebrations. And so there’s a lot of history in these old cookhouses. This one was actually built in 1900, and it was in continuous use until 2010, when it was moved here to the Ranching Heritage Center.”

Everything was done deliberately back in those days, from the way you ate to the way you sat. “The ranch manager, who was Bob Moorehouse at the time, he had his seat, and then you went by seniority until the least senior, youngest cowboy was on the far end of the table,” said Jim. “There was a very prescribed way for the way you ate and what order you got to eat. And then you cleaned your own plate and you put it in the sink so that the cook could do the dishes afterwards, and then you went to get to work. Because I was a guest, I got to sit by Bob. But I probably displaced somebody, so I’ll probably hear about it one of these days. Typical chuck wagon cookhouse. But there was always desserts and lots of beef.”

Seeing what life on the range was like during a time when settlers only had themselves to depend on really puts our incredibly easy lives in perspective. It also spurs your appreciation of the path that was paved by the people who made Texas what it is today. “My friend Red Stegall puts it, I think, best is that the struggles of cow country really built its own set of values,” said Jim. “And there was no place for a shirker or a liar at the campfire. So it built integrity, hard work, determination, and grit. That I think are really important today, and I think those are values that we see families searching for all the time. And so if we can help show, this is how our ancestors did it. And those are values that we can take forward too. I think that that’s a really great story for us to share.”

The Texas Bucket List – Route 66 Visitor Center in Amarillo

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Amarillo – Route 66 is one of the most famous roads in the country. The legend and lore of this long stretch of blacktop that goes from Chicago to LA is still going strong to this day, and to promote all the amazing things you can see on the Lone Star State stretch of 66 is the Route 66 Visitors Center in Amarillo. “Texas is probably the most underrepresented state on Route 66, in our opinion, so we kind of saw the need to fill,” said Brandon Oliver.

Brandon is the leader of the pack at the Route 66 Visitors Center, and he’s a native Amarilloan. The wind always feels like it’s at your back when you’re on this historic highway, even though it doesn’t officially exist any more. “Route 66 was officially decommissioned in 1985, so it’s not even a recognized highway in some areas anymore,” said Brandon. “So, the I-40 basically took that over for a long time. It was a way to get everywhere faster. You didn’t have to stop at all the lights in all the little towns and all of that stuff.”

But the stopping is all the fun! It’s lead to countless adventures right here on The Texas Bucket List, and the visitors center is helping all kinds of roadtrippers experience the best that our stretch of 66 has to offer. “We feel like we’re making an impact, to help educate the travelers of the cool things that there are to see on Route 66 in Texas specifically,” said Brandon.

Even the building that the Route 66 Visitors Center lives in is a cool stop because it too has history on this highway. “Most people in Amarillo, the older generation, remember this as Meyer’s Fried Chicken,” said Brandon. “They were in this location from about 1947 to about 1966 or ’67.”

There have even been some artifacts from the ol’ chicken spot found around the building, giving some insight into how a business from way back then operated. “Yeah, we found some checks up in the attic dated from 1949, from the Meyer’s Fried Chicken restaurant here,” said Brandon. “Here’s them pinned. They’re Highway 66 Association dues in 1949. I find it fascinating how the bank used to do the processing, where they’d punch the holes in it and things like that. Here’s them buying from the poultry farm. $1,700 is a lot of money in 1949.”

Despite the popularity and mystic of America’s Main Street, many of the places still have to be promoted and that’s where Brandon and the entire Route 66 society comes together. “We need all the Route 66 help we can get, because it takes the community to make it thrive, but we kind of saw the need for Texas, just there not being anything, and we’re getting good response, you know?” said Brandon. “We’re busy. We’ve got lots of travelers coming through. We see people from everywhere, all over the world.”

Even people from across the pond help promote the Route. “There’s a Route 66 passport. It’s by our friend. His name is Marian Pavel. He’s over in Slovakia,” said Brandon. “Yeah, that’s how far the reach of Route 66 is. There’s so much international draw for Route 66. It’s fascinating for those folks. It’s bucket list items for them, honestly.”

