,.,------
How ... do we come into contact with the man? The answer seems to be "By the
sound of his voice." For whenever we [read his words] ... we are aware of a voice. It
Volume IV, Number 2 : March-April, 1974
is as though someone had been speaking to us, telling us something, or working on our feelings. - Bonamy Dobree
WILLIAM CAMERON, 1834-1899
Page 2 PEOPLE March-April
William Cameron's Letters:
'Thank you for the 'sprig 0' heather
frae the Muir 0' Blair, my native heath'
Letters written by Scottish Texan
William Cameron speak as well today,
as they did in the 19th Century when he
wrote them to his relatives in Scotland_
The sound of his voice brings him back
to life-
... as to my Business career- it has been a
prosperous one - now dont think me egotistical
- I do this only when talking to a beloved Sister
- I really dont know what I am worth - put it at
$3,000,000.00 in your money [pounds sterling]
750,000-Am the largest manufacturer in South -
lumber Flour- and Woolen Goods - Shipping
Lumber and flour to our new acquired territory
(Cuba)- I have 8 Saw Mills in the State of Texas
and Louisiana employing about 3000 men and
upwards of 200,000 acres of timber land-manu­facturing
nearly one million feet per day - all of
which I attend in person - Flouring Mills take
10,000 Bushels wheat per day- 1750 sty per day
to run them-The Woolen Mills employ some 800
men and women - My Business points are some
1000 miles apart All are carried on by myself-son
and two son-in-Iaws-I can safely say that my
business career is second to none - My credit is
unlimited-The name of Wm. Cameron is Known
all over these United States- I mention this
Sister so you may be proud of your Brother-Who
would have thought that, that scapegoat of a Boy
raised on a poor Farm in Scotland would ever
have ascended the pinnacle of Fame as a business
man-I claim no superior-And all Business men
know it-And with all my wealth I am hard up
financially-I could have retired years ago but my
ambition wont let rue- I am enjoying the best of
health - I am a phenomana [sic] to all business
men- The question is asked many a time- How
can Cameron carry on so much Business scat­tered
as it is? My motto is close attention to every
Minutia of Business in person- My son, son­in-
law and myself are now out at the different
places taking an account of stock for the past year
to find out how much there is to profit and loss­It
generally takes over two months to compute
same-I have 100 miles of RRoad and 20 locomo­tives
at the different Saw Mills-my annual
income is far above any of your landed Proprie­tors-
And I am the hardest worker of any man in
America - But enough of my own self­recommendation-
No one outside of you - has
ever heard me sounding my own praises-
Bi-monthly publication of the Institute
of Texan Cultures, free on request.
P. O. Box 1226, San Antonio, Texas
78294
R. HENDERSON SHUFFLER,
Executive Director
MARION TRAVIS, Editor
Thank you for the card and "sprig 0' heather
frae the Muir (moor) o'Blair" I love my native
heath ... Am sure you will be tired before you get
to the end of this hurdy gurdy - This is the
longest letter I have ever written anyone-... Re­member
me to Sister Helen and family and
friends - I love you all - God bless you my
loving Sister .. .
It was after midnight on the 11th of
January, 1899, when William Cameron
wrote this letter to his sister in Scotland.
He was tired, but could not sleep. Less
than a month later, on February 6, he
died suddenly while boarding a train
near Morgan, La. When his will was
probated, the inventory showed he had
underestimated his wealth by at least a
million dollars. Later his family would
increase it many times over.
Today, his great land holdings are
part of national forests in East Texas,
and others are in private hands. His saw
mills, flouring mills, woolen mills-gone.
A firm which long has made his name
familiar, Wm. Cameron and Co., was
sold to Pennsylvanians. His descendants
are scattered over the nation. His great
home is destroyed, and his body for 76
years has lain in Oakwood Cemetery in
Waco-a pastoral place dotted with
ancient live oaks-also the burial ground
of Sul Ross, Richard Coke, Pat Neff, and
William C. Brann.
