~ West Texas Historical Association ~
WTHA Annual Meeting 2013
The West Texas Historical Association's 90th annual meeting was held on April 5-6, 2013, at the Clark Student Center on the Midwestern State University campus. The Wichita Falls newspaper, The Times Record News, ran an article on our meeting there titled "Historians relive disastrous episode" on April 8, 2013.
 Session Breakdown
Thursday, April 4, 2013
  • From 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., WTHA members participating in the Thursday morning tour visited the Clay Museum, the Courthouse, the W. S. Ikard Ranch site, and Petrolia - the birth place of the North Texas oil industry. Lunch was included.
  • Then from 1:30 - 5:30 p.m. the group went on a Wichita Falls History Tour hosted by the Wichita Falls Convention Bureau. Stops include the Museum of North Texas, Call Field Aviation Museum, and the historic Kell House that overlooks the Wichita River Valley.
  • The Thursday Evening Event was an optional trip to the Kiowa Casino on the Red River with bus transportation and dinner at the casino.

Friday's schedule, April 5, 2013

  • WTHA Board Meeting from 7:00 - 8:00 a.m. in the Clark Student Center.
  • Registration started at 8:00 a.m. in the reception area adjacent Comanche Suites, Clark Student Center.
  • The Silent Auction ran from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. in the Clark Student Center in Room 171.
  • An informal pre-reception was held from 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. at the Bar L Drive Inn on 908 13th St, across the street from the Kemp Center for the Arts.
  • The President’s Reception was from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Kemp Center for the Arts at 1300 Lamar.
  • The Evening Program featured speaker John Miller Morris, Professor of Geography at the University of Texas at San Antonio, on "The Trouble with Trails: When Geography and History 'Hit the Road' Together."

9:00 a.m.  – 10:15 a.m. Sessions
Session #1, Room 138 (Shawnee Theatre) - Tracking the Nineteenth Century Texas Rangers: A Panel Discussion.  Harold J. Weiss, Leander, Presiding.

Panelists:
Michael L. Collins, Midwestern State University
Chuck Parsons, Luling
Stephen L. Hardin, McMurry University
Donaly Brice, Texas State Library and  Archives Commission
Tom Crum, Granbury
   
Session #2, Room 172 - Buffalo Hunters and West Texas Trails.  Jack Becker, Texas Tech University, Presiding.
  • TeePee City: Buffalo Hunters’ Outpost on the Rath Trail, Marisue Potts, Mott Creek Ranch/Motley County Historical Commission.
  • Jones Plummer Trail, Pauline Hodges.
  • Comanchero and Comanche Trails, Duane Johnson, Foard County Historical Commission.

10:30 a.m.  –  11:45 a.m. Sessions

Session #3, Room 172 - Contested Land and Lifeways in West Texas.  William Tydeman, Texas Tech University, Presiding.
  • The Spanish/Navajo Connection: The Navajo and Spanish at War with the Apache, Robert Hall, West Texas Historical Association.
  • Horsehead Crossing, Travis Roberts, Jr., Brewster County Historical Commission.
  • After the Battle of Blanco Canyon, Sam M. Watts, Floyd County, Texas.
   
Session #4, Room 162 - The North Central Texas Frontier.Tiffany Fink, Hardin-Simmons University, Presiding.
  • A Tale of Two Houses [The Kell House in Wichita Falls, Texas], Stacie Flood, Kell House Museum.
  • The Burk Burnett Family in Wichita County, Lita Watson, Museum of North Texas.
  • Sarah Jane Davis: A Femme Sole [on the high grass prairie of Wichita County], Becky Trammell, Burkburnet

Session #,5 Room 138 (Shawnee Theatre) - Environment, Wilderness, and Heritage History in the Lone Star State.  Suzanne Campbell, Angelo State University, Presiding.
  • Local Response and Initiative: The Environment, Natural Resources, and Small Towns in the Texas Panhandle Plains Since 1945, Philip G. Pope, Texas Tech University. 2012 Fellow, Excellence in West Texas History Program.
  • Constructing Wilderness in Big Bend National Park, Neel G. Baumgardner, University of Texas. 2012 Fellow, Excellence in West Texas History Program.
  • Highways, History, and Hinterlands: Texas’ Heritage Trails over Forty-Five Years, Barbara Brannon, Texas Plains Trail Region.

Lunch Break from 11:45 – 1:00 p.m.

