6. Descriptions of the Collections


From 1836 until the Civil War, the most common occupation in Texas was farming, and cotton was the
most important cash crop. Production increased rapidly, spreading from eastern Texas into the
Blackland Prairies of Central Texas. With cotton came the institution of slavery and an ever increasing
demand for more and more slaves. Prominent citizens of the state demanded that the slave trade be
reopened. In 1860 there were 182, 566 slaves in Texas valued at $108,688,920. The value of slaves was
greater than the value of all the farms in Texas. By 1861 the cotton culture of the eastern and central
part of the state tied most of settled Texas to the Old South. However, unlike the rest of the old South,
Texas still had a large and active frontier making it also a part of the New West. These factors, along with
a diverse immigrant population, helped to create a pluralistic society with distinct regional differences.

While the cotton and slave culture imported into Texas had an enormous impact on rural life, in the pre-
Civil War period the plantation lifestyle and economy was something to which most farmers only aspired.
There was a lot of land but very little else. Farmers were largely self-sufficient, depending on the fruits of
their own labor for nearly all of their needs. The most common dwelling was not the big house of the
plantation. Instead it was the small double log cabin known as a "Dog Run," for its open central porch
that connected the two structures. Seasonal calamities, poor transportation, isolation and Indian attacks
along the frontier made life on the early Texas farm hard and uncertain--as vividly described in Rupert
Richardson's The Frontier of Northwest Texas, 1846-1876: Advance and Defense by the Pioneer Settlers
of the Cross Timbers and Prairies.

Even though cotton was the major cash crop, corn was a basic necessity to both humans and animals. It
was easy to grow and it thrived in an area from the Gulf of Mexico to the Red River. In regions where
the climate and soil would support production, farmers grew wheat, sugarcane and sweet potatoes. There
were even early attempts at improving the quality and quantity of these crops. To this end, the first
agricultural exhibition was held at Corpus Christi in 1852 with prizes totaling three thousand dollars. In
1858 the first state fair was held in Dallas, beginning a long tradition of exhibiting the quality of Texas
agricultural products. By 1843, Texas had formed the first of a long succession of agricultural societies
dedicated to improving the lot of farmers and sharing information.

The aftermath of the Civil War and Reconstruction left Texans impoverished, with little remaining but the
land. There was, however one resource that had never been exploited--millions of cattle on the open
range almost free for the taking. From almost the first Spanish exploration, cattle had been left to run
wild on the open range and multiply on an endless sea of grass. By the end of the Civil War there were
nearly four million head. With no way to move them to markets in the north they were of little value.
The coming of the railroads to Colorado and Kansas quickly made these herds a vast resource. The
cattle kingdom and cowboy culture began with the opening of such famous trails as the Sedalia,
Chisholm, Dodge City or Great Western and the Goodnight-Loving or Pecos. Between 1866 and 1884
over five million cattle were driven to the railhead for shipment to northern market and inspired a
uniquely American literature.

The day of the great cattle drives ended almost as quickly as it began. Barbed wire fences and the
extension of the railroad into West Texas ended the big cattle drive and ushered in the era of the great
ranches. With railroad transportation now available, entrepreneurs and syndicates from the East and
Europe purchased large tracts of land, fenced it, and began the business of raising cattle on a grand scale.
The King, the J A, the Shoe Bar, the Matador and the X I T were all enormous ranches of a truly Texas
scale. Fence cutting, cattle rustling and powerful land barons were grist for the history and legend of a
period that still looms larger than life. While many of the ranches would eventually be broken up, cattle
raising remains one of the state's most important agricultural industries to this day.

During the last decades of the 19th century a revolution took place in Texas agriculture. Farmers
gradually moved from self-sufficiency and subsistence farming toward commercial agriculture. Cotton