Besides being a hub for the highway, the center also sells art from the area as well as a few other things. “We know they’ve seen probably 100 gift shops by the time they get to us if they’re doing the route, so we wanted to stand out a little bit,” said Brandon. “The magnets and t-shirts help you keep the lights on.”

But the one item just about every visitor wants is the iconic Route 66 sign. “This is the only one we’ve got right now,” said Brandon. “We got these from our friends over at the Milburn Press Culture Museum. That one’s probably only about 15 years old. It’s really difficult to get a hold of the old, original signs, and there’s a lot of fakes out there now.”

The one thing that’s not fake is the stories and experiences you can get on Route 66 here in Texas.  It may be short but it’s full of neon dreams, amazing artists and some great grub making all 180 miles of it well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List. “It’s just a story of the American nostalgia, the relentlessness, the hard work that it takes to make something work here, and it’s just the people,” said Brandon. “I mean, it’s what I keep going back to. It’s the people of Route 66 that make it so special, and if we don’t tell the story, if we don’t translate this to a new generation, we’re going to lose it. So, we’re trying to do our part.”

 

The Texas Bucket List – Remembering Columbia Museum in Hemphill

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Hemphill – The serene beauty of East Texas isn’t often interrupted. Occasionally you might hear a train far off in the distance or come across a few wild hogs hanging out under the trees.  But on February 1st, 2003, this part of our state saw the unimaginable take place in the sky above. The Space Shuttle Columbia was returning from a 16-day mission when it disintegrated upon reentry and broke into pieces over East Texas. “Those astronauts were 16 minutes back into Earth atmosphere and they were 16 minutes from home, and we lost them,” said Veronica Thomas, an Air Force veteran and one of the founders of the Remembering Columbia Museum in Hemphill. “38% of the shuttle was recovered in Eastern Texas, over 85,000 parts.”

Marsha Cooper, a member of the Texas Forest Service, is another person who was in Hemphill when the tragedy occurred. She also helped found the museum, and she’ll never forget that fateful Saturday when the pieces of the shuttle started falling from the sky. “I knew it was them. I knew it was the Shuttle,” said Cooper. “I was home on a Saturday morning like everybody else. I have an insert fireplace at my house and that thing went to shaking, the windows went to shaking. And all of a sudden, the sonic booms went to going off, and I didn’t know what was going on. 9/11 hadn’t been, what, two years before, and I didn’t know if we were under attack. And people thought a train had derailed. They didn’t know if the refineries down in Houston had blown up. I mean, everybody was calling, ‘What’s going on?’ Just looking in the sky and you could see the smoke trails through the sky. Still hard to look at to this day.”

Cooper knew that a recovery would be starting quickly, so she headed to the Texas Forest Service office to get ready. “You could see the debris,” said Cooper. “You could see the white Kevlar stuff that was on the side of the road. You could just see things everywhere, and I knew it wasn’t trash. Everybody just started pulling together and doing what they do best, doing great jobs.”

Veronica Thomas was also a part of the massive recovery effort that took place during the following days. “133 federal and state and local agencies involved in the recovery effort, and the rest volunteers,” said Thomas. “There were, I think, 125,000 volunteers. To date, it is still considered the largest recovery effort in the United States.”

Those efforts and the memories of the Astronauts lost that day are preserved at the Remembering Columbia Museum, an idea that came to the founders a few years after the tragic accident. “We didn’t really know what we wanted to do or how were we going to do it,” said Cooper. “We just didn’t really know what to do. We wanted to meet with the family first because we wanted them to be on board. We wanted them to approve what we were doing. It was important to us, whatever we did that the families of Columbia were in agreement on it.”

Through working with the families, the founders were able to create a plan for a museum that everyone involved would see as a good way to honor those lost on the Columbia Space Shuttle. “The family said that if there’s a museum or anything to honor our loved ones, it must be about education,” said Thomas.

