Midland County Public Libraries are opening two new exhibits

MIDLAND, Texas (KOSA) – The Midland County Public Libraries have two new exhibits open to the public.

Each exhibit tells a unique story, but by visiting both you can see how two parts of Texas history are connected.

The Chisholm Trail exhibit is one of the exhibits currently available.

“I just think it’s so important to learn about history to understand what other people have been through and to relate to it in the first place,” said Annie Sahli, the exhibition and program support coordinator for Midland Public Libraries.

The Chisholm Trail became popular after the Civil War.

During the war, Texas Cattle Ranchers were unable to bring their herds north to sell.

This led to an oversupply of them after the war.

“Stockyards were created in Kansas to entice Texas Cattle Ranchers to raise their herds, which could mean a two-month trip one way,” Sahli said.

What is unique about this exhibition is that the library contains not only exhibition-specific items, but also items borrowed from the Haley Memorial Library and the Midland Community Theater

“Just so people can see the spurs, pieces of tubing and saddles,” Sahli said.

and the Midland Sheriff’s Mounted Patrol.

“The kids and the adults can actually see and touch the saddle, you can’t ride it or sit on it, but it’s really exciting to see it up close,” Sahli said.

The exhibition also offers some interactive activities, such as the branding station.

There you will learn more about cattle brands and create your own.

The Chisholm Trail exhibit opened on Monday, October 7 and is currently available at the Centennial Library.

The Vaquero exhibit opened on Monday, October 14 and is available at the Downtown Library.

“This has a lot of nice photos and some information about vaqueros and how they influenced rodeo and were really influential and important to ranching in Texas,” Sahli said.

Vaqueros were Mexican cowboys who were known to break horses and herd cattle.

The Vaquero exhibit is the smaller of the two, but this culture still has a large influence on how we see Texas today.

“The pictures and the story are really beautiful and perhaps a little less well known. Even once you really dig into it and understand and learn the background and history of the Vaqueros and what they do, it has a big impact on what we call the Texas Cowboy,” Sahli said.

If you would like to check out these exhibits, Vaquero is here until Monday, November 18th, and Chisholm Trail is here until Saturday, December 14th.

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