Some time ago an East Texas histor­ian
said that Cameron might be the
counterpart of Joseph H. Kurth, himself
a noted lumberman of Texas's past; but
investigation shows they were cut from
different cloth. William Cameron was
never a lumberman alone. He was a
capitalist and a man of many parts; and
had he opted for steel, oil, and Pullman
cars in the North instead of manufactur­ing
and banking in the Midwest and
South, he might have been more clearly
on the same level wi th Andrew Carne­gie,
another Scotsman of note in the
U.S. Disregarding the volume of accu­mulated
wealth, the comparison holds.
Both were extraordinary Scots.
Manly and amiable, Cameron called
Texas his home while his banking con­nections
were here, in New York and
New Orleans. His goods were shipped
through the Port of New Orleans.
But more important than the exter­nals
of his career are qualities of the
man within. To find some of them, one
has but to read letters written by
Cameron during his life in the U.S.,
1854-1899. They went to his relatives in
Scotland, telling them of his life in
America. The letters were saved by his
Scottish kin, and now belong to a grand­son,
Edward Cameron Bolton.
What qualities had this man who
wrote these letters? Self­reliance
.. . self-respect. . . an ease with
risk and change ... good health ... -
marked loyalty to all members of his
family . . . a splendid business sense, ac­companied
by an absolute lack of senti­ment
for business, even though the
business may be one he worked hard to
build up himself ...
At the age of 25, Cameron wrote to
his sister from Chillicothe, Mo.:
... 1 wrote you in my last that Uncle and I
were about to commence Railroad operations.
We have now been to work about 3 months and
have under our employ about 130 men besides
about 25 pair horses and mules- our Contract
was only for one mile of the road and we expect
to finish in about 2 months. You will think that I
am rather a fickle minded mortal but in this
country owing to the hard times a person has to
change his hand from one kind of Business to
another so as to get along My motto is persever­ance
I now intend following Railroad Business
for a time as it is the only paying Business in this
Country at present.
At the age of 46 he ended a letter to his
sister Betsy with a note clearly marked
Confidential-
I neglected to mention one of the Kindest
women on earth-She was almost a Mother to
(See William Cameron, p. 6)
Betsy Cameron Harris had this photograph made
by Valentine and Co. of Dundee, Scotland. She
was Wm. Cameron's best Scottish correspondent,
and a beloved sister.
March.April PEOPLE
Things A Poppin' in San Antonio
At Institute of Texan Cultures
Sometimes the Institute is a near
maelstrom of activity-take March, for
instance.
The Coordinating Board, Texas Col­lege
and University System, and mem­bers'
wives, were entertained here at
dinner by San Antonio hosts early in the
month. Board chairman is Harry M.
Provence, vice president of
Newspapers, Inc., of Waco and Austin.
The next morning the Texas Council
of College Presidents convened in the
auditorium. Dr. F. H. McDowell of East
Texas State University is the president.
Then on March 22, the San Antonio
Conservation Society celebrated its
50th anniversary here. President of this
well-known group is Mrs. Robert E.
Blount of San Antonio.
Last came the Meistersinger recep­tion
March 30 (see story, p. 5). This was
sponsored by the San Antonio
Symphony SOCiety which has as its
board chairman Frank A. Bennack, Jr.,
publisher of the San Antonio Light.
Continuing education classes spon­sored
by The University of Texas at San
Antonio; semi-finals of the Battle of
Flowers oratorical contest; hearings by
the Texas Water Quality Board; special
event jointly sponsored by UTSA and
the National University of Mexico; staff
and curriculum sessions held by the San
Antonio Independent School District;
meeting of the Alamo Area Council of
Governments; countless tours of the
main floor, and similar activity, filled
the month's calendar.
IN POLAND, CZECHOSLOVAKIA
U.S. Embassies Stock ITe Books
Copies of The Polish Texans and The
Czech Texans published by the Institute
are in libraries of U.S. embassies in
Poland and Czechoslovakia, as an unex­pected
bonus of a project of the U.S.
Department of State.
The name of the game is cultural
exchange; and toward that end the State
Department, through the U.S. Informa­tion
Agency, decided to elaborate the
Eastern European interest in the Ameri­can
West. Television's long-running
Bonanza is among popular shows on
Polish TV. So, the Amon Carter
Museum of Western Art in Fort Worth
was invited to assemble an exhibition of
paintings, prints, sculpture and artifacts
for an Eastern European tour.
