{"id":25443,"date":"2021-06-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.tarleton.edu\/news\/texas-spurs-exhibit-opens-saturday-at-tarletons-w-k-gordon-center\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T16:43:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T21:43:49","slug":"texas-spurs-exhibit-opens-saturday-at-tarletons-w-k-gordon-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/texas-spurs-exhibit-opens-saturday-at-tarletons-w-k-gordon-center\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Texas Spurs’ Exhibit opens Saturday at Tarleton’s W.K. Gordon Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Edmonson\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Edmonson<\/p>\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n

Wednesday, June 9, 2021<\/p>\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014\u00a0A public showing of rare tools of the cowboy trade opens Saturday at Tarleton State University\u2019s W.K. Gordon Center for the Industrial History of Texas.<\/p>\n

The Hugh Edmondson Collection of spurs and bits contains spurs made by more than 20 craftsmen over the course of 120 years.\u00a0A Tarleton alumnus, Edmondson recently donated his collection to the university.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis collection provides a basis for the study of spur making; its history, the metallurgy that is part of the process, and the art involved in the design and decorations of different styles,\u201d said exhibit curator Mary Adams.<\/p>\n

Featured artists include Joseph Petmecky, J.O. Bass and three generations of the Boone family, descendants of Daniel Boone, the American frontier pioneer; Harold \u201cSwede\u201d Strong, an immigrant from Sweden; Marvin \u201cCowboy\u201d Traylor, believed to have learned blacksmithing while serving time in a Texas penitentiary in the 1920s; and contemporary craftsmen Wilson Capron and Randy Butters.<\/p>\n

The collection showcases a variety of materials, finishes, designs, sizes and shapes. A short demonstration video takes visitors inside Capron\u2019s workshop. A resident of Christoval, he was influenced in his work by his father, a cowboy artist. Capron is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. as part of Saturday\u2019s exhibition opening.<\/p>\n

The exhibit runs through Dec. 23.<\/p>\n

The Gordon Center, open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, is at 65258 Interstate 20, Exit 367 in Mingus, between Abilene and Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

For more on\u00a0the spurs exhibit, contact Mary Adams at 254-968-1886,\u00a0mkadams@tarleton.edu<\/a>, or visit\u00a0www.tarleton.edu\/gordoncenter\/spur-exhibit.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The W.K. Gordon Museum and Research Center for the Industrial History of Texas is a facility of Tarleton State University. It is a combined museum and special collections library located at the site of the Thurber ghost town.\u00a0Visitors enjoy interactive exhibits that explore the birth, operations and death of the\u00a0town, which was owned by the Texas and Pacific Coal Co.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A public showing of rare tools of the cowboy trade opens Saturday at Tarleton State University’s W.K. Gordon Center for the Industrial History of Texas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25446,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[424],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-events"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"keegan","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/keegan-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2021\/11\/image-107-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Arts & Events<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Arts & Events<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 5 years ago","modified":"Updated 7 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on June 9, 2021","modified":"Updated on September 22, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on June 9, 2021 12:00 am","modified":"Updated on September 22, 2025 4:43 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"A collection of decorative spurs with intricate designs.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53803,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25443\/revisions\/53803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}