And that’s exactly what they’ve done, by creating a place that doesn’t just honor the memories of the astronauts, but also accentuates their contribution to science and NASA’s mission of space exploration. “Our kids in a 200-mile radius here, they don’t have a NASA to go to and learn and do field trips,” said Cooper. “It’s a long way down there.”

Each astronaut lost that day has a display with personal items donated from family members.  One of those items is a set of wings that pilot William McCool’s father brought to the museum himself. “We walked right back here. He told us who he was and he was his father, and he actually had on these gold wings right here,” said Cooper. “And he said, ‘Can you open this case?’ And I said, ‘Yes, sir, we can.’ We opened the case. He said, ‘This is where they belong.’ So those gold wings were to be presented to William McCool when he got back. And so his gold wings sit here and his father put them there.”

Other items include debris recovered from the wreckage, such as a CD brought on board by mission specialist Laurel Clark and contacts that belonged Commander Rick Husband. “The family members have either given them to us or loaned them to us, trusted us with their loved one’s possessions,” said Thomas. “Each display case tells you a story about the individual. It gives you a complete snapshot of who that person was.”

The most compelling portion of displays showcase the careers and accomplishments of these 7 incredible heroes. “These astronauts were educated,” said Cooper. “And we wanted to make sure that their story was told, because each one of them has a story about their education and about what they did in their careers and everything.”

So we remember Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon for their contribution to mankind and for inspiring the next generation of scientists who look to the stars. “To me, it represents faith, closure, tenacity, and just not giving up, and seeing the big picture,” said Thomas. “The story needs to be told over and over and over again. We must never forget.”

The Texas Bucket List – Museum of the American GI in College Station

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College Station – On the southside of Aggieland, Santa’s Wonderland is one of the best-known Christmas attractions in the state. But just a stone’s throw from this huge holiday hotspot is a museum that celebrates those who give throughout the year. A place where honor, sacrifice, and service aren’t just part of being on Santa’s nice list, they’re a part of who these people are. The Museum of the American GI.

Leisha Mullins is one of the founding members of The Museum of the American GI which was founded in 2001. Her husband, Brent, is big on military history and owns a parts company for military jeeps, and on the side, he likes to rebuild military vehicles, especially tanks. The collection exploded, and now these massive machines are the centerpiece of the museum.  “Each of these are fully restored and it takes about two years at least to restore them.” Does he do it himself or does he have help? “He restores most of it himself. Occasionally he has help, but overall, most of it is things he has done.”

These tanks don’t just look immaculate, they also run perfectly. Everything in the museum is fully operational except for the helicopter. But this museum offers an experience you won’t find many places – the chance to ride in a tank. A few times a year, these restored Shermans tromp through the terrain like they did back in the day.  “It gives us a chance to bring history alive to people to actually see it, other than just the static displays,” said Leisha.

Even veterans come to relive what it was like to be in these powerful machines. One of those veterans was George Ruth, who entered the service right before his 15th birthday in 1943. “It was his 93rd birthday. He was in the 93rd division, which was a segregated division in World War II. And his son brought him to the museum to celebrate his birthday,” Leisha said. “We put him on the half track and he rode on the half track. And I might not have done that if he had told me before I put him on the half track that in World War II, he fell off a half track and broke him shoulder. But he loved it.”

The museum also has the only operational French Renault in North America. Other World War I tanks didn’t have a rotating turret, but this one is the first one to have the rotating turret. It also has another unique feature – the front wooden wheel.

Another stunning exhibit is a tribute to Texans who never made it home from Vietnam. “There is one dog tag for every Texas veteran that was either killed in action or missing in action in Vietnam. There’s 3,417 dog tags,” Leisha explained. “It’s meant to be tactile. It’s meant for people to go up and touch it. It’s meant for people to go in and look because it has the person’s name on it. It has their hometown. It has their branch of service, and it has a date. That date is the date that they were either killed or the date that they were missing in action. It’s a very, very special exhibit because again, it helps me when I’m talking to kids and we can look at it and go, “No, not everyone comes home and so we need to honor our veterans and thank them.”