As tour time drew near, Janusz
Przewozny, vice-director of the Nation­al
Museum of Poland visited Fort
Worth. While there he saw a copy of
The Polish Texans; and, although he
does not read English, he fully under­stood
the gist of the book, and was
delighted with the attention given to
the history of Poles in Texas.
The Federal officials involved liked
his response, which explains why the
Institute books are now in the Embas­sies.
The Amon Carter show, complete
with Vincent Price, opened in Warsaw
January 8 and now is touring Rumania
and Yugoslavia. Plans are in the works
for a fall show in Prague.
DISCOURSE THA T AFFECTS OUR DAILY LIVES
BRAND NEW .. .
Traveling Show
Nears Completion
Page 3
The search for information is ended; a
talented hand has turned it into reada­ble
prose; all the photographed illustra­tions
are on hand; the designer has made
his drawings; the compuwriter has
spewed out htmdreds of words in a
handsome typeface; the artist has com­pleted
his illustrations; the darkroom
crew has printed scores and scores of
text and pictures; and trimming and
mowlting crew is putting the words and
pictures on the panels constructed by
the cabinetmakers.
All this means that Texas and Her
Constitutions, the Institute's next major
traveling show, is in the final stages of
produCtion. It is meant to demonstrate
something that most people may find
hard to believe, that is, that constitu­tions
can be interesting.
Below is a mere hint of the pictorial
content. Its style will be the same as
that of Vaquero: Genesis of the Texas
Cowboy and The Texas Rangers: Their
First 150 Years.
WHY SCHOOLS?
WHO VOTES?
Page 4 PEOPLE
Schedule of Traveling Exhibitions
Includes Dates in Ohio, Oklahoma
Two Institute traveling shows are
booked for out-of-state showings this
year, in addition to a Spanish-language
show touring Mexico_
The Texas RangeTs: Their FiTSt 150
YeaTs is booked by the International
Screen Printing Association for its 26th
annual convention and trade show in
the Cincinnati Convention and Exposi­tion
Center Nov_ 6-8. The association,
headquartered in Washington D.c., ex­pects
4-5,000 people from most states in
the U.S. and up to 15 other countries.
Vaquem: Genesis of the Texas Cow­boy
will open in Oklahoma City's Cow­boy
Hall of Fame in late November, and
will be up through January, 1975.
The Spanish-language Vaquem show
in Mexico under the auspices of the
Instituto Nacional Antropologia e His­toria
is expected to tour that country
through early summer. It is on a year­long
trip.
The RangeT exhibition, consisting of
48 illustrated display panels-each 3 by
7 feet-is made up in four copies and has
been heavily booked from the begin­ning.
Ranger schedule for the future-be­ginning
in April-looks like this:
March 20-April 21, Texana Museum and
Library, Edna;
March 20-April 20, Lubbock City-County
Library;
April 15-May 15, Port Arthur Historical
Society; .
May 1-30, The University of Texas of the
Permian Basin, Odessa;
May 25-June 25, First Victoria National
Bank;
May 1-30, Citizens National Bank and
Trust Co., Baytown;
June 10-July 10, State National Bank of EI
Paso;
July 1·30, Newton County Historical Sur­vey
Committee, Burkeville;
Oct. 1-30, Bee County College, Beeville;
Feb. I-March I, 1975, Memorial Student
Center, Texas A&M University;
Nov. 1-30, 1975, Dallas Public Library.
The Ranger show was on exhibit in the
state capitol during the Constitutional
Convention.
Spanish Texans, consisting of 20 large
mounted photographs, each with sepa­rate
text, is booked as follows:
Oct. I -Nov. 15, UT-Permian Basin,
Odessa;
September, 1975, Dallas Public Library;
Sam Houston Exhibition is booked on­ly
by the Texas Commerce Bank in
Houston through May 15. The Sam
Houston Sampler, a smaller show, will
be in the Arlington Library 'til April 20.
Vaquem, Genesis of the Texas Cowboy,
a Photogmphic Essay by William D.
