Frontier Forts > Sponsors and Contributors

Dozens of individuals and organizations from across the state contributed to the Frontier Forts project in countless ways, from contributing funds to writing text and providing other resources that so vividly convey the frontier experience in Texas. The exhibits you see—the first "thematic" project on TBH—are a result of this remarkable collaboration and teamwork. TBH Contributing Editor Steve Dial planned and created the exhibits and wrote much of the content. Professors Robert Wooster and Ty Cashion each contributed historical sections, and author and historian Thomas Tyree Smith served as project reviewer. Former teacher and author Lisa Waller Rogers contributed content for the student interactive.

TBH Co-Editor Susan Dial developed and directed the project, did much of the photography, and acquired historic images and documents used through. Webmaster Meg Kemp is responsible for the imaginative construction of the site and its seamless navigation; she also created several of the striking graphics topping several of the exhibit pages. Editorial Assistant Clayton Drescher created maps to help locate forts and settlements across the state.

Contributors

Robert Wooster is Frantz Professor of History at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas, and B.A. and M.A. from Lamar University. He has published many books and articles on Texas military topics, including Soldiers, Sutlers, and Settlers: Garrison Life on the Texas Frontier; The Military and United States Indian Policy, 1865-1903; and Nelson A. Miles and the Twilight of the Frontier Army. A Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association, Wooster currently serves on the Executive Council of the organization. For this project, Wooster provided a concise and informative overview of the Texas frontier forts and their roles: U.S. Military on the Texas Frontier.

Ty Cashion is an award-winning author and history professor at Sam Houston State University. He received a Ph.D. from Texas Christian University in 1993. Texas Monthly included Cashion in a short list of "a new breed of scholars" who are "changing the way contemporary Texans look at their state." His Texas Frontier (University of Oklahoma Press) won the Rupert Richardson Award in 1996 for "Best Book on Texas and Western History." Currently President of the East Texas Historical Association, he has also served on boards and committees for such organizations as the Texas State Historical Association, the Oral History Association of Texas, and the West Texas Historical Association. His section for the present project, Texas and the Western Frontier, provides a fresh look at the nineteenth-century westward movement and the unique character of the Texas frontier. Cashion also provided access to a number of historical photographs. His upcoming book, Fort Worth and the New Frontier: A Modern History, is due this year.

Thomas Tyree Smith served as Reviewer for the Frontier Forts Project. He is a native Texan and Regular Army lieutenant colonel of Infantry. He served in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy and earned a B.S. in Education from Southwest Texas State University, an M.A. in history from Texas A&M University, and is a graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He has held a variety of infantry command and staff assignments, taught military history at the United States Military Academy at West point and is currently assigned to the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, PA. A Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association, Smith has published numerous books and articles on the U.S. Army and the Texas frontier conflict including The Old Army in Texas: A Research Guide to the U.S. Army in Nineteenth-Century Texas and The U.S. Army and the Texas Frontier Economy, 1845-1900.

TBH Contributing Editor Steve Dial is a writer who lives in Austin. He has worked as a journalist, editor, policy analyst, and director of research for the Texas Legislative Council. He previously contributed to TBH exhibits on Camp Ford, Lake Jackson Plantation, and Red River War. His contributions are seen throughout the TBH Forts and Frontier exhibits, from The Die Is Cast to the Passing of the Indian Era. Dial is a member of the Texas State Historical Association and the Western History Association.

Award-winning author Lisa Waller Rogers has created lively dialogue for a host of colorful historical characters featured in the Kid's Forts and Frontier activity, "Meet the People of Fort Griffin and The Flat." A former teacher, curriculum specialist, and educational consultant, she holds a degree in history from the University of Texas. Her historical children's book series, Lone Star Journals, has won critical acclaim for historical accuracy and gifted storytelling. Book two in the series, The Great Storm:The Hurricane Diary of J.T. King, was awarded the Western Heritage Award for Outstanding Juvenile Book. Among her other books are A Texas Sampler: Historical Recollections and Angel of the Alamo: A True Story of Texas. Helen V. Rogers, co-founder of the Cimarron Valley Quilters' Guild, Oklahoma, provided valuable assistance in researching forts and frontier heritage for the children's section.

Texas State Archeologist Pat Mercado-Allinger and Texas Historical Commission archeologists Brett Cruse created the special exhibit on the Red River War. (See section Credits for more information on their work.)

Reknown illustrator Charles Shaw created the colorful illustrations for the 17 characters in the Kids interactive section, "Meet the People of Fort Griffin and The Flat." A member of the Society of American Illustrators in New York, Shaw has illustrated more than 70 books in his long career, including the University of Texas Press' editions of James Michener's Texas and J. Frank Dobie's Coronado's Children.

Mary Black and Laine Liebick contributed lesson plans keyed to the frontier forts exhibits on TBH. A graduate of Harvard University, Black has taught social studies in the classroom and taught curriculum writing at U.T.-Austin. Liebick is a veteran 4th-grade teacher at Highland Park Elementary School in Austin. She has integrated many aspects of archeology and frontier history, including family journals, into her students' experiences.

