Cattle grazing under a windmill on the XIT ranch in the Texas panhandle circa 1900. By this time, the ranch had 335 windmills, one of which was 132 feet tall (!). IT was believed at the time to be the tallest windmill in the world. For perspective, that's roughly the height of a modern 12-story building. Imagine building something that tall out of wood on the windswept Texas plains in the late 1800s. Courtesy the Texas Panhandle-Plains musuem.

An old Case tractor I found in a field near Cranfills Gap, Texas. I looked at it and wondered when was the last time it ran and did it just die right there and did they just leave it where it quit running. I have no idea what year it was made, but it appeared to have been there for awhile. Just an old tractor, put out to pasture, its race run. One of my own photos, taken in 2012.

The world's first indoor rodeo is traditionally credited to Fort Worth, Texas, March 11–16, 1918, at the North Side Coliseum, now known as Cowtown Coliseum, in the Fort Worth Stockyards. That building is shown in the accompanying photo. The rodeo was part of the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show. It featured 12 performances over six days, drew approximately 23,000 spectators, and offered $3,000 in prize money. As I said, it was the first indoor rodeo. Or was it? I just learned that the previous year, in 1917, famed cowgirl Lucille Mulhall organized an indoor competition called Lucille Mulhall's Round-Up in that very same building. More than 50 cowboys and cowgirls competed for prizes in roping, bronc riding, and other events. Rodeo historian Richard Rattenbury, formerly of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, considers Mulhall's 1917 competition the actual first indoor rodeo, even though Lucile (whose photo I posted yesterday) didn't call it a rodeo. Nevertheless, from the description, it's clear to me that it WAS a rodeo. So not only was the first indoor rodeo held in Fort Worth, but it was put on by a woman. I'm not sure how I didn't know this before now but I'll be danged if that's not the God's honest truth. 15+ years doing Traces of Texas and I'm learning new stuff every day.

A muddy downtown Freer, 1937. This scene is actually tame compared to some I've seen, but can you imagine how hard it would be to actually keep your clothes clean in such a milieu? I wonder if people really tried or if they all just agreed that it's okay to have mud on your boots and slacks. A super photo from Carl Mydans for @LIFE magazine.