On Your Own.  Meals can be purchased at the Clark Student Center (room 145).  Available off campus outlets are within convenient driving distance especially on or near Maplewood Avenue:  Atlanta Bread Company; Hunan Chinese Restaurant; Parkway Grill; Texas Best Barbeque and Burgers. A little further out and long-time local favorites are Scott’s Drive In (since 1960), Prine’s BBQ (since the 1960s), and Stanley’s BBQ (since 1971).
   

1:00 –  2:15 p.m. Sessions/font>
Session #6, Room 138 (Shawnee Theatre) - The Southern Comanche Homeland:  A Panel Discussion. 

Panelists:
Wallace Coffey, Comanche Nation
Montie Guthrie, Santa Anna
Linda Pelon, McLennan Community College
   
Session #7, Room 172 - Feeding the Children of West Texas. PHI ALPHA THETA SPONSORED SESSION [History Honor Society].  Jean Stuntz, West Texas A&M University, Presiding.
  • Snack Pack 4 Kids and the High Plains Food Bank in Amarillo, Dwight Vick, West Texas A&M University.
  • Snack Pack 4 Kids in Hereford, Krista Lee, West Texas A&M University.
  • Hunger and Food Insecurity in Texas, Mark McKethan, West Texas A&M University.
   

2:30 p.m. –  3:45 p.m. Sessions
Session #8, Room 172 - Promoting Texas in Politics, Borderlands Scholarship, and a Significant Anniversary.  Patrick Maille, Oklahoma Panhandle State University, Presiding.
  • Orville Bullington of Wichita Falls: The Texas Politician Nobody Knows, Billy Hathorn, Laredo.
  • C. L. Sonnichsen: Border Fence Sitter, Joyce Gibson Roach, Keller.
  • 100 Years, 100th Meridian: The Texas Centennial in West Texas, Bob Brinkman, Texas State Historical Commission.
   
Session #9, Room 138 (Shawnee Theatre) - Law and Lawlessness on the Nineteenth-Century Texas Frontier.  Marisue Potts, WTHA President - Matador, Presiding.
  • Following Corporal Kimbell  [1850s Law and Order--Hill Country Style], Peter Rose, Austin.
  • Lampasas, 1855-1882: Struggles of a Frontier Texas Town, Bill O’Neal, Texas State Historian
  • Life, Law, and Love on the North Texas Frontier, 1876-1879, Travis Childs, Cameron University/Clay County Historical Society
Session #10, Room 162 - ‘Cold Cases,’ a Budding Scholar, and Wichita Falls Football.  Cindy Martin, Lubbock, Presiding.
  • Researching Really, Really Cold Case Crimes in Frontier Texas, Bill Neal, Abilene
  • The Creation of Cleburne State Park by the CCC, Anthony Smith, Tarleton State University. Student Award Winner.
  • Homesteading Wichita County, Jahue Anderson, North Central Texas College
 

4:00 p.m.  –  5:15 p.m. Sessions
Session #11, Room 162 - CENTER FOR BIG BEND STUDIES SPONSORED SESSION.  J. T. Tillapaugh, Odessa, Presiding.
  • Late Paleoindians in the Big Bend, William A. Cloud, Sul Ross State University.
  • The Prehistoric and Historic Use of Plants in West Texas, Richard W. Walter, Sul Ross University.
  • Hoodlums and Indians of Mason County, 1870-80, H. Charles Eckert, Mason County Historical Commission.
 
Session #12, Room 172 - The Promised Land for both Native Americans and Texans.  Barbara Brannon, Texas Plains Region, Presiding.
  • Rethinking Caddo Geography, 1835-1850, Jim Tiller, Sam Houston State University.
  • Texas—La Terre Promise, Robert J. Robertson, Beaumont.
  • World War II Military Museum in West Texas, John McCullough, Texas Tech University.
 
Session #13, Room 138 (Shawnee Theatre) - Ghost Towns, Cowboy Art and Religion of West Texas.  JoAnn Pospisil, Baylor College of Medicine, Presiding.
  • Ghost Towns of Tom Green County, Ray Theiss, Angelo State University.
  • Chapel of Brookhollow: There Were So Many, Elleta Nolte, Lubbock.
  • Jack Stevens and the Importance of Public Art in Establishing a Sense of Place for Wichita Falls, Holle Humphries, Lubbock.

