SKU: 14140492863

Chronicles of the Big Bend: A Photographic Memoir of Life on the Border

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Chronicles of the Big Bend: A Photographic Memoir of Life on the BorderAs a young teamster on a pack mule train, Wilfred Dudley Smithers saw the Rio Grande's Big Bend for the first time in 1916, and it captured his imagination forever. For decades thereafter he returned to Texas' last great frontier the great bend of the Rio Grande on the Texas Mexico border chronicling the region and its people in words and photographs. After half a century of photography, Smithers' superlative collection of nine thousand images ended

As a young teamster on a pack-mule train, Wilfred Dudley Smithers saw the Rio Grande's Big Bend for the first time in 1916, and it captured his imagination forever. For decades thereafter he returned to Texas' last great frontier-the great bend of the Rio Grande on the Texas-Mexico border-chronicling the region and its people in words and photographs. After half a century of photography, Smithers' superlative collection of nine thousand images ended up at the University of Texas at Austin, and in 1976 more than one hundred of these were reproduced in Chronicles of the Big Bend, a critically acclaimed work that until now has long been out of print. The years that Smithers chronicled in the Big Bend were sometimes violent ones. Pancho Villa and Chico Cano were among the many "bandits" playing hide-and-seek with the U.S. Cavalry-events Smithers recorded. He was also an eyewitness to liquor-running and smuggling during Prohibition. His principal subjects, however, were the people of the Big Bend: local ranchers, Mexican American and American families, miners, Texas Rangers, and others living simple lives in this harsh and beautiful land. With words and camera Smithers wanted to capture "vanishing lifestyles, primitive cultures, old faces, and odd, unconventional professions. Before my camera I wanted huts, vendors, natural majesties, clothing, tools, children, old people, the ways of the border." He also told his own life story along with that of the Big Bend. There are illustrated chapters on the military, law enforcement, curanderos (healers), liquor smugglers, avisadores (secret-message senders), and the national park. Smithers' word sketches and black-and- white photographs capture the harsh reality and stark beauty, the dust and the mystery of the frontier era of the Big Bend that ended in 1944 when it became a national park. Chronicles of the Big Bend is a rare documentary look at a frontier region as it was known by only a few and as it will never be seen again. It is a deeply personal human portrait of the majestic Big Bend. WILFRED DUDLEY SMITHERS (1895-1981) was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, in 1895. He began taking photographs at age fifteen while living in San Antonio, and later worked as a teamster, joined the U.S. Army, operated a photo studio, served as a news correspondent, and helped pioneer aerial photography.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Texas State Historical Assn
Published: 03/15/2013
ISBN: 9780876112618
Pages: 160
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 9.80h x 7.00w x 0.40d
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SKU: 14140492863

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MGman
Whiting, US
★★★★★ 5
Great toy
Color: Grey
My girl loves this toy. She has a lot of toys but this is her favorite. She is a 26 lb mini golden and we have had it over a year. It is just now starting to show wear. Once it is completely worn out I will buy it again!
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Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2025
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Brent Schloer
Cuba, US
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Durable product.
Color: Grey
My dog loves it. Very durable.
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EWF
Lowell, US
★★★★★ 1
15 Minutes….with update x2
Color: Orange
Within 15 minutes my 10-month old puppy had one of the moose antlers torn half off. I’ll see if he is able to destruct any more of this “indestructible” toy. If it holds up I’ll come back and upgrade the number of stars but for now…not impressed. UPDATE: Sadly he was able to rip it open via the appendages (the legs). The main body of the toy seems pretty tough but no dog is going to keep away from the legs. Downgrade to 1 star. UPDATE #2: I just received my second attempt at using this “indestructible” toy. This time I went with the rino since the legs are rope and not a sewn on leg. Well, in about 5 minutes my puppy had the horn torn and the horn provides direct access to the inside stuffing. As mentioned above, the legs are rope. The design was pretty smart in that both the front legs is one posted of rope going through a hole made in the stuffed toy. Same for the rear legs. This prevents the dog tearing them off and getting access to the stuffing. Sadly the horn being torn off right away makes this toy destructible. I think the only way they may be successful calling this an indestructible toy would be if they made a ball out of the body material or perhaps something in the shape of a bone.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2023
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Kat
Houston, US
★★★★★ 4
AWESOME TOY for aggressive chewers
My 4 legged fur baby has only had for a few days. Now we’ve purchased several others in the past and he LOVES them. EXTREMELY durable. He is a dachshund and loves to destroy his toys. It’s almost like it’s a mission to see how fast to get the stuffing and squeakers out of his toys and can say he has been unable to destroy any. Now the reason I gave this only 4 stars is because the end of the tail has hair like material and he did start tearing this apart. Was finding the hair on his blanket and hanging out of his mouth. So I just trimmed the tail and he is back to loving on his toy. I would highly recommend this to anyone.
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1Elley1
Chelsea, US
★★★★★ 5
Cute and my dog loves it
My dog loves toys she can play rough with both her teeth and paws and this one was loved the second it came out of the packaging. We liked that the eyes are sewn patches so nothing to swallow if it detaches (other than the material). The knotted ropes that form it’s arms and legs actually move through the body from side to side, which makes tugging games fun and interesting. We also liked that there were no dangling easy-to-chew off bits, for example, the ears are tiny nubs so she can’t get them off with her teeth easily. The stuffing is also firm and full so it’s like a soft toy to cuddle up with but with rope limbs to sink her teeth into. She rates it highly.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2021

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