Traces of Texas

It's funny: I don't think I've ever posted a photo of somebody who looks a little bit like so many people.

YouTube video by johnwaynefreak Dean Martin - Houston

In which an Italian-American from Ohio wears a cowboy outfit while holding a cigarette and sings about a Texas city ..
youtu.be/4Rt1VicF5-0?...

A migrant from Oklahoma in Texas, 1936. A victim of the Great Depression and, perhaps, the Dust Bowl. He looks a bit like a young Waylon Jennings to me. Jason Robards, maybe? Jimmy Stewart? Nichoals Cage? Hmmm ... Taken by Dorothea Lange.

Backup? He don't need no stinking backup!

Thank you. Believe it or not, the sheriff was there to be one of the judges in the Ugly Feet contest at the Terlingua Independence Day celebration.

If you look up in the dictionary "classic West-Texas sheriff" you'd come up with Ronny Dodson, shown here in a photo I took 2 days ago in Terlingua. The sheriff appeared to be enjoying himself, but he also appeared to be ready to smack you upside the head if you acted the fool. Nobody dared. 🙂

TOT reader Beverly Crossnoe kindly shared this unbelievably great 1914 image of the cotton gin Lockney Texas. Zoom in and see the man sitting on top of the post. There’s also a man in the opening of the gin, above the open wagon. It looks like at least nine wagons waiting to unload. WUNDERBAR!

The Texas Quote of the Day:

“Mr. Connelly, a farmer, living near Dallas, was bitten on the hand by a rattlesnake. . . . He went home and drank a quart of whiskey; split the back of a live chicken and applied it to the wound. The treatment was successful.”

---- the Brenham Weekly Banner Aug 9, 1878

Traces of Texas reader Bruce Tidmore took this photo of cowboy running boards near Amarillo a couple of days ago and was nice enough to share it. I like a cowboy with a "can do" mentality, and this is an example of that!

Thank you, Bruce. I love it.

Traces of Texas reader Sylvia Examilla graciously shared this nifty 1946 snapshot of her mom, Raquel Trevino (Later Raquel Escamilla), on the left, and friend Ofelia de los Santos dressed up for Charro Days in Brownsville. Can't you just IMAGINE that these two were a lot of fun? Great dresses, too!

The Texas Quote of the Day:

"Barbecue is eternal. It's like the Mississippi River, it's big and it's simple and it takes its own sweet time."

----- C.B. "Stubb" Stubblefield, iconic Texas barbecue pitmaster, owner of Stubb's barbecue in Lubbock and subsequently in Austin. An astute observation!

Janet Christensen kindly sent in this family photo, taken in McDade, Texas, in the early 1940s. The boy is named Johnny Strong. Johnny was born in 1938 and died in 2017. The lady worked for the family and was known as Aunt Laura. It's clear to me that she had a lot of love for young Johnny.

Traces of Texas reader Szesch kindly shared these two complimentary photos, taken in Mason, Texas at a parade on August 5, 1915. In the first photo, Sheriff P. C. Baird is posing on his horse. In the second photo, in the lower right-hand corner, you can see the photographer taking the first photo.

YouTube video by Micah N. Cruz Respect Your Elders - A clip from the film Second Hand Lions

In lieu of the usual Texas musical moment I normally post each night, my favorite Texas movie scene. I recognize that many Texas movie scenes are more artistic, emotionally compelling etc ... but are they this much fun?

youtu.be/Or2gV2aqZcs?...

"I don't know why I wandered out to this part of Texas drunk, and you took me in and pitied me and helped me to straighten out, marry me. Why? Why did that happen? Is there a reason that happened? ... See, I don't trust happiness. I never did, I never will."

---- Mac Sledge, Tender Mercies

Thinking of Robert Duvall (and Texas), I always liked "The Apostle," parts of which were filmed in Dallas and Denton. Robert wrote and starred in the movie, a Southern Gothic film about a charismatic Pentecostal Texas preacher named Sonny Dewey. Marlon Brando loved it and I do, too.

RIP Augustus McCrae. It was a helluva party.

YouTube video by Nat King Cole 11-Year-Old Billy Preston Performs Blueberry Hill | The Nat King Cole Show

Houston native Billy Preston and the great Nat King Cole when Billy was only 11 years old. What a great video!

youtu.be/QXX2Xw4FHBQ?...

Goodness gracious ... so cool!

Total joy: native Houstonian Billy Preston and his friend George Harrison.

Downtown Bartlett, Texas, played the role of 1923 Amarillo, Texas. in the TV series "1923," which is one of the shows in Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone universe. The show ran for two seasons. Chad Mees, the mayor of Bartlett, sent this photo to me and said they had 800 cattle in Bartlett that day.

Mission Espada in San Antonio back in 1892 along with a current photo. Mission Espada, founded in 1690 as San Francisco de los Tejas near present-day Weches, Texas, was the first mission in Texas. In 1731, they it over to the San Antonio River and renamed it Mission San Francisco de la Espada.

A very Texan-looking man buys a saw at a small-town hardware store in San Augustine, Texas, 1943. What a face this customer has!

Taken by John Vachon.

YouTube video by Joe Ely - Topic Saint Valentine

Still hurting over Joe Ely's death. Glad I can post this song tonight.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw9Z...

The whole album is great. But Marcia sure can sing. I'll bet I've seen her life probably 20 times.

The front and back side of a valentine sent from Paris, Texas in 1910. I love the old artwork!

Courtesy The Portal to Texas History

Photo of the funeral of Juan Valentine Ramirez. who died at the age of 19. This was taken in Houston's Magnolia Park. From L-R: Juanita Sanchez Rodriguez (Ramirez's fianceé), Mrs. Isabel Angela Ramirez (Ramirez's mother), Pedro Goza and Antonio Flores. Juan Valentine Ramirez was a saxophone player.

YouTube video by Live From Austin TX Asleep At The Wheel - "Miles And Miles Of Texas" [Live from Austin, TX]

Crossed that ol' Red River and this is what I saw ...

youtu.be/kLL7Eu7mdIo?...

One of the greatest music videos on the internet!

Traces of Texas reader Judith Booker graciously sent in this wonderful shot of young ladies swimming in the Temple Lumber Company mill pond in Diboll, Texas, back in 1913. Judith's grandfather, J.O. Booker, took this photo.

Thank you, Judith. I love seeing folks back in the day having a good time!