Tejaas
Hero Member
- Sep 8, 2012
- 826
- 1,019
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett AT PRO ~ Propointer ~ Modified Lesche ~ Predator Little Eagle ~ Royal Picks ~ Marshalltown Trowels ~ Sift Tables/Screens
- Primary Interest:
- Relic Hunting
For a Texas History junkie, at least.
Nostalgia - heavy, so be warned -
This weekend my wife and i were fortunate enough to be invited into the home of an established fellow hunter/collector (name withheld for privacy) who (as far as I'm aware) has the most comprehensive private collection of Texas Revolution / Texas Ranger / Texas Civil War / Texas Indian Wars relics.
We actually were extended the invite a few weeks ago after I had dug up the gentleman's name in some obscure passage while doing some research on a frontier texas site - which led to a line of communication and ultimately the oppurtunity of meeting with an open-ended date of our choosing, and a very confident assurance of "you will appreciate this..."
Anyways, we make the short trip and get the private tour ( not that there are any "public" ones ) and I will tell you that even with the gentleman's assurance of enjoying ourselves - he sold himself short.
I am a grown man and I will admit that I got pretty choked up while holding in my hands pieces of history most will never see through glass, let alone touch. Standing there holding a cannonball fired over Texas soil in the March of 1836, while staring into an audience of some never-before-published images of Texas Rangers and Confederate Texan Volunteers, all lumped together in a cabinet and forever frozen in time via Ambrotype, Daguerrrotype or CDV, I felt extremely humbled. In order for me to be standing in that room as a 7th generation Texan, the people who carried/wore/utilized these items all sacrificed something, if not it ALL - all that time ago. I think I was latched onto that fist-sized ball for a solid 5 minutes, but I honestly had lost all awareness of a concept called "time".
Moving from what i dubbed the "Republic Room" we headed into the Civil/Indian War room, where - with few exceptions - every first and second line camp/fort in Texas that formed the expansive chain of frontier defense had a representation present via weaponry, equipment, and personal effects all layed out before us on shelves, cabinets, cases and tables... the gentleman, while he has cataloged everything for his kids, never -once- looked at his references to double-check his commentary... he had it all committed to memory and would casually hand us a photograph of himself pulling the object out of the dirt while we studied each item. A magnifying glass was even made available early on in the tour should my wife or I want to overscrutinize a button backmark or map inscription, haha.
In the corner of the room was a massive bookshelf, and I took a few minutes studying the titles before he saw me, and I promptly informed him that while his Texas relic collection has mine beat by a mile, I may just be AHEAD of him on reference materials, photocopies, microfilm prints, and books. Self-validation complete, haha.
We spent several hours at his home, and eventually the misses started nudging me that it was time to go as we didn't want to overstay our welcome... I didn't want to leave, but she was right and I knew it.
Before we left, the three of us talked for a bit longer, and fumbling for the words I asked him a vague "why me?" ... but before I could elaborate on what I was referring to he responded "because you value the history". Validation by my new found TX history buff hero - COMPLETE.
Two things happened immediately before we pulled out of his driveway. The first was that he handed me a rather flat box, about the size of a mousepad.
The second was while shaking my hand he told me I needed to stay in touch, he looks forward to collaborating on research topics, and we need to go "scratch the dirt" (his words) sometime. I was ecstatic to hear him say this because I knew I could learn a lot from this guy about Texas History and the like, but I wasn't going to ask or even humor the idea... I mean, he apparently does just fine on his own, ya know?
I told him the equivalent of "hell yes" and shook his hand again, then began the trip home.
And as for that mousepad sized box?
(The card he included bearing the information has been omitted)
An assortment of early-pattern infantry and dragoon buttons, musket and pistol balls, percussion caps, and a Mexican boxplate dug from the Republic-era Mier Expedition of 1842!
He also had included a DUG Jeff Davis Pin from a now non-existent Texas fort in absolute perfect condition.
The relics were all in a single Riker display, and when I got home Saturday evening I promptly separated them and matted them in accordance with my collection.
(Blue felt = Texas Revolution, Red felt = Texas Civil / Indian wars).
I'm thinking I'm going to go thru my library and set aside a few books i deem "required reading" to send his way, haha.
Anyways, I appreciate those of y'all who made it this far into my post, and i apologize for any excessively sappy stuff... this whole event just kinda hit a sentimental spot and i felt that I couldn't share photos of the new additions to my collection without recognizing the oppurtunity i was afforded that brought them my way.