Riding in the tanks and remembering those who served is part of that experience. But it all culminates with a firing salute that rocks the entire region.

Honoring veterans while learning about their incredible contribution to our country and taking a tank ride make the Museum of the American GI a stop to salute on The Texas Bucket List. And, as always, thank a veteran for their service.

The Texas Bucket List – Mitchell Spur Collection in Gatesville

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Gatesville – There’s not much more synonymous with our state than the spur.  Heck we’ve even got a professional basketball team named after them. But over in Gatesville they’ve got so many spurs that I’m told a horse won’t step one hoof into town.  After our visit, I can see why!

Coryell County is home to a great deal of Fort Hood. Just north of the massive military base is Gatesville, a small town with a love for spurs. “It means everything to us. It really does,” said Ervin Adams, the President of the Board of Coryell County Museum.

Established in 1985, the Coryell County Museum tells the story of the county that’s been around since 1854. Here you’ll find the county’s original jail that Sam Bass was jailed in in 1878 for disturbing the peace. You’ll see some of the most detailed and decorated doll houses I’ve ever seen. And they happen to have the largest spur collection in the world. “Pretty much the whole museum is centered around the spur collection,” stated Ervin.

The Mitchell Spur Collection is massive and it’s put Gatesville on the map. Local coaching legend Lloyd Mitchell amassed this collection of over 10,000 spurs in his lifetime. “Coach Mitchell was a special man, he did a lot of things in his life and then just did this collecting on the side,” explained Ervin.

How did a small-town football coach get into that? “Well, I married the Mitchell’s youngest daughter,” stated Grayson Wetzel, the son-in-law of Lloyd Mitchell.

Grayson knows this collection well.  He married Charlotte Ann Tootie Mitchel and he first set his sights on the substantial spur collection when he met his future father-in-law in 1965. “They sent me outside with her daddy. Out in the back of their house there were two old wooden buildings. Both of those buildings were crammed full of spurs and other western memorabilia. I spent the afternoon out there in hog heaven,” explained Grayson.

After that first meeting, Grayson knew he was saddling up for a long ride with the family. “As we were finishing up the visit that afternoon he said, ‘Young man, you’re welcome to come back anytime. Just bring a spur.’ So I made it my goal to do that from that time on,” said Grayson.

Grayson took us on a tour of this massive collection, and it sure does live up to its reputation! The museum has around 6,000 of the spurs in the museum. “It’s hard to display all of them,” stated Grayson.

The main exhibit consists of the most unique and storied spurs, even spurs owned by Jackie Kennedy. There’s even a colossal spur in this sizable spur collection. Then there’s spurs that showcase some unique artistry. “One of the display cases shows Gal-Leg spurs. And as I’ve done programs through the years, I say Gal-Leg spur just like that. I find that many people have no clue what I’m talking about. On the shank of the spur, the heel bands got decoration on it. Looks like a lady’s leg. So in history books or other books, you’ll find them called Gal-Leg, or sometimes they’ll say Lady-leg spurs,” explained Grayson.

So just what was it that made a football coach from a small-town start collecting this particular piece of ranching equipment? “As a young man, he was headed out west, headed towards Yellowstone to work, but he was working on a ranch that’s on the way in New Mexico. Says he was riding through the pasture one day and he looked down and saw something shiny. Says he got off his horse, kicked the dirt around, and sure enough there was a spur. He said, ‘I picked it up and I’ve kept it.’ And then said, ‘I’ve been looking for the mate to it ever since.’,” explained Grayson.

Surprisingly the spur collection has spurned interest in a tool that some folks don’t even know what it’s for anymore. “Everybody knew about spurs back then, past my generation I’m not sure how many know about spurs,” stated Grayson.

