Cowboy

The Fagans were cowboys, one and all. It was their way of life. Khakis and Levis were the uniform of the day, with clean and excrutiatingly starched ones for Sundays and holidays.

Art parts include:
Snips from notecards with photography produced by Robb Kendrick. Encyclopedia definition of a cowboy.

Under the Stars

Cowboy (and cowgirl) transportation was the horse. The story this card hints at is of the wild mustangs that roamed the open range and their figurative assimilation with the pioneers, becoming show ponies, cutting horses, and faithful companions.

Art parts include:
Snips from the book jacket of The Texicans. Small brass horse figure. Skeletal leaves.

Texas Strangers

To a Texan, having a Texas Ranger in your family is almost like being kin to John Wayne! It’s holy.

Art parts include:
Excerpt from The Texicans book jacket. Snip from notecard with photography produced by Robb Kendrick. Paper replica of a Ranger badge. Antique mother of pearl button.

Victoria

The epicenter of ranch life in this part of South Texas was Victoria, one of the larger towns in the 1800s.

Marketing was done in the shops in downtown Victoria. Brands were registered and marriage licenses obtained at the Courthouse here. Holy days were celebrated in St Mary’s Catholic Church here.

The first Lucy had a wagon and a matched pair of grays that took her back and forth along the Old River Road from the ranch to Victoria.

Art parts include:
Snip from a painting by Dalhart Windberg, famous Texas artist who resided in Victoria County for a time. Snip from the printed registration of the flower-loose 4 brand.

Branded

Texana Clark was only 16 when Peter left for the Civil War. She waited for him. They were married when he sold his first herd in 1873. Two years later, Peter registered his cattle brand in the Victoria County Courthouse.

Art parts include:
Snip from the brand registration. Antique ivory button from the collection of Texana Fagan’s grandaughter, Mary Genevieve DuBois.

The Church

Religion played an important part in the lives of these early Texicans. Irish Cathlics fit perfectly within the colonization scheme of Mexico, which decreed that one must convert if they wanted to claim a Land Grant.

Music at the Catholic Church was mostly hushed, liturgical and mystic. The Negro church on Old River Road was attended by local black cowboys and their families; their music burst the church seams and spilled down the hill to the ranch house on quiet Sunday mornings.

Art parts include:
Adobe church window. Mother of pearl button. Silk ribbon. And music.

In the Stars

Death is in the stars for each of us, though on the prairie it often came sooner than expected.

Native Americans believe that the owl is a messenger of death. this prairie funeral is heralded by the owl, music, and the Word of God.

Art parts include:
Snip from the book jacket of The Texicans. And, as for all of the cards in this series, the stars.