In the spirit of the recent partnership of Angelo State with the Texas Tech University System, this educational exhibit will be on display through May 4, 2008, in the Macy Gallery at the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock.

When one thinks of ranching and West Texas, images that immediately come to mind are those of rangy longhorns with tough hides tended by cowhands with even tougher hides. The truth is ranching in Texas began with the sheep and goats that accompanied the Spanish missionaries who came to cultivate both the land and the people of the territory in the early 18th century.

According to Paul Carlson, sheep ranching in West Texas now supplies more than 20 percent of the nation’s wool and, along with the contribution of mohair, helped the region earn the label of “world capital of natural fiber.” Sheep ranchers may be just as tough as cattle ranchers, but Suzanne Campbell of the West Texas Collection says the men who shear and package the lanolin-laden wool have hands so soft they are the envy of any woman.

The Spanish missionaries and the soldiers who followed them depended on small flocks of sheep to provide them with both food and fiber while they explored and patrolled the Spanish Texas frontier. These early colonists depended on the sheep for meat and the wool that could be woven into items suitable for trading. These small flocks grew and soon began spreading to new regions along with the settlement of the state.

The progression of Texas settlers eventually brought sheep ranching to West Texas where the species proved to be a hardy and versatile stock, well suited for the climate and terrain. Developments in the wool industry soon promoted breeds that were valued more for their wool than their meat, and it wasn’t long before Texas became a major player in the growing American wool industry.

After the Civil War, entrepreneurs looked to the region of West Texas as the ideal place to begin their sheep ranch operations. Some of these early pioneers of West Texas sheep ranching are featured in the informational panels of the exhibition. Men like Joseph Tweedy and David Williams moved to the Concho Valley from New York while others like George Richardson saw the merits of the West Texas rangeland from as far away as Scotland.

The Texas sheep industry soon established itself in the Concho Valley region of Texas where the entire process of dipping the sheep, then clipping and baling the wool took place. All stages required hard labor from skilled workers. Many men, who had learned the trade in Mexico, came to the San Angelo area to work as shearers. These men brought their families and their culture to the Texas wool industry. Both had an impact.

To understand much of the vocabulary associated with sheep ranching and the process of dipping, clipping and baling one must entienda un español pequeño (understand a little Spanish). For example, the camp cook responsible for feeding the men during shearing season is known as Madre, and a colero is a young boy who follows the shearers with cut medication for the sheep.

The early sheep shearers did more than contribute their language to the Texas sheep and wool industry. They also made certain West Texas would continue as one of the nation’s largest providers of wool by passing on their trade to later generations. Early West Texas shearers whose families have carried on the trade are featured in the exhibition. The descendants of Santiago Uriegas and Donaciaño Garza of Sonora, Eddie Franco of Rock Springs and Daniel Ruiz of Eola are still managing shearing operations in the region.

Daniel’s son, Raul Ruiz is also a sculptor and commemorated the sheep shearer in a bronze that is on display with the exhibit. Shearing is hard work but sheep ranchers depend on the shearers to get their wool to market. Shearing is also a seasonal job, usually done in the spring before the onset of warm weather, which leaves many shearers to find other occupations in the off season. Some stay close to home and find work on nearby cattle ranches or cotton farms while other shearers follow the shearing season to various areas of the nation and join crews in Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas.

Of course, shearing is just the beginning of the process that turns raw wool into the fiber used in so many of our everyday items. The “Clipped” exhibition also explains how the raw wool is scoured, dyed and spun into a yarn that can be woven to create a variety of products. The panels highlight a family-owned and -operated rug making shop in Paint Rock, Texas, called Ingrid’s.

In addition, the informational panels also contain a timeline of important advances in the blowfly eradication program. This program was critical to sheep ranching in Texas and the struggle is represented at the NRHC by the Sheep Hospital structure that was moved from Ozona in 2007.

Other artifacts from the NRHC collections pertaining to the history of sheep ranching in Texas are on display as well as various spinning and weaving equipment that will be used for demonstrations throughout the exhibit.