Wittliff, has over 100 illustrations of
Mexican cowboys on a working ranch in
Northern Mexico. Its bookings are as
follows:
Through April 15, Texarkana Historical
Society and Museum;
April20-May 20, Wharton Junior College;
May 25-June 5, Northline Shopping City,
Houston;
Aug.-Sept. 10, Memorial Student Center,
TexasA&M;
Sept. I5-0ct. 15, Dallas Chapter of
IMAGE (Involvement of Mexican Ameri­cans
in Gainful Endeavor);
Oct. 20-Nov. 15, Texas Union, UT-Austin;
Nov. 25-Jan. 30, 1975, Cowboy Hall of
Fame, Oklahoma City;
Feb. I5-March 15, 1975, Square House
Museum, Panhandle;
The Negm Texans, telling of various
notable individuals, comes in three for­mats-
a 1,400 pound set of illustrated,
free-standing boxes; a smaller one in
two fram es for the floor, seven feet
high; and a framed exhibit for hanging
on the wall. The Dallas Public Library
has reserved the plexbox show for April,
1975, and UT-Permian Basin has the
wall show March I-April 15, 1975. The
latter will be on view at Mountainview
College in Dallas through April 12.
A schedule for the Texas Constitution
show, now under construction, is being
developed.
Mrs. Claudia Ball of the exhibits
department schedules the traveling
shows, all of which are lent free-except
freight charges.
What is believed to be the largest assemblage of
Sam Houston illustrative material available for
convenient public display comprises the Insti­tute's
Sam Houston Exhibition. Above Joann
Andera observes one of many panels.
March-April
The Texas Rangers: Their First 150 Years consists
of 48 large panels, one of which is viewed above
by lTC's Alex de Pena. Four copies of this show
are available for laan.
Miscellaneous Group
Available for Loan
The Instihlte's capacity to produce
new traveling shows is running full tilt,
but we cannot fill every request which
comes in.
We do have one type of solution,
which has not been publicized, and
which may be helpful to some people
looking for display items for cultural
exhibits. The catch is that the borrower
must be able to visit the Institute and
select items for use.
The solution comes in the form of
about 1,000 mounted graphicS, photo­graphs,
and other visual material on a
variety of Texas history subjects. All are
spun off from the Institute's special
approach of telling the histories of the
national, cultural and racial groups in
the state.
These pieces come in many sizes.
Some can be attached to a wall. Others
may be displayed on easels.
If it is possible to visit the Insti tute,
one is advised to write or call in ad­vance.
O. T. Baker, exhibits manager, or
Mrs. Claudia Ball can tell you if we
have something in the " miscellaneous
collection" to fill your needs.
'Sweet Smell of Success'
Upon reading a recent copy of PEO­PLE,
Marion Coleman of Cheshire,
Conn. wrote to the Institute:
"It is a pleasure to read about one
institution that is doing cultural work
(and the right way) which is not about
to go bankrupt. Every other one I know
is screaming for support. The people of
Texas are to be congratulated on seeing
this ethnic business in the correct light,
and having done it before 'ethnicity'
became a fad and a cult."
March·Aprii
NOW WE KNOW
Circle of Wagons
Is C aIled 'Laager'
The last issue of PEOPLE quoted a
question from a friend of the Institute
which stumped us. He wanted to know
what to call a circle of wagons such as
the pioneers made when Indians at­tacked.
We asked for help from PEO­PLE's
readers.
In no time came an answer from Col.
R. F. Hallock of San Antonio. The
answer. is laage'l~ pronounced lah-ger,
We had picked up 'forting up' and
such like, but only the colonel's answer
is substantiated by the Merriam­Webster,
It defines laager as a defensive
encampment protected by a circle of
wagons or armored vehicles, It has good
multi-cultural credentials. It is known as
a German word used in Africa.
Haynes W. Dugan of Shreveport goes
along with Col. Hallock and tells of an
actual such incident during World War
II.
" ... with the Forward Echelon, 3rd
Armored Division, in European Theater
of Operations in WWII ... we had the
general and chief of staff (John Smith of
Dallas) in the center and all the half
tracks, etc., in a circle around them,
guns pointed out. It worked."
He suggests that the Americans got it
from the English who had borrowed it
from the South Africans.
Ohio School Girl
Sees That Texas
Included in Festival
The Institute has its Texas Folklife
Festival; the Smithsonian has the Festi­val
of American Folklife; and Spokane
is building up to a World's Fair; but,
somehow, none of these seems to have
the spunk and imagination of an event
in Sardinia, Ohio.