“A lot of people don’t even know what a spur is and when they walk through the door they just want to know what a spur is and take them and show them what a spur is. What does it do? Why’d they use them? And we’d have to tell a story about what they’re used for. I’m serious. We’ve had people walk in the door and don’t know what a spur is or what it was used for or anything,” explained Ervin.

So if keeping the western heritage and history of Texas is something close to your heart or you’re just looking for a spur of the moment trip, a stop at the Coryell County Museum to see the Mitchell Spur Collection is a surprising stop on The Texas Bucket List.  “If you’re a true Texan, you’ve got to have a little bit of interest in ranching, cowboys, horses, it can just go on and on. You got to have a spur involved somewhere in it,” stated Grayson.

The Texas Bucket List – Boston Terrier Museum in Floydada

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Floydada – Dogs can change a life. Every moment you have with a furry friend leaves an indelible memory.  The laughter and unconditional love a pup can provide proves they really are man’s best friend.

For Bob Hambright from Floydada, it’s Boston Terriers that pull his heartstrings.  “People that have Boston Terriers, that’s the only kind of dog there is,” said Bob.

Bob lives in Floydada and this small Texas town is where he’s been pretty much his whole life. “I never did move away on time. Only time I left here, it was when I was in the army, and I was in ’57 to ’59. I was gone for two years,” explained Bob. In 1968, he married Francis and they spent 44 years together.“She was the highlight of my life, I guess. She was a sweet girl and everybody loved her,” expressed Bob.

The only love that could compare to their dedication to each other was their infatuation with Boston Terriers, so together they created quite the collection. “Well, I had to put that on my wife. She gave me a large sand cast, Boston Terrier on my birthday, in 1991. Then I started to collect,” said Bob.

Bob owns the Boston Terrier Museum, an attraction you’d never expect to find in the middle of a farming community outside of Lubbock. “I love Boston Terriers and I love collecting Boston Terriers. And I got this wild idea. I said, “I’ll just put it in a museum, and collect Boston Terriers. And I enjoyed every minute of it,” said Bob.

Bob’s collection takes up an entire building and if you gave each one of these dogs a bone, these knick knacks would have way more than they could chew. “It took up about half the building, a little bit more. Then I just started collecting a little bit more. And first thing you know, I filled up the building. Then I don’t have room now for anything. I should have got a bigger building,” joked Bob.

From pipes, plates, to patriotic pups if it has a Boston Terrier on it, Bob’s got it. If we had to put a number on it, well. “Just a few thousand. Rounded, just round it off, just to 2000,” said Bob.

“We’ve been crazy about Boston’s forever. I’ve never not had a Boston in my life,” stated Bob’s daughter, Alissa Carter. Alissa not only supports her father’s passion for pups, she feeds into it. “It kind of became a quest for all of us to find something that he didn’t have. So we kind of fed the frenzy as well. Yeah, we have,” joked Alissa. “When he talks about his dogs, he lights up, and it’s amazing what tales he tells. He’s a pretty quiet man. But when you start talking about Boston’s, he seems to perk up and he can spew a lot of information out to you. So it’s just, it’s been a good passion for him,” explained Alissa.

Any idea how many Boston Terriers Bob has had through the years? “I’ve had five. Yeah. I’ve had five. AJ, Arnold, Harley, Sam, Spike. That’s five I’ve had. Probably the smartest one I had, was Spike, the last one. He was smart. He was smarter than I was, that’s for sure,” said Bob.

It’s been said that dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. For Bob that saying has a whole lot of bark.  “I don’t know. They just get next to you, and just fall in love with them. They are just like one of the family. When you lose one, you shed a few tears. I shed a lot of them,” expressed Bob.

So if you’re up for a kookie collection of crazy things dedicated to the Boston Terrier, a trip to the Boston Terrier Museum in Floydada is a great stop, just be sure to bring your dog. “When they come here, they bring their dogs, which I love. Any dog is allowed here,” stated Bob. “If you love a Boston, it’s definitely a bucket list place to come,” said Alissa.

