“The Texas-California Trail Drives, 1849-1860"
Victoria College’s Museum of the Coastal Bend will present “The Texas-California Trail Drives, 1849-1860,” beginning Tuesday, July 28. The temporary exhibit will remain on display through Sept. 1.
Created by artist Tom Jones (1920-2000), the exhibit features 16 paintings depicting the challenging cattle drives that stretched from Texas to California during the mid-19th century. The collection was inspired by the diaries of two trail bosses who documented an 1857 cattle drive from San Antonio to San Diego, California. Their first-hand accounts provide the historical foundation for Jones' portrayals of the people, landscapes and hardships encountered along the trail.
A descendant of Republic of Texas-era pioneers, Jones drew inspiration from his own experience working as a ranch hand. Throughout his career, he produced more than 400 historical paintings and sketches, earning recognition for his detailed reconstructions of significant events and scenes from Texas history.
The exhibit is on loan from the J. A. White Family Goliad Center for Texas History.
The Museum of the Coastal Bend is located on Victoria College’s Main Campus, 2200 E. Red River St. Admission is free and open to the public and donations are appreciated.
For more information, visit MuseumOfTheCoastalBend.org or call (361) 582-2511.