Sardinia Elementary School put on a
Western Hemisphere Festival.
Not only is the scope admirable, but
the festival clearly had straight thinking
behind it-for it included a display on
Texas amassed by Peggy Dailey of
Route One, Sa,rdinia, a discerning
seventh grader,
PEOPLE Page 5
International Event IncludesITC
Texas·born Thomas Stewart, famed for the com·
plete "ring" (all four baritone roles) performance
at Bayreuth, Genllany, headed the cast as Hans
Sachs.
Heather Harper, Irish soprano, sang the role of
Eva Pogner-the lady who causes all the commo­tion.
Not shown is Frans Boerlage, producer and
director, who came to the U.S. from Amsterdam.
His experience cove'rs American, Italian and
German opera productions,
Jean Cox, English tenor, was Walther VOn Stolz­ing
ill the Sail Antonio Sympholly Society's. all
Ilew proeluction of Die Miestersinger, Set elestglls
were by Richard Gullicksen, not showll.
Members of some middle class guilds
in Germany during the Renaiss­ance-
the 14th, 15th, and 16th Centur­ies-
were required to study poetry and
singing while they learned to be
cobblers, goldsmiths, and such like
craftsmen of the day. The Germans
organized the resulting know-how into
levels-"scholars," "schoolmen," "sing­ers,"
"poets," and, "mastersingers."
Several hundred years pass.
Now comes Richard Wagner, who,
everyone knows, made something of a
name for himself in the music business
of the Western World beginning in the
1800s. Among his popular works, still
loved today, was Die Meistersinge1' von
Numberg first produced in Munich in
1868. The opera in three acts tells of the
hectic maneuvers of Walther von Stolz­ing
who will sing anything to get the
attention of Eva Pogner, A riot, tricks,
and assorted surprises take place; but,
toward the end, Walther thinks he
bombed out with the lady.
Wagner, happily, didn't let it turn out
that way. Walther not only wins Eva,
but gains the approval of the Meister­singers,
a snooty group of experts. Ac­tually,
the story is based on history; and
an important role was sung by Hans
Sachs (1494-1576),the most famous Mei­stersinger
of them all.
Die Meistersinger was first performed
in the U.S. at the Metropolitan Opera
House in New York in 1886. Eighty­eight
years later, in late March, 1974, it
made it to Texas as a new, $100,000
production-thanks to the Symphony
Society of San Antonio, Mrs. George H.
Coates and Mr, and Mrs. Arthur T.
Stieren, all of San Antonio, The delay is
no reflection on Wagner, of course.
Even the anthropologists know that
most Texans are possessive of their own
world, and do not permit costly outside
influences to rush in, They must seep in.
The Institute has the privilege of
participating in the international event
by showing an exhibition of photo­graphs
and drawings from the City
Archives of Nurnberg. Nearby in
mus~wn cases are antique handicrafts
from the German National Museum,
and the City of Nurnberg.
Several hundred people gathered at
the Institute March 30 for the Nurnberg
exhibit preview. The 45-voice German
Air Force Choir from Fort Bliss sang at
the reception, where honorary chair­man
was His Excellency, Berndt von
Staden, Ambassador of the Federal
Republic of Germany to the U.S.A.
Page 6
W m. Cameron's
Scotland Letters
... Continued from p. 2
me- Aunt Margaret Harrison in Compar An·
gus- How is she - is she well provided for? I
presume Uncle left her well off- H not let me
know in your next- When friends that I am
indebted to are in adverse circumstances I am
always ready to divide with-I believe that Uncle
left her well off- I never heard- but if she needs
aid or assistance- She will have it as long as she
lives This in confidence-
Nearing his 47th year, he wrote to
Betsy: •
... You must rise above all these and show
yourself a woman- the same as our beloved
Mother was- Do not depend on others- Try and
do everything for yourself and you will find
plenty of friends to assist you- Dont sit down
and brood over your misfortunes- Arise above all
of them and show to each and every one that you
have strong will power and self reliant- It is well
to go to God the Supreme Giver of all good things
but do not leave all to a Divine Providence for
He only helps those who help themselves- We
have to be diligent in Business-
'Betsy's husband has died and left her
out of his will.
