2021-04-10 Lunch at River Smith's

 After our visit to the Ranching Heritage Museum, we called Marlene who was once again out letter boxing to meet us at River Smith's for lunch. They are famous for their chicken and catfish. Carolyn took all these pictures outside before we went inside.

We ordered lunch at the counter much like a fast food restaurant. They had a lot of different combinations available and different sizes of meals as well. Then we filled our drink glasses and found a table. Because several of us ordered meals with chicken which takes slightly longer, they brought us out free onion rings while we waited. Then they delivered the meals to our table. Once again, portions were very generous which meant leftovers for dinner.....not a bad deal. I had chicken and it was delicious. So glad I went with the two piece chicken because I could only eat one piece with the sides.

2021-04-10 National Ranching Heritage Center

Saturday morning we headed over to the National Ranching Heritage Center not having any idea what to expect.

Before we even got inside, we were impressed. The bronze statues outside were amazing.

The setting looked very realistic.

The detail on each statue was outstanding.

Next we headed inside.

The 6666 ranch is a prominent part of ranching heritage.

This area was a history of cattle breeds and provided a great deal of information about how current cattle ranching breeds were developed.

Next there was a beautiful stagecoach on display. The ones on TV never looked this luxurious.

So far, the museum was interesting but we didn't realize we were just getting started. Be prepared to do a lot of walking but it is very worthwhile.

You definitely want to follow your map around so that you can see everything and don't get lost. With each building on display, there is a display telling all about it. So.......on with the tour!

There were so many unique types of buildings on display.

Did you know that cowchips were gathered, stored, and used as fuel?

This was certainly the biggest and fanciest house on display. Unfortunately, we could only look into the windows. The house was completely outfitted and very nice.

This locomotive was used to haul cattle. Once on the other side, we could see everything up close.

Early oil drilling rig. The poster with all the description follows after the depot information.

This house looked pretty drafty.

This cookhouse fed a very large group of cattle hands.

This was the last item I took a photograph of outside. I think it was used to haul oil.

I think I walked at least a mile and a half to see all the outside displays but it was well worth it. Next, we went back inside to see some more displays on weapons.

It was also very worthwhile time spent. Lots of unique guns on display.

This museum was free and very worth every bit of time we spent there. Be sure to allow enough time to really enjoy it if you visit. We learned so much about western history here. 

As we were leaving the building, one of the staff followed us out and presented each of us with a hard cover book entitled "Getting By In Hard Times...letters from the Pitchfork Ranch: 1938-1939" written by Scott White, PH.D. It sells for $25 so we were very surprised. It is an interesting collection of letters written to and from ranch manager Virgil V. Parr and ranch owners Eugene F. Williams and his brother J. Gates Williams. They reveal the challenges of ranch life in West Texas, the country trying to come out of economic depression and drought, and watching events in Europe as talk of war becomes a part of business planning.