Lens on the Texas Frontier

Foreword

Foreword Photographs and Roadrunners A s฀my฀grandparents฀were฀apt฀to฀say,฀“Texas฀is฀as฀big฀as฀ a฀Number฀4฀washtub.”฀That฀is,฀they฀don’t฀come฀any฀bigger.฀ And฀greatness฀of฀physical฀scale฀and฀size฀just฀intuitively฀ translated฀into฀amplitude฀in฀all฀manner฀of฀directions— from฀the฀typical฀braggadocio฀of฀land฀area฀and฀total฀length฀ of฀borders฀to฀dimensions฀like฀multiple฀cultures฀and฀capitalistic฀ diversity฀that฀most฀native฀Texans฀who฀love฀their฀state฀just฀naturally฀ take฀for฀granted. ฀ Even฀when฀Alaska฀popped฀into฀the฀union฀in฀1959฀and฀too฀ many฀non-Texans฀thought฀it฀would฀put฀us฀in฀our฀place,฀we฀did฀ not฀secede฀or฀demand฀a฀recount฀in฀the฀US฀Congress.฀Always฀ remember฀that฀Texans฀are฀Americans฀first ฀and฀just฀as฀Price฀Daniel฀ became฀the฀first฀United฀ tates฀governor฀to฀officia ly฀welcome฀ Alaskans฀into฀the฀union,฀we฀all฀excitedly฀celebrated฀the฀new฀ wealth฀of฀people฀and฀lands฀in฀our฀nation.฀Texans฀accepted฀this฀ newest฀state฀either฀with฀typical฀humor—“Hell,฀just฀wait฀until฀all฀ that฀ice฀melts!”—or฀as฀a฀stimulus฀to฀be฀the฀best฀and฀biggest฀in฀ myriad฀ways฀beyond฀mere฀geographical฀size.฀That’s฀the฀way฀we฀ always฀accept฀challenge—always฀have฀and฀always฀will. ฀ The฀man฀who฀put฀it฀best฀was฀Texas’s฀greatest฀sage,฀J.฀Frank฀ Dobie,฀when฀he฀wrote:฀“If฀people฀are฀to฀enjoy฀their฀own฀lives฀they฀ must฀be฀aware฀of฀the฀signifi ance฀of฀their฀own฀environment.฀The฀ mosquito฀is,฀objectively,฀as฀good฀and฀as฀beautiful฀as฀the฀Greek฀ Acanthus.…We฀in฀the฀Southwest฀shall฀be฀civilized฀when฀the฀ roadrunner฀as฀well฀as฀the฀nightingale฀has฀connotations.” ฀ The฀nuances฀of฀such฀roadrunner฀connotations฀matter฀deeply.฀ In฀point฀of฀fact,฀the฀pride฀that฀one฀takes฀in฀one’s฀state฀is฀only฀in฀ part฀derived฀from฀the฀social฀contract฀that฀evolves฀around฀living฀ therein.฀Equally฀important฀are฀a฀variety฀of฀other฀factors฀ranging฀ from฀place฀of฀birth,฀family฀heritage,฀the฀cultural฀traditions฀of฀any฀ particular฀social฀regionalism,฀and฀even฀at฀times฀such฀variables฀฀ as฀food,฀geography,฀art,฀folklore,฀education,฀economy,฀sports,฀ religion,฀or,฀well,฀you฀name฀it.฀Travel฀to฀any฀other฀state฀in฀the฀฀ union฀makes฀this฀plainly฀obvious,฀and฀the฀spread฀of฀the฀information ฀revolution฀only฀serves฀to฀multiply฀this฀reinforcement฀฀ every฀day. ฀ So฀it฀should฀come฀as฀no฀surprise฀in฀this฀day฀and฀age฀that฀ regionalism฀has฀come฀to฀play฀a฀serious฀role฀in฀the฀continuing฀influ ence฀of฀photography฀through฀all฀the฀media.฀And฀not฀surprisingly,฀ the฀continuing฀rise฀in฀interest฀and฀influence฀of Texas฀photography฀ advances฀and฀expands฀with฀each฀generation. ฀ Understand฀from฀the฀outset฀that฀Texas฀claims฀no฀primacy฀in฀ this฀respect.฀Regional฀studies฀into฀the฀medium/art฀form฀of฀photography ฀have฀been฀with฀us฀for฀over฀a฀century฀now฀in฀various฀other฀ states.฀Certain฀other฀geographical฀regions฀have฀witnessed฀this฀ boom,฀and฀it฀is฀both฀pertinent฀and฀critical฀to฀cite฀in฀particular฀the฀ magnificent฀effo ts฀of฀such฀pioneering฀photo฀historians฀as฀Peter฀ Palmquist฀in฀California฀and฀the฀American฀West,฀and฀Richard฀ Rudisill฀in฀the฀Southwestern฀United฀States.฀And฀it฀is฀important฀to฀ honor฀the฀serious฀advocacy฀and฀personal฀commitment฀that฀both฀ these฀individuals,฀among฀others,฀have฀brought฀to฀bear฀upon฀the฀ study฀of฀photography฀and฀its฀history฀to฀scholars,฀researchers,฀collectors ,฀and฀historians—both฀professional฀and฀amateur—throughout ฀the฀entire฀nation. ฀ In฀fact,฀the฀importance฀of฀regional฀photo฀histories฀has฀also฀been฀ embraced฀internationally.฀As฀one฀of฀our฀finest฀Eu opean฀historians ,฀Stephen฀Joseph,฀has฀stated฀it฀so฀well: All฀approaches฀are฀equally฀valid,฀provided฀the฀historian฀adheres฀to฀ the฀fundamental฀principle฀of฀respecting฀the฀primary฀sources.฀In฀ fact,฀the฀expansion฀of฀knowledge฀in฀the฀history฀of฀photography฀has฀ been฀such฀in฀the฀1970s฀and฀1980s฀that฀there฀has฀inevitably฀been฀a฀ breaking฀down฀of฀pre-existing฀schemas฀or฀presentations.฀[Photo฀ histories฀by฀Helmut]฀Gernsheim฀and฀[Beaumont]฀Newhall,฀while฀ still฀the฀standard฀works,฀have฀come฀under฀assault฀for฀parochialism,฀ bias฀or฀slackness.฀In฀this฀situation,฀no฀single฀approach฀is฀universally฀ valid;฀none฀has฀the฀monopoly฀on฀truth;฀all฀have฀their฀part฀to฀play. ฀ In฀this฀respect฀Texas฀has฀not฀been฀negligent.฀Indeed,฀as฀Larry฀ Jones฀points฀out฀so฀well฀in฀his฀superb฀introduction฀to฀this฀handsome ฀volume,฀our฀state฀has฀been฀rewarded฀by฀the฀pioneering฀ efforts฀of฀many฀notable฀historians,฀from฀the฀legendary฀Walter฀ Prescott฀Webb฀through฀to฀those฀of฀our฀present฀generation฀such฀ as฀David฀Haynes,฀Mark฀Miller฀Morris,฀and฀W.฀Russell฀Young.฀ They,฀as฀well฀as฀many฀others,฀who฀hail฀from฀places฀ranging฀from฀ large฀cities฀to฀small฀regional฀historical฀centers,฀have฀labored...