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Grand Opening: La MisiónThursday, Oct. 10, 2024
11 a.m.-1 p.m. FREEjoles and fixin’s for Victoria College students and employees.
4:30-6:30 p.m. Reception for museum members and community
Where Texas Ranching Began, the permanent exhibit that will be housed in the museum's new Borchers Leon Exhibit Hall, shares the history of the Coastal Bend’s ranching heritage from 1721-1920. The exhibit will open incrementally over the next two years. This will allow our visitors a peek behind the curtain, so to speak, and demonstrate how exhibits come to life.
The first component, La Misión opens on Oct. 10, with a focus on Texas ranching's origins in the Spanish missions located in the Coastal Bend. The remaining components will open incrementally over the next two years.
Where Texas Ranching Began
In the Coastal Bend of Texas, a unique way of life originated that bound together people, animals, and land. Introduced by Spanish missionaries, shaped by Indian and Mestizo vaqueros, strengthened by Mexican colonists, and transformed by American ranchers, ranching took root here. The Coastal Bend is where Texas ranching began, where it evolved through diverse cultures, and where it still lives today.
La Misíon The first Texas cattle kingdom was the ranch of Mission Espíritu Santo. Between the San Antonio and Guadalupe Rivers, the Spanish built a way of life that still defines Texas today.
Vaquero Spanish missionaries and soldiers taught Indian converts ranching techniques for the wild cattle and horses near Mission Espíritu Santo. The first cowboys, longhorns, and mustangs were all present in the Coastal Bend of Texas.
La Vida Flags over the Coastal Bend changed from Spain, Mexico, Texas, and lastly to the United States. The development of industry and towns brought newcomers and their unique skills to the Coastal Bend as ranching remained a defining way of life.
Innovación Following the American Civil War, ranchers from the Coastal Bend drove their cattle north to Kansas and helped rebuild their war-torn communities. Their legacy continued with ranching industry innovations such as barbed wire, windmills, railroads, improvement of cattle breeds, and the arrival of oil.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
2200 East Red River St., Victoria, TX, United States, Texas 77901
