Let me try that again. Traces of Texas reader Robin Reilly was kind enough to send in this photo of a tombstone that she took in Austin's Oakwood cemetery. I'm touched by the inscription. Homer W. Morris was a good boy who loved and obeyed his mother.
Thank you, Robin!…

Traces of Texas reader Michael Adkins sent in this wonderful photo of his grandfather (4th from the right on the 2nd row) and the rest of the Nocona boot company staff in 1938. This photo hangs in Nocona's city hall, along with a list of everybody's names. Thank you, Michael!

Woman posing with an awesome car and awesome airplane at Houston's Hobby airport, 1941. I believe that's a C-47 and that the car is a '41 Lincoln Zephyr, a two-door model, but I'll need to bring in you experts to confirm this. Pretty lady. Gorgeous photo.

A farmer and his offerings at the Weatherford, Texas Trade Days at the courthouse there in Weatherford, 1939. He has a kind face, I think. I also think he took the time to put on his nice clothes before going into town, as many folks did back then. Taken by Russell Lee.

Traces of Texas reader Carolyn Miller sent in this circa 1956 photo of the Gatlin Brothers (Larry, Rudy, and Steve) singing on the Slim Willet show in Abilene. I love their matching outfits and little cowboy boots!

Thank you, Carolyn. A great little slice of Texas history!

Dipping cattle at the La Parra Ranch in deep South Texas. The ranch was founded by Mifflin Kenedy, Capt. Richard King's partner in a mutual steamboat company, and at one time reached 500,000 acres in size.

Courtesy the The Portal to Texas History .

The Gustav Blersch House at 213 Washington St. in San Antonio was built in 1860 and still stands. This is a circa 1905 photo of the house, taken shortly after the Clarkson family moved in. The Blersch house is one of three standing Antebellum structures in the King William…

A scene at the 1946 Texas prison rodeo in Huntsvile.

The Texas Quote of the Day:

'If peculiarities were quills, San Antonio would be a rare porcupine.'
----- poet Sydney Lanier, Southern magazine, 1872.

Shown here: the east side of the Main Plaza in San Antonio in 1872. You're actually looking southeast from the balcony of…

The Arcane Texas Fact of the Day:

At 825,000 acres, the King Ranch in South Texas is larger than the state of Rhode Island, which is roughly 797,000 acres.

Shown Here: a photo of the original King Ranch house, built in 1857 by Captain Richard King, burned down in 1911.

Just woke up with a powerful, middle-of-the-night hankering for that fried chicken they used to serve at the Bon Ton in La Grange. Remember that? And the loaves of fresh bread they served for free that accompanied it? My goodness. They've been out of business for many years now.…

'You go south from Fort Davis
Until you come to the place
Where rainbows wait for rain....
And the river is kept in a stone box
And water runs uphill.
And the mountains float in the air.
Except at night, when they run away to play
With other mountains.'

---- a vaquero describes…

I saw U2 at the Austin Opera House within days of when this photo was taken in 1982. A friend had seen them at Club Foot the year before and turned me on to them. I have to say that I had no idea that I'd be writing about the experience 42 years later. Three years later they were…

A roughneck takes a smoke break in Andrews County, 1943.

Photo by John Vachon.

One of my own photos. I took this shot of the original Pegasus in Dallas a few year ago. This is the Pegasus that first landed in downtown Dallas in 1934, perching atop what was then the city’s tallest building: the 29-story Magnolia Hotel. It was there until 2000, when severe…

Merle Haggard singing with the Texas Playboys and playing fiddle on 'Rose of San Antone?' Yeah, that's a good Friday night in Texas! youtu.be/eHJPHjb6WN4?si…

The second Jefferson County Courthouse in Beaumont circa 1894. It was designed by architect Eugene T. Heiner, who designed many prominent buildings in Texas, including twenty courthouses and jails. Some of them, like the Lavaca County courthouse in Halletsville and the Dewitt…

A circa 1880 photo of a scene in El Paso. The Franklin Mountains are in the background. This would have been right before the arrival of the railroad in El Paso, which happened when the Southern Pacific reached the city on May 19, 1881 ---- an event that completely transformed El…

Judge Roy Bean's pistol and handcuffs as photographed in 1939 by Carl Mydans for LIFE magazine. Really cool!