Kathryn Holberg contributed illustrations for Texas Beyond History, including the lead graphic on the Frontier Forts Main page. She holds a BFA, All Level Art Education degree, from the University of North Texas and has been an educator for 26 years. Formally a Belton ISD Visual Arts and technology teacher, Kathy is currently teaching technology classes in Bastrop ISD.

Anthropologist W.W. Newcomb, Jr., author of The Indians of Texas and numerous other books and articles on Native Americans, reviewed and offered comments on The Passing of the Indian Era. Historian Robert Utley provided information from his research on a frontier surgeon who served at Forts Clark and Davis. Historians Jerry Sullivan and Martha Freeman consulted on the project in early development stage as did TPWD archeologist Art Black.

Forts and Organizations

Fort Griffin: Lester Galbreath, park superintendent, contributed a variety of photos and maps and provided continued consultation for the development of the upcoming children's activity section on Fort Griffin (Meet the People of Fort Griffin and the Flat).

Fort Davis: Fort Historian Mary Williams provided a variety of period photographs and consultation.

Fort Clark: Museum curator Emet Huntsman and museum volunteer Walt Baugess provided information, tours, and access to resources (including fresh batteries for a camera). Special thanks to William "Dub" Warrior of Del Rio for photographs on the Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts.

Fort McKavett: Fort Superintendent Buddy Garza and Exhibits Technician Gabe Schooley provided access to a variety of resources at the fort, from archival photographs to collections.

Friends of Fort McKavett Volunteer Coordinator John Cobb contributed many excellent photographs, the fruits of his ongoing historical research, tours of the fort, and tunes on a period piano.

Fort Inge: Bill Dillahenty, Richard Whipple, and Tom Austin hosted a tour of the site and grounds.

Fort Concho: Archivist Evelyn Lemons and Executive Director Bob Bluthardt provided a number of images.

Fort Martin Scott: Historic Interpretor Roy Betzer provided documents and copies of his photographs, via Gillespie County Historical Association director Paul Canfield.

Fort Lancaster: Asst. Park Superintendent Kenneth Fatheree provided copies of documents and pointed out little-known areas of the fort site and cemetery.

Fort Stockton: Andi Martin (Historic Ft. Stockton) provided information on photographs.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: Artist Nola Davis of the TPWD Interpretation and Exhibits Division provided access to a number of historic images as well as copies of her vibrant historical paintings illustrating life on the frontier and at Texas forts.

Ken Pollard, coordinator of the TPWD Texas Buffalo Soldiers community outreach project, provided background on the black regiments who served on the Texas frontier.

TPWD Photographic Services provided many high-quality photographs.

The Texas Forts Trail website https://texasfortstrail.com/ provides an excellent array of resources designed to facilitate visiting Texas' forts, including schedules of events, travel itineraries, and information on cities and towns along the routes. There are also links and sources provided for learning more about the forts and frontier era.

Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Association http://www.tomfra.com/ The purpose of TOMFRA is to encourage continued study of our missions and forts as well as to support the restoration of sites significant to our Texas frontier heritage. The organizations also offers related awards and scholarships to students and teachers.

The Texas Camel Corps website http://www.texascamelcorps.com provides information about the role of camels in the U.S. military on the Texas frontier and holds historic reenactments and treks utilizing camels.

Museum and Collections Resources

Lawrence Jones, III, http://www.texasphotosource.com/ made available a number of historic photographs from his collection. Donna Coates scanned photographs and provided background information. Many of the amazing images of soldiers, frontier forts, and Indians have never been seen before, and their use on the TBH exhibits is sincerely appreciated.

Jeff Indeck, Curator of Archeology at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, West Texas A&M University, http://www.panhandleplains.org/ photographed many of the historic Plains Indian artifacts from PPHM collections for use on these webpages.

David Rumsey provided details of several historic maps from the David Rumsey Historic Map website http://www.davidrumsey.com/.

Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin http://www.cah.utexas.edu/

Denver Public Library, Western History Collection https://history.denverlibrary.org/western-history-collection

Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa http://www.gilcrease.org/

UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio http://www.texancultures.com/

Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/

Llano County Historical Museum https://llanomuseum.org/

McNay Art Museum, San Antonio http://www.mcnayart.org/

Old Jail Art Center, Albany target="_blank" http://www.theoldjailartcenter.org

Menard County Historical Museum

National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution: https://www.si.edu/siasc/naa

National Archives http://www.archives.gov/

San Jacinto Museum of History https://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/Museum/

Rochester Historical Society, New York http://www.rochesterhistory.org/

Texas State Library and Archives http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/

Wichita State University Libraries, Special Collections http://specialcollections.wichita.edu/

Contemporary Artists and Photographers

Dale Gallon http://www.gallon.com/

Don Stivers http://www.donstivers.com/

Mrs. Melvin Warren provided use of a number of Melvin Warren's paintings of the Texas frontier forts.

Photographer Watt Casey of Albany (http://www.wattcaseyphotography.com/) took photographs of items from the Reynolds and Matthews families in the Old Jail Museum.

Drawings of Native Americans by the Hal Story featured in the Indians of Texas by W.W. Newcomb, Jr., were made available courtesy of the author and University of Texas Press.