He was 63 years old when he wrote
this to his sister Helen in Scotland:
Tears came from my eyes, when your Funeral
Card was forwarded from Waco here announcing
"George Harris died here last night at eight
oClock." "Funeral on Saturday at Two
p.m.-Middle Manse 30th Sept 1897." Dear
Helen I cannot refrain Tears from myoId
respected friend And Sympathyze with You and
Your family for the great loss you have sustained.
We will SOOI) follow those Kind friends who have
gone before-Your husband George Harris and I
were great friends-I can almost imagine that I
here his voice now call me by the familiar name
of "William"
George Harris my good old friend "Peace to
Your ashes".
CULTURE?
Many people wonder what "culture"
means in the title, Institute of Texan
Cultures.
The big Third International lists
seven definitions of the word, some
quite long and complex. But we found
another one which is clear, and
describes the scope of work which can
be covered by the Institute. It was
written over 100 years ago by Sir Ed­ward
Tylor.
He said that "culture . . .is that com­plex
whole which includes knowledge,
beliefs, art, morals, law, custom, and
other capabilities and habits acquired
by man as a member of society." When
he wrote it in 1871 it was a revolution­ary
thought.
PEOPLE March.April
.l
Iron Ship Brought Cameron to U.S.
.. .I am told she is one of the best vessels which takes the sea. The largest I ever saw in my life. I was
rather too long in applying for my passage as only steerage berths remained unoccupied. So in that case
I had to accept one of them. My passage cost me eight guineas and I am told I have got the best place
on the ship .. . William Cameron writing from near Glasgow, Scotland, July 10, 1854.
Age-20 years.
He speaks of the Inman liner, City of Glasgow, (shown above), among the earli est
iron ships fitted with a screw propeller-successor of paddle-wheel vessels. It
catered to emigrant traffic between Great Britain and the United States.
The City of Glasgow, indeed, was a premier steamer compared with uncomforta­ble,
unsanitary emigrant sailing ships commonly in use. The commodious ship, 262
by 36 feet, was a one-funnel, three-mast beauty that in 1851 set a record for
screw-driven vessels by crossing the Atlantic in 12 days, 5 hours. Equipped with a
two-bladed propeller driven by engines of 350 h.p. , she had accommodations for 52
first-class passengers, 85 second-class, and 400 steerage-in addition to a crew of 70.
Young Cameron from Blairgowie, Scotland, was in the Port of New York 18 days
after his ship put out to sea. From New York he went to Illinois to work on a farm.
See Ourselves as Others See Us
The Institute rarely misses an opportunity to find another way to say that Texas
is a special place in which to live; so, when we found it in Spanish from Mexico
City, we couldn't ignore the chance to pass it along. It says the kind of thing that
Texans love to hear, and is published below as translated by Mrs. Elda Gomez,
senior secretary at the Institute:
Texas, the Lone Star ... has in its emblem, in its population and in its government a sign that
marks the difference from the rest of the country- self·sufficiency and difference (distinctiveness). Her
inhabitants carry in their' language, in their way of life, and in their personality the Texan feeling ...
This translation is from a book review by Francisco Duran Martinez, a member of
the faculty of the School for Foreign Students, National University of Mexico. He
now teaches at the university's extension division in San Antonio. His review is of
D. W. Meinig's Imperial Texas, An Inte1pretative Essay in Cultural Geography, and
it was published in Anglia, an Anglo American Studies publication from the
National University.
Readers of Spanish will enjoy it more in the original:
Texas, la estrella solita ria . . . tiene en Sll emblema, en su poblaci6n y en su gobierno una senal, una
marca que la diferencia del resto del pais: " Ia autosuficiencia y la diferencia." Sus habitantes lIevan en
Sll dialecto, en su way of life y en su personalidad el sentirse texanos . . .
Free Admission
Parking and Guided Tours
Open daily except Monday on HemisFair Plaza
SEPTEMBER THRU MAY
10:00 AM. 4 :00 P.M. Tuesday thru Friday
1 :00 P.M. 6:00 P.M. Saturday and Sunday
JUNE THRU AUGUST
1 :00 P.M. 6:00 P.M.
