Frontier Texas! is an interactive museum in Abilene that helps explain the history of West Texas.
For almost 15,000 years before the Texas Frontier was settled, the first part of the museum focused on Native Americans who lived here. The exhibits describe a harsh land and that each day was a life-or-death struggle. Then, around 1700, the Comanche, riding horses introduced to the New World by Spanish explorers, claimed this region as their home.
The following narrative focuses on the Comanche, who hunted, traded, and made war across a vast expanse of the Southwest. They dominated the area because of their aggressive supremacy. As a result, they successfully blocked European expansion into their homeland for more than 150 years.
The visual experience continues with the buffalo hide hunters who killed millions of buffalo. After the Civil War, eastern manufacturers ordered as many buffalo hides as could be supplied. Herds were decimated. A government treaty protected the Texas buffalo for Native Americans. Still, hunters ignored it, and the military looked the other way, as the loss of buffalo would force the Indians onto reservations. Texas buffalo were killed to near extinction in less than a decade.
The first U.S. military forts were established after the Mexican-American War to prevent the Comanche, now wards of the U.S., from raiding Mexico. However, as more Anglos pushed westward, the conflict between Native Americans and settlers grew. As a result, additional forts were built to help control the Native Americans.
Cowboys and the life they led is the next spotlight on Abilene and West Texas history. Texans began to drive the longhorns across the open range and the Native American Territory to railheads in Kansas for shipment to eastern markets. A Texas steer worth $3 could be sold at a railhead for $30. Cowboys were paid well for the challenging, dangerous trip, and herd owners often amassed fortunes. In less than 25 years, cowboys drove millions of cattle out of Texas over the cattle trails.
By 1890, though, the availability of nearby railroads, the spread of cattle disease, and the fencing of the open range ended the business.
As more soldiers, trail drivers, buffalo hunters, and other pioneers came into the area, settlements grew. Some were centered around frontier forts, while others developed as trading posts where buffalo hunters could sell hides and get supplies.
The frontier outposts attracted legitimate businesspeople, gamblers, camp followers, prostitutes, and other rough characters. Initially, the towns were unorganized and dangerous.
One of the museum's highlights is the Experience Theater at the end of the exhibit trail. While sitting on rotating stools, you find yourself in the middle of an attack, a stampede, a thunderstorm, and a shootout. It is one of the most realistic features I have ever experienced in a museum.
Frontier Texas! is an excellent museum with many stories to tell. Innovative displays allow actors to tell true stories from the Comanche and pioneer perspectives. I highly recommend this museum.
Comments (0)