Keep on Keepin' On!
~Tejaas~
Nostalgia - heavy, so be warned -
This weekend my wife and i were fortunate enough to be invited into the home of an established fellow hunter/collector (name withheld for privacy) who (as far as I'm aware) has the most comprehensive private collection of Texas Revolution / Texas Ranger / Texas Civil War / Texas Indian Wars relics.
We actually were extended the invite a few weeks ago after I had dug up the gentleman's name in some obscure passage while doing some research on a frontier texas site - which led to a line of communication and ultimately the oppurtunity of meeting with an open-ended date of our choosing, and a very confident assurance of "you will appreciate this..."
Anyways, we make the short trip and get the private tour ( not that there are any "public" ones ) and I will tell you that even with the gentleman's assurance of enjoying ourselves - he sold himself short.
I am a grown man and I will admit that I got pretty choked up while holding in my hands pieces of history most will never see through glass, let alone touch. Standing there holding a cannonball fired over Texas soil in the March of 1836, while staring into an audience of some never-before-published images of Texas Rangers and Confederate Texan Volunteers, all lumped together in a cabinet and forever frozen in time via Ambrotype, Daguerrrotype or CDV, I felt extremely humbled. In order for me to be standing in that room as a 7th generation Texan, the people who carried/wore/utilized these items all sacrificed something, if not it ALL - all that time ago. I think I was latched onto that fist-sized ball for a solid 5 minutes, but I honestly had lost all awareness of a concept called "time".
Moving from what i dubbed the "Republic Room" we headed into the Civil/Indian War room, where - with few exceptions - every first and second line camp/fort in Texas that formed the expansive chain of frontier defense had a representation present via weaponry, equipment, and personal effects all layed out before us on shelves, cabinets, cases and tables... the gentleman, while he has cataloged everything for his kids, never -once- looked at his references to double-check his commentary... he had it all committed to memory and would casually hand us a photograph of himself pulling the object out of the dirt while we studied each item. A magnifying glass was even made available early on in the tour should my wife or I want to overscrutinize a button backmark or map inscription, haha.
In the corner of the room was a massive bookshelf, and I took a few minutes studying the titles before he saw me, and I promptly informed him that while his Texas relic collection has mine beat by a mile, I may just be AHEAD of him on reference materials, photocopies, microfilm prints, and books. Self-validation complete, haha.
We spent several hours at his home, and eventually the misses started nudging me that it was time to go as we didn't want to overstay our welcome... I didn't want to leave, but she was right and I knew it.
Before we left, the three of us talked for a bit longer, and fumbling for the words I asked him a vague "why me?" ... but before I could elaborate on what I was referring to he responded "because you value the history". Validation by my new found TX history buff hero - COMPLETE.
Two things happened immediately before we pulled out of his driveway. The first was that he handed me a rather flat box, about the size of a mousepad.
The second was while shaking my hand he told me I needed to stay in touch, he looks forward to collaborating on research topics, and we need to go "scratch the dirt" (his words) sometime. I was ecstatic to hear him say this because I knew I could learn a lot from this guy about Texas History and the like, but I wasn't going to ask or even humor the idea... I mean, he apparently does just fine on his own, ya know?
I told him the equivalent of "hell yes" and shook his hand again, then began the trip home.
And as for that mousepad sized box?
(The card he included bearing the information has been omitted)
An assortment of early-pattern infantry and dragoon buttons, musket and pistol balls, percussion caps, and a Mexican boxplate dug from the Republic-era Mier Expedition of 1842!
He also had included a DUG Jeff Davis Pin from a now non-existent Texas fort in absolute perfect condition.
The relics were all in a single Riker display, and when I got home Saturday evening I promptly separated them and matted them in accordance with my collection.
(Blue felt = Texas Revolution, Red felt = Texas Civil / Indian wars).
I'm thinking I'm going to go thru my library and set aside a few books i deem "required reading" to send his way, haha.
Anyways, I appreciate those of y'all who made it this far into my post, and i apologize for any excessively sappy stuff... this whole event just kinda hit a sentimental spot and i felt that I couldn't share photos of the new additions to my collection without recognizing the oppurtunity i was afforded that brought them my way.
Keep on Keepin' On!
~Tejaas~
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