March-April PEOPLE
Waco Tribune-Herald Photograph
Iron-Crowned Mansion for His Wife
You will no doubt think it very strange my
marrying one so much younger than 1 am-she 18
years and 1 40-My desires and affection was set
upon her from the first time we met-which was
in company a year before we were married-and
strange to say neither of us seen, or wrote to each
other during the year-until 1 went to see her­when
1 proposed, but was not accepted until a
month afterwards which was done by letter-I
married her for herself, and not for money as
sister Helen insinuated-Her parents were once
wealthy but through force of circumstances now
poor-I gave her a present of $1000.00 for her
bridal trousseau before marrying-She has been
well brought up . .. 1 will commence putting up a
dwelling house as soon as there will be any
prospect for an increase in our family ... Letter
to his sister Betsy in Scotland from
William Cameron, dealer in Lumber,
Shingles, Sash, Doors, etc. of Dallas,
Dec. 18, 1875.
Widower Cameron's yOlmg bride, to
whom he remained totally devoted lmtil
his death, was Flora Berry, grand­daughter
of Gov. Issac Murphey,
Republican governor of Arkansas, 1864-
1868. That Cameron would be ac­quainted
with Unionists in the 1870's is
no surprise. He fought in the U.S. Army
during the Civil War, was captured, and
later exchanged. He wrote his relatives
in Scotland that he loved the American
Republic and despised the European
aristocracy aiding the South. He was
convinced the Europeans wanted the
U.S. government destroyed, and that
"our friends" of the South wanted
Power. When the next U.S. Conscrip­tion
Act was passed, it provided that a
draftee could be exempt for a payment
of $300 to tire U.S. government. Camer­on
now (1863) was in the freight busi­ness,
and when the time came, had the
money to buyout of the army.
Tme to his word, he built an iron­crowned
mansion not long after his
marriage to Flora Berry. Surprisingly, it
was on Austin Street-the long-time
silk-stocking avenue of Waco, which
was the city to remain Cameron's head­quarters
the rest of his life; yet, he was
not often at home. The house was
deSigned by French-American architect,
William Winant Larmour. Eventually,
it would include about 40 rooms, some
grand, some mere cubicles. It had three
floors, a fine carriage house with ser­vants
quarters, and at one time a green
house and formal gardens. Although this
may appear to display wealth, there is
no evidence that the family ever flaunt­ed
wealth as do the nou.veau. riche. They
seem to have retained much of William
Cameron's practicality, sense of humor,
and healthy respect for self.
For nearly 90 years the Cameron
House was a Texas landmark. In 1966 it
burned, in part; then was razed. No
serious effort ever was made to preserve
it to satisfy nostalgia. When it ceased to
be useful, its destruction was imminent.
Gallaway Displays
Keen Adaptability,
Capacity to Grow
Page 7
Bob Gallaway, 25, is the prototype of
what a young person at the Institute
must be-MALLEABLE. Anyone, of
any age, who comes here with fixed
ideas of what he will do, and how he
will do it, is in for some surprises.
Bob says being the youngest child in a
family with three older sisters gave him
a lot of practice in living with people.
He is a native of San Antonio, and has
never lived anywhere else-except four
years in Austin, 1966-1970. Those dates
will say a lot to conservative parents of
UT-Austin students at the time, because
they embrace what to some of the
shell-shocked older generation was an
era of agony.
"When I went to Austin in 1966 the
political climate was very conservative,
just as I was. I came from a conservative
Republican family. I had lived in a
stmctured environment, like most kids,
and had adopted my parents' views," he
says today.
An earlier generation would have
said, "I was an obedient child."
While a student there, Bob saw the
campus become radicalized. During his
last year it shut down briefly, due to
demonstrations over the Kent State inci­dent.
Although the Austin experience af­fected
the way he sees his world, and
affected his vocabulary, he says he was
never in the radical left. Talking with
him confirms he is baSically moderate.
One interesting residue of his years of
higher education is his discomfort with
formality.
"I don't like formality," he says. "I
get uptight when I have to edit what I
say."
It's impossible to say what's behind
this; maybe it was the psychology he
majored in at UT-Austin, where he
earned the BA degree.
