To collect, preserve, conserve, exhibit and interpret the historical, ethnological, cultural, and scientific heritage of the Panhandle-Plains region of Texas and related areas of the Southwest; to operate and maintain the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Texas A&M University Board of Regents; to enlist interest and support in achieving the mission; and to undertake other related activities.
Collections
What are some of the collections offered and how were they obtained? What are some of the most prized/rare artifacts in the collection? Are there visitor favorites?
The Collection
The Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum holds the oldest and most comprehensive public art collection in northwest Texas, numbering more than 4,000 pieces. Using the extensive collection as the focus, PPHM organizes and hosts temporary exhibitions emphasizing the pre-1950 American Southwest, and has a 1,200-volume art reference library, as well as archival materials relating to art of the American Southwest.
The History Collection is the museum's largest. Artifacts include a variety of items related to everyday life that were used at home and at work from the late 1800s through the 20th century.
The Western Heritage Collection is the museum’s second largest and includes objects related to ranching: saddles, bits, spurs, tack, chuck boxes, branding irons, barbed wire, fencing tools, and other items.
The Paleontology collection rank amongst the world’s best in terms of Late Triassic (225-200 million years ago) reptiles and amphibians from localities around Amarillo, and Late Cenozoic (10-1 million years ago) mammals from the Texas Panhandle. Specifically, spectacular Triassic fossils represent a 6-foot-long carnivorous salamander-like amphibian called a Metoposaurus and 25- to 40-foot-long crocodilians called Phytosaur.
Rare Artifacts
The transportation collection is proud to include the oldest known Ford automobile in existence: a 1903 Ford Model A serial #28.
The RO Ranch Collection gives insight into the life of an Englishman turned cattle rancher who met death on the Titanic. Alfred Rowe moved to Donley County in 1878 from Great Britain and learned the cattle business with the help of Charles Goodnight. Rowe and his wife lived at the ranch until 1910, when they moved back to Great Britain. On a return trip to Texas, Rowe bought a ticket on the Titanic. The Handbook of Texas states that Rowe refused to enter a lifeboat until others were saved; thus, he died from exposure to ice-cold water. Five months later his wife gave birth to their fifth child. The collection housed at PPHM includes the diaries of Rowe and his wife, photographs, maps, financial records, stock reports, letters, a buffalo fur coat, Rowe’s passport to Switzerland, an American Indian headdress and the couple’s honeymoon portrait in Niagara Falls.
The Portrait of Mrs. Richard (Anne) Hogarth by William Hogarth is one of the museum’s most notable portraits and one of the finest. Called "the father of English painting", Hogarth's painting was purchased by James D. Hamlin and in 1948 donated to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.
Visitor Favorites
The life-size Pioneer Town is a favorite among visitors. With its livery, saloon, schoolhouse, authentic pioneer cabin and other buildings, Pioneer Town takes visitors back in time to the frontier. Each building contains numerous artifacts from the history collection used during the turn of the century.
Programs
What are some the programs created/administered at the museum?
The Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum has many different programs throughout the year:
Night at PPHM – Visitors explore PPHM by flashlight and see what comes to life.
Llano Cemetery Tour by Twilight - Visitors walk through Llano Cemetery to hear museum curators and friends tell stories of Llano features, legends and people, which have included gypsy graves, Woodmen of the World markers and the oldest tombstone. Hay rides with on-board guides take visitors through areas of the cemetery grounds not covered in the walking.
Nights at the Museums - In a cooperative event, every Friday in October and February, one of Amarillo’s four area museums hosts a parent’s night out program.
Christmas Open House - This family event welcomes the holiday season with Musical entertainment, children’s activities, Santa and Mrs. Claus, costumed interpreters, storytellers and much more.
Exhibitions
Are there any upcoming exhibitions you would like to highlight?
PPHM has one of the finest horse-related artifact collections in the United States, and while it has been "resting" under curatorial care, a selection from this great collection will be back on exhibit in Not Just For Show: Working Saddles from the Permanent Collection.
The saddle collection runs the gamut from a crocodile-skin-covered North African saddle with carved wooden stirrups to a silver-mounted saddle given to Charles Goodnight by a Mexican government official about 1900. Like the saddles, the Museum’s stirrup collection tells the story of the horse culture across the world, with examples from Asia, Europe and the Americas.
The Western stock saddle collection is exemplary with examples by some of the finest saddle makers in the United States, including F. A. Meanea, H. H. Heiser, R. T. Frazier, C. P. Shipley, F. M. Stern, and S. D. Myers. Leading bit and spur makers J. R. McChesney, J. O. Bass, Kelly Brothers, G. A. Bischoff & Company, J. C. Petmecky, and Pate Boone are also represented in the collection. Finally, the Museum’s collection of braided horsehair tack has beautiful examples of headstalls, bridles, and ropes, including a bridle awarded at a Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show in Amarillo about 1910. Selections from the Museum’s collection of saddles, bits, spurs, stirrups, and other tack will be featured in the exhibit in the Mary E. Bivins Gallery beginning November 6, 2010.
Research
What is some current research that the museum is doing in the field?
PPHM attends Archaeological Field School outside of Perryton, Texas, every June. Excavations are conducted at three primary sites: Chill Hill, Eastview and Spider Peak. Chill Hill is a large, Late Middle Ceramic period (A.D. 1415 to A.D. 1440) village site. The occupants of this settlement were intensive bison hunters and were heavily involved in trade with the eastern Pueblos of New Mexico. Eastview is a small Middle Ceramic period settlement that was attacked and destroyed about A.D. 1350. Excavations here concentrate on two of the burned structures present at the site. Spider Peak is a small, defensive settlement of unknown age located atop an isolated mesa.
