It is our first day in Lubbock, Texas. We have parked overnight in a sketchy rv park. Our neighbors appear to live here year round and aren’t too particular about the gravel patch that passes for a yard. But ever the optimist, I suggest we head a few blocks away to a local weekend outdoor market. I do love a good market. If nothing else, there is sure to be homemade bread. There are also live animals, porcupine quill toothpicks, and a variety of unidentifiable homemade objects.

The baked goods and giggles made the stop worthwhile. With full bellies, we cross town and park the pickup at the National Ranching Heritage Center located near Texas Tech. I am surprised that there is no admission fee. There also seems to be a conference going on inside the museum. The main entry room is filled with oil men and various Texas wheelers and dealers.

It feels quite strange to stroll amongst the suites wearing large hats and even larger belt buckles with their expensive boots and bolo ties. I don’t know whether to look at artifacts or the flamboyantly Texan business attire. We are hesitant to encroach, but we are waved on into the gallery.

There are carefully curated displays of spurs and barbed wire. I sit in a stage coach and look at Native artifacts. There are stuffed cows and endless framed cowboy prints. Honestly it is a lot more interesting than I expected. Through it all, dozens of flags never let you forget you are in Texas.

Just when we thought we had worked our way through the galleries, we discover that the center is really just beginning to unfold its treasures. The door at the back gallery opens onto an outside working farm where kids can learn about all the important tasks needed to run a ranch. Even us big kids learned a thing or two.

A sign in the gift shop directs us to the outdoor historic ranching area. There is more? We are surprised to learn that they have assembled representative ranch houses from virtually every era of Texas history in the acreage behind the museum. Based on the preliminary map, this is going to take much longer than we thought.

We step back in time to when Texas was still Mexico and a ranch house was an adobe building. Honestly, it is cooler and well suited to the environment. From there we move through small lean to’s. There are line cabins, only big enough for a cowboy or two to shelter from the wind. We move on to proper farm houses and bunk houses and cooking sheds. There are endless barns and windmills.

If the buildings aren’t enough on their own, the grounds are wired for sound. At every stop, we hear the sounds of the environment…cattle….coyotes…..lullabies….horses….trains…

I see saddles, branding irons, water tanks, cattle chutes… the fun never ends. After walking and looking and talking for hours, we eventually reach the modern era. We board a train… the long cattle drives are over. Leaving the rail yard, we find ourselves in a modern barn. I guess, the men inside in their fancy suits represent the owners of the modern spreads. Whether oil or beef or water rights…it is all big business. Boom or bust. Drought or plenty. Fortunes have been won and lost, carved out of the dust and endless winds. The National Ranching Heritage Center is a fitting tribute to the legacy of Texas ranching. The giant hats and buckles crowd should be proud of this place, it represents in ways that seem simultaneously honest and reverent.