(See Gallaway, p. 8)
BOB GALLAWAY
Page 8 PEOPLE March.April
92,500 Books in Print in Institute Group
A review of the Institute's young
publishing program divulges another
success story. A total of 92,500 books
are in print in the softbound series, The
Texians and the Texans. Strong sales
have forced several titles into second
and third printings.
First three of the series were pub­lished
about three years ago. New titles
come out from time to time as new
research and writing projects are com­pleted.
The latest title to appear was
The Greek Texans, published in Feb­ruary.
Eleven books are in print now. The
series as presently projected will even­tually
produce over 20 different titles,
which are designed to tell the multi­cultural
story of Texas history.
American II). The research depart­ment's
director, John L. Davis, is
responsible for material for the first
publication on Anglo-Americans, the
Danish, English, Japanese, and Scottish.
Al Lowman, whose title is research
associate, writes the last draft of each
manuscript; but the final editing is that
of R Henderson Shuffler, executive dir­ector
of the Institute.
By no means is this publishing work
the only assignment of the research
department It also keeps artifacts and
information fed to the exhibits depart­ment
which maintains the massive main
floor exhibition; then, next, come the
slide shows and filmstrips.
The research department pulls
together all information and much pic­torial
material used in the slide shows.
Otherwise, photographs are made in the
field by David Haynes, whose title is
audio visual educational specialist, and
whose duties are various.
Books available cover subjects men­tioned
above, as well as such recently­published
titles as The Italian Texans,
The French Texans~ the Czech Texans,
The Polish Texans, and The Norwegian
Texans.
The publication and production
program of the Institute is financed by a
revolving fund established with a grant
from Houston Endowment Inc., the
fowldation established by the late Jesse
H. Jones.
Best-selling titles are The Mexican
Texans in English and The Indian Tex­ans.
Both are in their third printing.
Gallaway Learns Multiple Skills
Titles in second printing are The
Mexican Texans in Spanish, The Gelman
Texans, and The Spanish Texans.
All are exactly the same size, each
book being 32 illustrated pages measur­ing
81h by 11 inches. The format was
taken from histowalls in the Institute's
main floor exhibition, which means that
material in each book consists chiefly of
illustrations and brief biographical en­tries,
combined to tell the story of a
particular kind of Texan.
Information gathering and early
drafts of each manuscript is the respon­sibility
of a team of research associates,
who are W. Phil Hewitt (Czechoslovak­ian,
Italian, Jewish, Norwegian, and
Swedish), Bill Field (Chinese, Indian,
and Swiss), James P. McGuire (French,
German, Greek, Lebanese, Polish, and
Yugoslav), Sam Nesmith (Belgian­Dutch,
Irish, Mexican and Spanish), and
Melvin Sance (Negro and Anglo-
The University of Texas at San Antonio
... Continued from p. 7
As it turned out, the psychology was
no help when he went job hunting
during the 1970 recession. Beating the
bushes in San Antonio for work, he got
on as a tour guide at the Institute. Then,
to everyone's delight he became one of
the best guides ever; and it follows that
he didn't remain a guide. Soon he was
working part-time in the exhibits
department, and after about a year he
"went downstairs," which is our way of
saying he went to work in the exhibits
department
Gallaway has begun to acquire a
unique variety of skills. He started out
spray-painting and sanding, then moved
into several kinds of sophisticated
photographic work. Then came silk­screening
and carpentry.
Not long ago Tom Stephens, ITC
designer, and Gallaway put their heads
INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES at SAN ANTONIO
P. O. Box 1226
San Antonio, Texas 78294
together and came up with the plan for
a new darkroom to accommodate an
important piece of equipment-the In­stitute's
new 20" by 24" process camera.
Gallaway built the darkroom and has
taught himself the basics of operating
the big camera.
"I had been looking forward to the
arrival of the camera for months, and
you know when it finally came in? On
the day of my wedding! Elizabeth
wouldn't let me come down to see it
after the ceremony," he says in an
imagine-that voice.
The process camera is chiefly a
graphics camera. It is in use to produce
exhibit texts, and Bob says it has revolu­tionized
production of this exhibits
work.
Someday it may be used in publica­tions
work, a vital step in the process
between the hand-held camera, the
typewriter, and the printed page.