The Texas Bucket List – East Texas Oil Museum in Kilgore

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Kilgore – Texas is all about oil and it all strart with the state’s first really big boom at Spindletop back in 1901. Today you can find pumpjacks from Beaumont to Midland with roughnecks working throughout the day to collect crude.

Over in northeast Texas, the oil boom wasn’t heard till the 1930’s.  That’s when things got crazy in Kilgore.  “At the height in Kilgore, there were over 1,100 derricks. As you looked across the skyline, you could see them popping up all along,” explained Olivia Moore, manager of the East Texas Oil Museum.

Just a few blocks from the big rigs scattered across the Kilgore skyline, the East Texas Oil Museum tells the story of the crazy way oil exploration exploded in Kilgore. “It not only tells the story, tells the history, tells the oil piece of this area, but it tells the story of the people who’ve lived here,” said Olivia.

Dedicated to the boom that kicked off on December 28, 1930 the East Texas Oil Museum takes a look at what life was like when oil changed the landscape of a little town. “Well, they say that a picture’s worth a thousand words. Well, could you imagine how many words walking into a picture would be,” Olivia stated as walking into the museum.

When walking into the museum, you are greeted with a man hanging from the ceiling that is sure to surprise you.  “We have Buddy,” explained Olivia. Buddy being an animatronic figure of course. “Buddy welcomes you in, talks about electricity coming to the East Texas oil field and then that brings you right into the general store, where we have Mr. Crim, the mayor of Kilgore talking to his customers about the goings on in the East Texas oil field,” explains Olivia. This town, that happens to be inside of the museum, consists of everything that you would have found in Kilgore during the oil boom. One of the most active sites for drilling in Kilgore happened to be right in the middle of town.  An area famously referred to as the world’s richest acre. “Out of that 1.2 acre space, they were able to pull 2.5 million barrels of oil out of that. And a barrel of oil is 42 gallons if that gives you any kind of reference of how much crude that is,” explained Olivia.

The historical pictures of the time help tell the story but actually having some derricks on that acre, well that helps too. “We’re an oilfield town and we’re very, very proud of our heritage,” stated Mayor of Kilgore Ronnie Spradlin.

Ronnie Spradlin has been the Mayor of Kilgore since 2010 and he grew up here.  Back when he was a boy, he took a family trip to Big D and he had one big question. “Where are their derricks? I assumed every town had derricks in it. Ours did,” said Mayor Spradlin. These towering spires dedicated to a time gone by help bring the story of Kilgore’s oil boom back to life.

Each one of these derricks here now, represents pretty much where a derrick was. “There were even more on the block, but we put back the number of them to have a representation of what it looked like,” explained Mayor Spradlin. If there was a building, they would simply knock down the walls and drill straight through the floor, not even pull up the floor! “Yep, the old brick floor from the bank is the next derrick over, and they left the brick there and just drilled through it,” said Mayor Spradlin.

“The oil field itself affected so many people in East Texas. It helped insulate against the great depression. It helped win World War II with our oil getting to the refineries in the Northeast. It just is such a special story. And it needs to be told,” said Olivia.

“The oil business has been like a ride on a roller coaster. There’ve been years where there was more money in town, second highest deposits in the state of Texas back in ’78, ’79. And then when the oil field would crash, people would be unemployed. Our unemployment would go to double digits and in spite of what the nation’s doing. So, we’re have our own little economy that’s totally separate from the rest of the nation,” explained Mayor Spradlin

So the oil continues to churn out of Kilgore, providing Texans with a natural resource for energy and our economy, including bringing people to town to get a look at the lineage of the Lone Star State. “Being transported back in time is something that all people would love to do before they kick the bucket,”joked Olivia.

“If you haven’t been to Kilgore, you haven’t been to Texas in my mind,” stated Mayor Spradlin.

“It’s an everyday reminder of how important oil was to the city of Kilgore and how important it is still today,” said Olivia.

