Dolph Briscoe Jr. Gallery

The Dolph Briscoe Jr. Gallery highlights the work done to settle the West.  The works currently on display feature work done by trappers, river-men, and cowboys.  Interestingly enough, some of the most daring and famous people in these professions were African-American.  Individuals such as James Beckworth, York, and Nat Love all found distinction in their trades and made names for themselves in the West.  While their specific images are not found in the Dolph Briscoe Jr. Gallery, the works on display hint at their legacies. 

“The Up River Man” by Fritz White pays tribute to the tremendous efforts of early river-men and explorers who traveled by large keelboats, against the currents of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, to the far reaches of a largely unmapped West.  Among the notable explorers were the famous Corps of Discovery, led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. One of the individuals who endured every privation of the journey was Clark’s slave, York.  York and Clark had been companions from the time they were young and it speaks volumes that York was taken on this journey; he must have been reliable as well as physically powerful to stand up to the rigor of the trip.  The sculpture above depicts the work that York, and the enlisted Corps of Discovery men were required to do, that is to struggle along the riverbank, pulling the boat along by a rope. It was due of his two and a half years of service on the expedition that York petitioned Clark for his freedom, a request that was granted ten years after the expedition.  York went on to own his own freighting business.

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The bear trap pictured above captures visitor’s attention with its powerful spring-jaws and jagged teeth.  Trappers procuring bears would have used the larger trap, though smaller versions were used throughout the West to acquire valuable beaver skins. These early trappers, often called mountain men, used these tools regularly.  One of the most famous mountain men in the 1830s was a former slave named James Beckwourth. Originally from Virginia, Beckwourth went West with William Ashley’s Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1824.  After spending years in the Rocky Mountains, he joined the Crow Nation, eventually becoming a leader in that tribe.  He was well acquainted with the terrain of the western mountain ranges and mapped Beckwourth Pass, a route through the Sierra Nevada Mountains named in his honor.  He spent the remainder of his life in the West as a trader, store-keeper, and scout for the U.S. Army. 

The painting above depicts the work of the cowboy, and the rigorous conditions they dealt with to move cattle from South Texas to the rail-head cities in Kansas. Cowboys were one of the most diverse professions of the 19^th century; originating from vaquero culture in Mexico the “hands” found on cattle drives out of Texas were a mixture of Mexican vaqueros, and both African-Americans & Anglo-American cowboys.  One of the famous cowboys that traveled the western cattle trails was Nat Love.  Love was a former slave that proved himself one of the most talented broncobusters.  He later wrote about his experiences on the Chisolm Trail and the dangers of tending cattle.  He recalls-

“Imagine, my dear reader, riding your horse at the top of his speed through torrents of rain and hail, and darkness so black that we could not see our horses heads, chasing an immense herd of maddened cattle which we could hear but could not see, except during the vivid flashes of lightning which furnished our only light. It was the worst night’s ride I ever experienced.

Late the next morning we had the herd rounded up thirty miles from where they started from the night before. On going back over the country to our camp of the night before, we saw the great danger we had been in during our mad ride. There were holes, cliffs, gulleys and big rocks scattered all around, some of the cliffs going down a sheer fifty feet or more, where if we had fallen over we would have been dashed to pieces on the rocks below, but we never thought of our personal danger that night, and we did not think particularly of it when we saw it further than to make a few joking remarks about what would have happened if someone of us had gone over.

One of the boys offered to bet that a horse and rider going over one of those cliffs would bring up in China, while others thought he would bring up in Utah. It was our duty to save the cattle, and everything else was of secondary importance. We never lost a single steer during only light. It was the worst night’s ride I ever experienced. Late the next morning we had the herd rounded up thirty miles from where they started from the night before. On going back over the country to our camp of the night before, we saw the great danger we had been in during our mad ride.

There were holes, cliffs, gulleys and big rocks scattered all around, some of the cliffs going down a sheer fifty feet or more, where if we had fallen over we would have been dashed to pieces on the rocks below, but we never thought of our personal danger that night, and we did not think particularly of it when we saw it further than to make a few joking remarks about what would have happened if some one of us had gone over. One of the boys offered to bet that a horse and rider going over one of those cliffs would bring up in China, while others thought he would bring up in Utah. It was our duty to save the cattle, and everything else was of secondary importance. We never lost a single steer during this wild night—something we were justly proud of. This proved the last trouble we were to have with the herd, and we soon reached the five mile divide, five miles from Dodge City without further incident, and with our herd intact. Here we were to hold them until turned over to their new owners. This accomplished, our work was done and done well for this trip. Then we all headed for Dodge City to have a good time, and I assure you we had it.”

As you explore the Dolph Briscoe Jr. Gallery and the rest of the Briscoe Western Art Museum, remember that the artwork on display is meant to represent a larger western experience, one that includes the people of all races and nationalities who came to make their homes or their fortunes in the West.  Without the contributions of people like York, Beckwourth, and Love the culture and history of the West would not be what it is today.