Report of BRAG 10th Annual Border Archives Bazaar

The Border Heritage Center joined the Border Regional Archival Group in the 10th Annual Border Archives Bazaar

on 
Friday, October 9th to Saturday, October 10th.
There was a lot offered, below is what we were able to experience.

Left to Right:  Ashley (Public Services Librarian), Claudia (Archivist), Virginia (Public Services Librarian)

For the 10th year of the Bazaar we met in Alpine, TX, hosted at the beautiful Sul Ross State University.

The deer came down to say hi.

Mingle

We had a mingle with other BRAG Archive Bazaar participants at The Ritchey.  A location with history as far back a 1886 as the City Hotel.  We got to enjoy some live music, food and converse with others.

You can find a small overview of the history of the location by Authentic Texas:  https://authentictexas.com/from-cattlemen-to-cocktails/

Compare the photos from the mingle to another one from back in the day:  https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth687075/

Tours

Map Room at Museum of the Big Bend

We had a tour of the Map room at the Museum of the Big Bend and got to see the Yana & Marty Davis Map Collection.

We got to see one, of about six in the world, of  Atlas pintoresco é histórico de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos by García Cubas, Antonio, 1832-1912.  This work was beautiful to behold.

Atlas pintoresco é histórico de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos by García Cubas, Antonio, 1832-1912

This atlas is a masterpiece of Mexican cartography and ethnography that features physical geography (rivers, mountains, climates), populations and ethnography (customs, clothing, trade), history and economy (productive, cities, routes), and cultural elements (architecture, art, traditions).

For an overview of the Atlas of Mexico you can read this brief overview done in 2024 by Tim St. Onge, a cartographer and GIS analyst in the Geography and Map Division, as well as member of the Congressional Cartography Program:  https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2024/03/antonio-garcia-cubas-and-his-remarkable-atlas-of-mexico/

After the Map Room tour we were able to walk around the Museum of the Big Bend.

A. Michael Powell Herbarium

There was a tour of the A. Michael Powell Herbarium by A. Michael Powell.

The Herbarium houses 119 cases holding over 100,000 specimens.  The major collections include plants of Trans-Pecos Texas in the northern Chihuahuan Desert region.  The Herbarium is a prominent regional research collection available to botanists around the world and in also a valuable teaching facility for both undergraduate and graduate students interested in various botanical disciplines or in wildlife biology.

Powell spoke about the new genus the was found.  Powell is also an author of Flowering Plants of Trans-Pecos Texas and Adjacent Areas, the first complete floristic treatment of all of the native and naturalized flowering plant species known to occur in Trans-Pecos Texas.

Flowering Plants of Trans-Pecos Texas and Adjacent Areas

Presentations

Bailey Larremore presented on zooarchaeology with examples from the La Junta de los Rios and Kopenborger Sites.

The area has some of the earliest evidence of horses in the archaeological record but more research needs to be done before definitive conclusions can be made.  Larremore Closes saying that more work in under-researched areas of Trans-Pecos need to be done to better understand what the inhabitants were doing.

Morris Brown presented on Trost & Trost architecture with examples from Alpine, El Paso, and other areas.

Brown compared various works by Trost and highlighted some signature aspects of his work.  Trost was able to show his work through various styles, some very different from the expected, such as with the Bhutanese Dzong architecture from the University of Texas at El Paso.

We were not able to see everything but some of the other programing and tours were:

• Sue Taylor presenting "Archives 101"
• Cindy Medina & Brandon Baird presenting "Uncovering the Mystery of Pancho Villa through Genealogy and DNA"
• Tim Cooper presenting on Peter Koch and transgenerational photography in the Big Bend
• Morris Brown guiding tour of the Morelock Academic Building, Sul Ross State University's own Trost & Trost treasure

It was a fantastic experience for the 10th year.  We look forward to next years event!

Thank you Sul Ross for hosting!

See below for more photos.

Photos of the Event

Event Photos

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Border Heritage Group

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Border Heritage Table

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Border Heritage Table

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Border Heritage Table

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Event

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Event

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Event

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Pictures at the Ritchey

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Hotel Ritchey during the Mingle (Day)

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Hotel Ritchey during the Mingle (Night)

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City Hotel in 1909

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Gossip Bench AKA Telephone Chair AKA Telephone Table

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Pictures at the Museum of the Big Bend

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Entrance to the Museum of the Big Bend

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Big Bend Display

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Cooking & Cowboy Display

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Cabeza de Vaca Display

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Cabeza de Vaca Display

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Cabeza de Vaca Display

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Room Display

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Items Display

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Cart Display

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Display

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Altar Display

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Commerce Display

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Pictures at the Herbarium

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Introduction to flower pressing

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Showing pressing steps

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Special made drying rack. The bundle of cardboard contains pressed flowers that are drying over light bulbs.

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Labeled mounting page.

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Closeup of Sul Ross label. This is how you can tell which herbarium the specimen is from.

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Looking through book: Flowering Plants of Trans-Pecos Texas and Adjacent Areas.

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Outide of the specimen containers.

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Labels

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Labels

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Labels

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Labels

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Inside container label information.

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Inside containers

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Inside containers

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Specimens

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Specimens

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Specimens

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Specimens

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Specimens

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Cactus Specimen

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Cactus Specimen

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Cactus Specimen

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New Genus

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New Genus

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New Genus

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New Genus

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Baily Larremore Presentation Pictures

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Ethnographic and archaeological evidence from 1986 is the most recent research done, more recent research is needed.

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Knowing more about the evidence of horses in the archaeological record can reshape the ideas of European expansion.

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Kopenborgor horse, magnified area has been sent for testing to see if more information can be found.

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Kopenborger Site is now on private property and no longer accessible for research.

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Trans-Pecos archaeology is under-researched and in order to get a better understanding of what inhabitants of the region were doing, more research needs to be done.

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Morris Brown Presentation Pictures

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Morris being introduced.

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Beginning presentation with Trost introduction.

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One of the many El Paso Trost Architectures, from Paso del Norte Hotel.

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