The Texas Bucket List – Gelman Stained Glass Museum in San Juan

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San Juan – The painted churches of central Texas are some of the most serene and sacred spots in our state. The sun piercing through the windows of these old shrines fills the spirit of your soul.  These works of art tell a story and it’s easy to find yourself staring at the colorful accounts of biblical stories for what feels like an eternity.

Well, if seeing stained glass like the kind you find in these charming chapels is what brings you joy, there’s a museum in Rio Grande Valley that will light up your life. “We are the largest and most comprehensive stained glass exhibit and collection in the United States,” said Miriam Cepeda, the director of the Gelman Stained Glass Museum in San Juan.

“I enjoy seeing individuals come in here and they’re just like, ‘Wow.’ Everyone, as soon as they open the door, they’re just amazed,” said Miriam.

Now why is this magnificent museum down in the Rio Grande Valley?  “The patron, which is Dr. Lawrence Gelman, is an anesthesiologist here in the Rio Grande Valley and due to the location here in San Juan, Mrs. Gelman chose this spot,” explained Miriam.

This spot in San Juan feels like a spiritual sanctuary and that’s exactly how they wanted it. “The whole idea, the whole goal here at the Gelman Stained Glass Museum is to provide a transcendental experience for our visitors that can only be achieved in the replication of a sacred environment. And so, that’s how come when you pass by us, you think we’re a cathedral. We replicate everything from the exterior to the interior of a cathedral,” explained Miriam.

From the outside, you’ll notice there isn’t one window. That’s because the Gelman Stained Glass Museum wanted every single stained glass to be protected from the elements and look impeccable with the perfect amount of light behind each and every window.  Artificially of course. “We have something that’s very unique and different because all of our stained glass is illuminated by LED replication of sunlight,” stated Miriam.

Miriam then took us behind the scenes to see just what it takes to illuminate this place. “People appreciate something as simple as sunlight. And it’s something that we talk about here at the museum in the replication of the sunlight. So, it’s not just yellow, it’s not just white. It’s soft white, bright yellow, light yellow, green, red. The whole spectrum,” explained Miriam.

Dr. Gelman has been collecting these stained-glass windows for over 30 years, in all there’s 174 sets in the museum. “Everything except two is original antiques that date back to the late 19th century, early 20th century,” said Miriam.

Miriam took us to the European section of windows and we were not disappointed. “One of the windows that’s very famous that we have on display is our Cox/Buckley window of Christ knocking at the door. And this window, Tiffany Studios, Louis Comfort Tiffany, he made a copy off of this window. And so, this one is an English artist Cox/Buckley, however, in the Munich-Mayer style, which is the painted style window,” explained Miram.

“We have to remind ourselves that during the late 19th century, early 20th century, there was the Industrial Revolution, and this is the era of Art Nouveau where, in these industrialized cities, people wanted to see something that looked naturalistic versus the railroad versus the booming skyscrapers. And so, when you go into a church in the Northeast Coast, for example, where predominantly most of these windows are from, you see these illustrations of something that looks very real in the natural world. Something heavenly as well and when you look at the windows, you’ll get that sentiment,” explained Miriam.

Looking at each window with a particular year on it or a name of someone the window was dedicated to makes you start to think off all the things these windowns have seen over the past one hundred plus years. “They’ve gone through a lot. Honestly, I think some of these windows are alive at night, but that’s another story. But yeah, they’ve seen so many things. They’ve seen so many baptismals, weddings, Christmas masses, funerals. They’ve all been a memory to someone,” expressed Miriam.

As a child, I still remember staring at the stained-glass windows of our church. Seeing the light reflected on the imperfections of the glass all the while learning a story of a Saint or a story in the Bible. Here you can relive some of those stories or just sit in awe of some amazing artwork making the Gelman Stained Glass Museum a great place to reflect on The Texas Bucket List. “We want to preserve all of these windows for centuries to come,” stated Miriam.