Back in Time
First graders see saddles and boots
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Launch the media gallery 1 player - media #5Mrs. Gribble and Mrs. Wann’s first grade students witnessed a part of Texas history that not all students their age ever get the opportunity to do. After a lengthy study of Texas, Cowboys, and Col. Charles Goodnight, the first graders were able to see first hand the lost art of saddle making and boot making, which were integral parts of western heritage in their state as well as others. They were also able to look back in time when they made a trip to the Saints’ Roost Museum and stroll through the restored home of area legend Col. Charles Goodnight.
The first stop for the youngsters was Faith Saddlery, owned and operated by Jeff Anderberg where they learned a crucial part of the cowboy’s life was the saddle he rode. Anderberg taught the students each step in saddle making and they were able to touch the leather and woolskin used in each custom saddle. The first graders then stopped at Owen’s Boots where boot maker Jim Owens enlightened them on how each pair of boots was handmade, start to finish. They learned, that just like a cowboy’s saddle, his boots played an important role in the life of a Panhandle cowboy.
After listening to a western story read by Lindy Craft at the Burton Memorial Library, the first graders made their way to the Saints’ Roost Museum. While there, Ruth Hancock, Madeline Black, and Freddie Joe Moreman took the students back in time and were able to show them mementoes from the cowboy days. The Clarendon area is seeped in cowboy history and the museum, which is housed in the former Adair Hospital Building, allowed the students to see many examples of that era.
Topping off the tour was a stop at the infamous Charles Goodnight house in Goodnight, Texas. A jewel on the prairie, the house is full of character and gave the students insight as to what it was like to live on the huge cattle and American Bison ranch. From saying hello to the taxidermy longhorn steer named Honolulu Bob, and having imaginary tea with Mrs. Molly Goodnight, to learning about the chuck wagon Goodnight invented, the students were exposed to a part of history that helped to form the Texas panhandle.
After a day in 2016 that encompassed a time period of over a hundred years, the first graders of Clarendon Elementary know they are truly fortunate to live in an area so rich in culture that made this country what it is today.