Saturday's schedule, April 6, 2013

  • Registration from 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. in the reception area adjacent Comanche Suites, Clark Student Center.
  • Silent Auction from 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. in the Clark Student Center Room 171.
  • Luncheon and Business Meeting from 12:30 - 2:00 p.m. in the Comanche Suites Room 135 of the Clark Student Center on the Midwestern State University campus. President Marisue Potts give her presentation on "Don't Bring a Mare to the Roundup: The Cowboys' Unwritten Rules."
  • Saturday afternoon tour in Oklahoma of Medicine Park (est. 1908), the Old Plantation (est. 1909), Wichita Mountain Wildlife refuge, and Mount Scott. Dinner at Meers Store and Restaurant (est. 1901).

8:15 a.m.  –  9:30 a.m. Sessions
Session #14, Room 138 (Shawnee Theatre) - Interpreting Colonial, Antebellum, and Early 20th Century Texas. EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION SPONSORED SESSION. Bruce Glasrud, ETHA President, Presiding.
  • Ignacio Perez: Rancher, Soldier, and Politician in Colonial Texas, Brad Folson, University of North Texas.
  • Redefining Slave Holders and Wealth in Northwestern Antebellum Texas, Debbie Liles, University of North Texas.
  • The Textile Special, Deborah Kilgore, University of North Texas.
 
Session #15, Room 172 - Legal Questions and the Conflict of Two Worlds in Texas. PHI ALPHA THETA - TAU GAMMA CHAPTER SPONSORED SESSION. Leland Turner, Midwestern State University, Presiding.
  • The Elm Creek Raid and Indian Depredations in and Around Young County, Texas, Jim Hammond, Texas Tech University.
  • Convict Slavery? An Examination of Convict Labor in the Texas Sugar Industry, Jeff Dickey, Midwestern State University.
  • The Desegregation of Midwestern: Battle, et al v. Wichita Falls Junior College District, et al, Robert Stewart, Midwestern State University.

9:45 a.m.  –  11:00 a.m. Sessions
Session #16, Room 172 - Promoting Texas through Agriculture, Journalism, and Boosterism.  Leland Turner, Midwestern State University, Presiding.
  • Pestilence in the Fields: Biotech Engineering Giants, West Texas Agriculture, and Pesticide Abuse, Abigail Scott, Midwestern State University.
  • The Nocona Free Press: How Enid Justin Reached the World through the Associated Press, Jesse W. Beckham, Midwestern State University.
  • A Name is Not Just a Name: The Misinterpretation of Pochanaquarhip, Patrick Ray Calzada, Midwestern State University.
 
Session #17, Room 138 (Shawnee Theatre) - Influences on the Texas Panhandle. Tim Bowman, West Texas A&M University, Presiding.
  • Influences of the Bison, David Favela, Renae Rapp, and Elyse Blackwell, West Texas A&M University.
  • The Role of Religion in the Development of the Panhandle, Hillarie Easley-McPherson, West Texas A&M University.
  • The Nazareth Rodeo, Larissa Gardner, West Texas A&M University.
  • The Oil Road - The Wichita Falls & Southern Railway, Steven Goen, Wichita Falls.
 

11:15 a.m.  –  12:30 a.m. Sessions
Session #18, Room 138 (Shawnee Theatre) - From Home on the Range to ˇViva Terlingua! by Way of Wichita Falls. Lynn Whitfield, Texas Tech University, Presiding.
  • As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls... in Song, Joe W. Specht, Abilene.
  • At Home on the Range: The Influence of the Texas Landscape on the Music of David Guion, Robert Reitz, Dallas.
  • ˇViva ‘ˇViva Terlingua!, Andy Wilkinson, Texas Tech University.
 
Session #19, Room 172 - Tracking the Great Western Trail in the 21st Century. GREAT WESTERN TRAIL ASSOCIATION SPONSORED SESSION  Myra Busby, Seymour Chamber of Commerce, Presiding.
  • Tracking the GWT from Mexico to Canada: The Longest and Largest GWT Research Project in the 21st Century, Sylvia Mahoney, Vernon.
  • Tracking the Truth about the 19th Century GWT Through a Drover’s Memory, Jeff Bearden, Vernon.
  • Visual GWT Tracks Across Canvas: Western Trail Art Association (WTAA), Mary Ann McCuistion, Vernon.

The Saturday afternoon tour of Oklahoma starts at 2:30 p.m. and goes to Medicine Park (est. 1908), the Old Plantation (est. 1909), Wichita Mountain Wildlife refuge, and Mount Scott. Dinner at Meers Store and Restaurant (est. 1901).

P.O. 41041
 Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas
79409-1041
Ph. 806-742-9076 wthayb@ttu.edu

Back to the WTHA home page

Photographs from Darkside Tour of downtown Wichita Falls can be viewed on WTHA member Barbara A. Brannon's Flicker site